Over the course of an hour, aided by a fabulous melting soundtrack of Motown Christmas music from the era, Brian Copeland relates a story as good as any of the best Christmas movies. In fact it would make a great Christmas movie, except Brian’s beautiful personifications of the varying personalities he encounters in his epic odyssey are compelling in their own right.

It’s 1970, in East Oakland in mid December, and six year old Brian has to raise $11.97 by Christmas Eve in order to buy his Mom a gift. This true, autobiographical story accelerates from there, introducing us to an array of lively characters from his Grandmother, through to the family’s penny pinching landlord. His sister’s innocent but far sighted queries as to why the White Front Santa is black are poignant, and I found myself laughing and recoiling in turns as Brian considered the long leash that was afforded children of the 1970’s, and which enabled this incredible, sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking story to take place. Brian Copeland is a gifted storyteller who can deftly cross in and out between the fragile borders of comedy and tragedy. If Charles Dickens found himself in East Oakland, in 1970, this is the kind of story he’d tell.

Brian, who has a long career as a Bay Area comedian, TV and radio talk show host playwright and author, has opened shows for legends such as Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr Gladys Knight and more. He’ll also be the closing act for the SF Solo Series on March 1st, at the Marin Showcase Theater in San Rafael, with his one man show ‘Grandma and Me’, about the struggles of being a single parent, and the true meaning of fatherhood. If ‘The Jewelry Box’, is anything to go by, it’s one not to be missed.

Review by Hannah Yurke

Photo by Beppe Sabatini