Comment on Theater review: Don Reed’s 'Semi-Famous’ delivers lots of laughs

Theater review: Don Reed’s 'Semi-Famous’ delivers lots of laughs

As the subtitle implies, “Semi-Famous” is a collection of tales drawn from Reed’s fairly long Hollywood career, from making his way as a standup comic and auditioning for film roles through his many seasons as the studio warm-up act for “The Tonight Show” — until the recent departure of Jay Leno — and still auditioning for film roles. What it isn’t is a cohesive monologue in the manner of “East 14th,” Reed’s breakthrough solo show about his Oakland childhood, split between the home of his uptight, judgmental Jehovah’s Witnesses mother and stepfather and the more freewheeling, musician-filled household of his father, whom Reed didn’t realize was a pimp. [...] as accurate as his critique may be, the preventive first strike combined with a steady supply of sure-fire punchlines, comic vignettes and inventive impressions make the show pretty much review-proof. Loosely framed as an audition interview, “Semi-Famous” flashes back briefly to his teenage attempts to form a comedy group and skips ahead through anecdotes of soldiering on after failures to subsequent success. The fleeting rewards and drawbacks of fame form a recurring leitmotif, as Reed mocks and revels in being recognized — or mistaken for Don Cheadle — and caricatures a host of celebrities stuck in their still current or fading renown: an impatient Ike Turner; Jody Watley and Barry White, caught up in their own songs; an arthritic Chubby Checker trying to do the Twist; an over-the-top Little Richard; an “Exorcist”-tinged portrait of Courtney Love backstage at “The Tonight Show.”

 

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