Actor Don Reed has been gracing Bay Area stages with stories about his family and life growing up in East Oakland. Now he’s back with the latest installment of his autobiographical one-man show, “Can You Dig It: The '60s.”
Reed never planned on being a stage performer. He was in college, on his way to becoming a chiropractor, when a required class on public speaking renewed an old piqued a new interest. He ended up winning tons of speech competitions and eventually entering the world of stand-up comedy. After years in the entertainment industry as a television actor and voice-over talent, Don turned to more personal material, spinning stories about his family and life growing up in East Oakland into a trio of successful solo shows. Don came to KALW's studios to tell us more about his journey to the stage.
"He said where'd you grow up? I said I grew up in Oakland, my stepfather was a Jehovah's Witness and my real father was a pimp. He said, 'You need to do a one man show about that!'"
“Can You Dig It: The '60s,” is up at The Marsh in Berkeley right now.
