The West Coast Funnies with Kurt Swann, the monthly comedy variety show. The show combines the sketch comedy aspects of Saturday Night Live with a Daily Show type current events newscast, this surrounds the show’s centerpiece of top-notch professional stand up comedy; all presented in Tonight Show type talk show presentation. The popular Carlsbad mainstay is in its 8th year of production.
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Headlining this month for a special Father’s Day edition is Don Friesen. Fresh, frenetic, and self-deprecating to a fault, Don Friesen’s comedy is outrageously physical yet thoroughly relatable. Don’s willingness to admit his flaws and exploit them for maximum comedic potential has a way of not only entertaining, but at the same time tapping into the humanity in all of us. It’s a uniquely fun, clever, and clean act with an incredibly broad appeal—an act that has earned him rave reviews and die-hard fans throughout the country.
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Don comedic idol as a child was Bill Cosby. As a child, Don would check out Cosby’s albums from the library, memorize the routines, and wear them out on whomever he could get to listen (mostly his kid sister.)
In 1999 he won the prestigious San Francisco International Comedy Competition, the same competition that helped launch the careers of Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Sinbad. Recently he entered again and became the only comedian in the 30-year history of the San Francisco International Comedy Competition to win it a second time. Appearing with Friesen will be Bryan Erwin (“America’s Funniest Stay at Home Dad”)
Also appearing on each show is the sketch group called the Pearl St. Players. The group that originally got its start over 10 years ago at the World Famous Comedy Store in La Jolla, Ca. <Located on Pearl St. by the way> Some of the original members of that group have gone onto become some of Hollywood’s brightest young stars- Mad TV’s Bobby Lee, The Tonight Show’s Shayma Tash and Emmy Award winning writer on Late Night with Conan O’Brien Mike Komen. Now a new crop of funny people is hoping to continue that tradition.
