Virgo, Hebrew Rising

Brian Diamond is a neurotic comic who uses the stage as a therapy couch. For his first one-man outing, Diamond reaches back to his unusual childhood as a Jewish boy of deaf parents living in Compton. His family life is the part of the 90-minute show that works. It gives us a peek into a unique experience of a child translating for parents, a white boy traversing an African-American neighborhood, and eventually relocating to Pollock Pines. Diamond has a gift for storytelling, but he falters in not focusing his show on its strengths. There is a very funny and poignant Diamond in this rough; it just needs to be sharpened and tightened.
Sacramento Theatre Company, Stage Two; 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays; $34-$38. 1419 H St., (916) 443-6722 or (888) 4-STCTIX, www.sactheatre.org. Through December 2.