Don Friesen: Inexplicable

by Miguel Regojo

The term “observational humor” gets tossed around liberally when it comes to pegging a genre to a lot of comedians but with Don Friesen it’s all too accurate—so why escape it?

Thankfully, Friesen isn’t afraid of the label and on Inexplicable, he’s proud to exploit it.

In a consistently funny set, Friesen sacrifices his own pride to gain the audience’s trust and ultimately score a ton of laughs. As a married man and a father of two, he can’t help but tackle the things most pressing on his mind.

His segues are so seamless you’ll barely notice a wrinkle in his act when one minute he’s ranting about his college misadventures, likening it to a giant poker game, especially when tuition rises each year (“I’ll see your lack of clear-cut goals and raise you the best years of my life”) and the next minute he’s outlining the pitfalls of marriage: “People say the sex changes when you’re married. I think what changes is what you’ll do to get it. I used to try and stay in good shape, be romantic. Now when I want to impress her, I take out the trash.”

Friesen also delves into the frustrations of modern technology, especially cell phone calling plans, as in “I’ve got that nationwide plan that works anywhere in the nation except where I’m standing.”

As the two-time winner of the San Francisco International Comedy Competition, Friesen knows how to please a crowd; generations X and Y will most closely relate to him, but really there’s room enough for everyone (especially since he works clean), regardless of demographic.