Brian Copeland's "Great American Sh*t Show": UNRATED

We are Brian Copeland fans but we're done with hearing about Donald Trump. Copeland's "Great American Sh*t Show," written with Charlie Varon, was first performed by Copeland and Varon in the runup to the 2020 election. It is all about outrage -- how could America possibly have chosen for President this bad talk-show host and fascist as well?

True that. But it's 2024 and here we are again. There's another election coming up, and, wonder of wonders, the Evil Orange is coming at us again. The problem is the same old outrage doesn't cut it anymore.Yes, he's a psychopath and a racist and a pathological liar, and yes, half of America is likely to vote for him again. We've heard it all before. And there is nothing funny about it.

So we would need Brian Copeland to give us something new, like "The Bucket List" or "Grandma and Me," where there is a story to tell. Even an actor as personable as Copeland can't just keep telling us what we already know, without the show feeling like that uncle at Thanksgiving who won't stop spewing the same complaints you heard last year and the year before.

There are some funny bits: naming the tiki torch-wielding white nationalists at Charlottesville "Orchard Supply Racists" -- and being called the N-word by a man driving a Prius -- I guess these are humorous. And perhaps if you still get perverse pleasure in hearing about Trump's many faults, you'll enjoy hearing about them again. 

Better yet, let us all get down on our knees and pray that in a few months we will never have to see that face and hear that name again, on stage or off.

RATINGS: UNRATED

The San Francisco Theater Blog has chosen not to give Brian Copeland's "Great American Sh*t Show" a rating. In our opinion, this is a step up from a rant and not even close to the brilliant performances we have seen from this normally funny and insightful actor.

Brian Copeland's "The Great American Sh*t Show"

October 24, 2024

The Marsh

1062 Valencia St. San Francisco