Indie-Music.com - Don Friesen ~ Inexplicable (DVD)

Artist: Don Friesen

CD: Inexplicable (DVD)

Home: Burbank, California

Style: Stand-Up Comedy

Quote: "Don Friesen, to put it simply, nails it. Not a single obscenity or lewd rant, and he still connects."

By Jennifer Layton

I am a huge fan of standup comedy. My Rhapsody library includes Dane Cook, Lewis Black, Chris Rock, Mitch Hedberg, and Ron White. I am a tough comedy fan to please. If you’re the slightest bit lame, forget it. I like my standup comics sharp and smart. (Or in Hedberg’s case, dazed and smart.) In most cases, this means the comic doesn’t work clean. Which is fine. But I am very impressed when I find a comedian who’s sharp, smart, and clean at the same time. They have to work harder. They have to find a zing that doesn't come from four-letter words.

Don Friesen, to put it simply, nails it. Not a single obscenity or lewd rant, and he still connects. In fact, I enjoyed his act so much, I don’t think I would have realized right away I was listening to a clean comic if it hadn’t been mentioned in his press materials. I was too busy laughing to analyze it.

Friesen’s self-depreciation works for him from the very start, which is a rant about modern technology, starting with cell phones. Anyone who’s tried to have a conversation while walking around, contorting their bodies, trying to find a signal, can relate. (“We can’t both hear each other – I don’t have that plan. I have the LET’S TALK LOUDER AND HOPE THAT SOMEHOW HELPS PLAN!”)

Like many of us, Friesen has suffered through endless phone calls with condescending tech support geeks (“I’m looking for words you just might understand ... "). He’s also tried to decide between buying the Idiot’s Guide or the books for Dummies (“Which am I? Maybe both? Am I bi?”).

From there, the easygoing comic with the big boyish grin launches into on-target impressions of John Lithgow, Dr. Phil, and George Bush. And while his Bush impression isn’t as good as Will Farrell’s, Friesen still has the Bush speech mannerisms down pat, especially the bewildering bravado. (“Osama, you can run, but you can’t hide. Unless ... uh, you got some elaborate network of caves or somethin’ ... ")

Friesen uses his lanky frame to his advantage when imitating the famous bullet-dodging scene from The Matrix and launching into a character called the Prozac Pilot, whom I hope I never find at the helm of any of my flights. He also shows a creative mind that might get him into trouble if he doesn’t hurry up and patent some of his ideas, like the Dr. Phil alarm clock.

Lest Friesen and his PR folks panic that I’m putting all his best material in this review, rest assured that I’ll stop here. Except to mention that my mind wandered a bit during the entire middle part about marriage turning him into a wuss because I was too busy planning to make a wuss out of whomever I wind up marrying. Did I just type that out loud?

Great extras on the DVD include a parody of the pill-choosing scene from The Matrix (I’m seeing a running theme, here) and full-costume versions of his celebrity impressions. Overall, an outstanding performance you can watch with your parents. Ladies, if you’re watching with your boyfriends, you might want to fast-forward through that middle part.

http://www.wussman.com