COPIE'S CHOICE RETURNS:
THE PHOENIX HAS RISEN

May 11, 2019

Greetings from Hollywood. Sort of.

I'm headed to Southern California on a grand adventure. I'll tell you all about it when I return.

As I wrote you earlier this week, I'm feeling much better. While the demon hasn't been entirely vanquished, I've got him on the ropes and I'm back with a vengeance.

I want to thank you for all of your kind emails, cards and letters. (Yes, sweet people wrote me actual letters. That they put a stamp on and mailed! In 2019!) I couldn't have made it without ya.

It's wonderful to have so many loving friends I've never even met. Bless you.

Here's what I've been into the last few weeks...

BOOKS

The first sign I had that I was getting better was the ability to focus enough to read. During this latest bout of depression, I couldn't. I'd try. I'd read the same sentence over and over again with zero comprehension because my mind couldn't focus on or retain what I read.

Once I was able to read again, I was off to the races.

I read...

THE WEDDING GUEST
By Jonathan Kellerman

In the latest Alex Delaware psychological thriller, Alex and LAPD Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis investigate the murder of an unidentified woman whose body is found in the restroom at a wedding reception. Both the bride and groom say she's not a guest they invited and no one at the wedding claims to know who she is.

How's THAT for a opening?

In addition to being my favorite author, I'm also honored to be able to call Jon Kellerman, his wife Faye and son Jesse (all New York Times bestselling authors) personal friends. This adds an extra layer of pleasure for me when I read their work.

READ.

MY MORNING ROUTINE
By Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander

I finally finished the book that I was reading when I got pulled under by this funk. In it, the authors interview dozens of successful people including entrepreneurs, CEO's, military brass, artists and writers about the rituals that they conduct in the morning and how these habits set them up for the day. It's a great read and I got some great ideas from it on reducing stress and anxiety while increasing my personal productivity. It's a REALLY good book and I highly recommend it!

READ.

CHASING COSBY
by Nicole Weisensee Egan

This was a hard book for me to read. As you may or may not know, I worked with Bill Cosby just about every time he came to the Bay Area between 2004 and 2014. And no, while I saw him at times surly and cantankerous, I never personally observed any of the egregious conduct that we now know he was engaged in over a fifty year period.

Nicole Weisensee Egan was an investigative reporter for a Philadelphia newspaper back in 2005 when Andrea Constand, an executive in the Temple University women's basketball program, first came forward with the shocking allegation that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her. Egan followed every nuance of the case, right up to the DA's decision not to prosecute and the multimillion dollar civil settlement between the two parties.

She was working at PEOPLE magazine in 2014 when comedian Hannibal Buress brought worldwide attention to Constand's allegations and several others during a standup set in Philadelphia that was recorded by a reporter in the audience who posted it online igniting a viral firestorm that eventually led to more than sixty women coming forward, two criminal trials and Cosby's incarceration, quite possibly for the rest of his life.

If you think you know the story, trust me, unless you're one of its participants, YOU DON'T. It's a sad, sickening, sobering and infuriating MUST READ that I couldn't put down.

READ.

BUTTERFLY IN THE RAIN
by James L. Neibaur

The Marion Parker kidnapping case is the most famous true crime story you've never heard of.

In 1927, 12-year-old Marion Parker, the daughter of a Los Angeles bank Vice President, was kidnapped, murdered and dismembered by a 19-year-old who wanted to commit “a big crime” and sought ransom money to pay his tuition to...wait for it...seminary school.

The nation was riveted by what was then called THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY, which was followed by THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY, featuring California's first insanity defense. If you like true crime, you'll be fascinated by this book.

READ

MOVIES

This week I caught LONG SHOT, a rom/com starring Charlize Theron (who I'd watch read the dictionary ) as a sitting Secretary of State planning a presidential run and Seth Rogen as a Mother Jones type reporter she hires to add more levity to her speeches.

It's hilarious, sweet, raunchy and romantic. One of my favorite movies of the year.

GO SEE IT.

PODCAST

I found a great new podcast miniseries called POPS on the life and times of the great Louis Armstrong. Check it out.

PERFORMANCE

My pal Charlie Varon and I continue to perform before sold out houses in THE GREAT AMERICAN SHIT SHOW. It's a collection of monologues on life in the Trump era.

Here's what the critics are saying:

“Smart, funny, provocative and at times, unexpectedly deeply moving, this is theater as a welcome dash of hope in dark times and a much needed call to arms...This may be the perfect piece of theater for our times."
Rob Hurwitt - Former San Francisco Chronicle theater critic

"The dynamic duo of Brian Copeland and Charlie Varon combine to articulate the stresses that weigh on people of good conscience in the era of Trump's presidency. "
George Powell - ForAllEvents

“The Great American Sh*t Show takes on our current dysfunctional political climate with keen yet comic observations...(Its) power is in showing members of America's disenfranchised majority that they're not alone."
Judith Wilson - TelliMarin

See THE GREAT AMERICAN SHIT SHOW on Saturday August 17 at 7 at the Castro Valley Center for the Arts in Castro Valley, California.
Get tickets here.

And on Sunday August 18 at 7:30 at Marin Center in San Rafael. Purchase tickets by Midnight this Sunday night (May 12) and pay only $25 instead of the regular price of $45 with the code RuleOfLaw. Buy three tickets at $25 and your fourth is free!
Special is for Marin performance ONLY.
Get your tickets HERE.

I'll check you out next weekend.

It's good to be back.

Copie

FOLLOW BRIAN:

Twitter: Twitter.com/briancopie
Facebook: facebook.com/briancopie1
BrianCopeland.com