Copeland: a genuine Renaissance man
Best known as a talk show host, a comedian, and the creator of the one-man show, “Not a Genuine Black Man,” Brian Copeland is a good deal more. Since “Genuine,” which opened in 2004 at the Marsh Theater in the Mission and ran seven years in 30 cities, he’s written and starred in three more solo shows. He’s published several books based on his productions, and, until Jan. 12, he was on KGO (810 AM) weekdays. (Although his show was discontinued, he said he may “continue with the station in some fashion.”)
And, in recent months, he’s been online on GoFundMe, asking for money.
Actually, it isn’t for himself. It was for his second production, “The Waiting Period,” which he wrote about “a bout of suicidal depression” about 10 years ago and first staged in 2012. After fellow comic Robin Williams committed suicide in 2014, Copeland decided to bring it back.
“Robin committed suicide, and there was a friend of mine who had a son, a teenager, who took his life. And I had a publicist who represented Rock Hudson when he came out about having AIDS. He said it changed how we viewed AIDS because somebody we knew had it; it took away some of the stigma. He said what happened with Robin’s death could potentially do the same thing for depression, so I said, ‘OK, let’s bring it back.’ ”
He wanted to provide it for free, reasoning, “So many young people can’t afford $30 or more.” Using donations to pay theater rental and staff (a house manager and a stage manager), Copeland, 53, did the show at the Marsh every Sunday in 2016. Last year, with donations down, he managed to play most weeks. Now, with GoFundMe and in-theater donations, he will perform five Sundays, beginning today (Jan. 21), into early March. (Go to www.themarsh.org for his schedule.)
Copeland is working on a new show, “Grandma and Me,” about single parenting. And his first production, “Not a Genuine Black Man,” about growing up in San Leandro, an all-white town in the ’70s, may be filmed by producer Frank Zamacona for American Public Television. “After Charlottesville, I went, ‘Jesus.’ It resonates and lands a whole different way than it did before.”
Copeland, whose daughter Carolyn works at KGO and was his producer, still lives in San Leandro, where he staged his latest New Year’s Eve comedy revue, “Lighten Up.” He recently was appointed to the city’s arts commission. “San Leandro,” he says triumphantly, “is now one of the most diverse cities in America.” The name game: “Live 105” is no more. The alternative rock music is still there; so are the DJs. But owner Entercom, making changes since its merger with CBS Radio, has renamed KITS “Alt 105.3.”
KITS began in 1983 as “Hot Hits,” a Top 40 station, and evolved into “modern rock” by 1986. Program Director Richard Sands said the “Live 105” nickname was in tribute to free-form pioneer KSAN, known in the ’70s as “Jive 95.”
Michael Martin, already PD of KMVQ (“Now”) and KLLC (“Alice”), takes over programming duties from Jacent Jackson. Moving on: Matt Martin, general manager of KALW since 2006, has resigned. But — sign of the times — Bill Helgeson, the station’s operations manager, hastened to say, “There’s no big scandal!” Some listeners were wondering, since the station’s site announced a job opening only for Martin’s position, with no explanation about his impending departure.
That may be because the posting was written by Martin himself — and he didn’t have much to say about his exit. No fights, no new job, no nothing. Pressed, he responded: “When I was hired, KALW was looking for a station manager. Now, it has grown to the point where it needs an executive director. That has never been my personal aspiration, and over the last couple years, I’ve come to feel it’s not where my strengths lie. … I am confident there is someone who can embrace the work and help the station take its next step forward in a way I simply can’t.”
Martin began at KALW as a producer in 2000. R.I.P.: Hilly Rose died on Dec. 27 at his home in San Francisco. The pioneering talk show host was 91 and died of natural causes, according to his wife, Mary .He began as a child actor on WBEZ in Chicago and became a producer and announcer on the Mutual network. He came to San Francisco in the 1960s and worked as a news reporter for KCBS, where he became one of the first talk show hosts on radio. He continued on KNEW and KGO. In the ’70s, on KFI in Los Angeles, he began covering paranormal topics, later doing similar shows on the Internet and satellite radio. He did fill-in work for Larry King and Art Bell. In 2016, he was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. The family suggests donations to the Broadcast Foundation of America.