Biography
Don Reed (HBO, Snap Judgment, East 14th) is a multi-hyphenate, comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, solo performer described as a "solo show powerhouse" and a comedic molotov-cocktail of storytelling, characters, sound-fx, impersonations and improvisation. His performance on an Robert Townsend HBO Special of up and coming comedians years ago caught the attention a few Hollywood players that led to the creation of many recurring and guest starring roles for him on "A Different World", "The Cosby Show" and others. Around this time, Don received some invaluable advice that spurred him to dive into the NACA college circuit, performing standup at over 300 colleges.
During the same window, Don began doing audience warm-up for several sitcoms, which led to writing and creative consulting on several of those shows. Reed spent the next several years behind the camera successfully writing, producing and doing voice-over work (credits include "Spiderman", "The Flintstones", "Johnny Quest" etc.) He wrote and directed several short films for HBO, once casting himself, inadvertently sparking the revival of his on camera and performing career. His HBO shorts garnered the attention of Paramount Television who cast him as a series regular and writer on the sketch comedy show "Off Limits." His performances on that show caught the eyes of "MAD TV" executives who were producing NBC's "The RERUN Show" where he was cast as a series regular. (credits include - Comedy Central, Showtime Aspen Comedy Festival, Co-Executive Producer of "Celebrity Home Videos."
Over time, Don transitioned into what many publications (The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times) have referred to as the aforementioned "solo show powerhouse", writing, performing, directing and producing 5 solo shows running Off Broadway NYC, San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley (Marsh Theaters). His flagship show the award winning "East 14th" was the 2016 WINNER of the TBA: Theater Bay Area Award for Outstanding Production of a Solo Show and an NAACP Double Nominee for Best Actor & Best Playwright. His second show "The Kipling Hotel: The 80's went on to be a nominee in the playwright category in 2017. Don has shared a number of hilarious and heartbreaking stories on NPR/WNYC hit broadcast Snap Judgment - aired in over 380 cities across the country and downloaded over 2 million times a month. He has traveled extensively with the national tour and performed for thousands and in 2016 was honored with Snap Judgment Performance of the Year for his groundbreaking story "I Miss Toni." It garnered hundreds of thousands of views and has been utilized as a tool from high schools to American University's Fine Arts Masters Program in D.C. --- as a broadly humorous and deeply tragic look at supporting and loving a trans family member.
Additionally, Don was a promo producer/executive at NBC for 2years (Will & Grace, SNL, Golden Globes, Frasier, Friends, Scrubs, Law & Order ) -- and later founded his own advertising & promotion entity - an entertainment copywriting company that serviced movie trailers, promos and video games for many Fortune 500 entertainment companies (work includes creative for Columbia/Sony, ABC, NBC, FOX, HBO, TBS, FX, MLB, NFL, "Chappelle's Show", "The "The Simpsons", "The Shield", X-Box, PlayStation, "Ultimate Spiderman", "Shrek, SuperSlam", "Call of Duty" "Halo" and many more.
