Jon Fisher: Musically Comical

Jon Fisher, a Los Angeles comedian whose comic style relies on story-telling songs accompanied by acoustic guitar and self-deprecating jokes, brought a full house to the TC underground for his show on Mon, Aug 20.

In the words of DSU sophomore AJ Schoenfelder, “(Fisher’s show was) a comedy and a musical at the same time…where the comedy is delivered through music.” Although a non-traditional approach to comedy that the DSU stage has not seen recently, Fisher’s melodic reminiscing of his personal squabbles with life kept the attendees chuckling. Fisher opened his show with a song about the struggles of roommates. Then, through several more songs, he shared the perils of working in the service industry, his man-crush on Ryan Gosling, and the struggles of going to the gym. The crowd was most engaged, though, by his Song Mashup Guessing Game. Whoever could guess the names of all the songs he sang, won a prize. The lucky winner got the fabulous reward: a four pack of toilet paper after which, Fisher described himself as, “The Bernie Sanders of comedy; giving back to the people.”

Fisher’s political implications did not end there. He mentioned that, in college, he took a gender studies course in an attempt to learn how to “pick up chicks”. Instead, though, he confessed that he is now intimidated by women and he feels a need to apologize to all women for the injustices imposed upon them by American society. He admitted that an apology of that sort is not a great starter to a conversation with a woman at the bar.

Though the audience received most of Fisher’s humor well, and DSU student Chase Opsahl described the show as “a hoot and a holler”, Fisher’s show didn’t hit quite as close to home as it could have. Previous comedians brought to the DSU Underground stage have effectively read the crowd and tailored their conversation to what DSU students can relate to; Midwestern lifestyle, the quirks of attending a “nerd school”, and the general battle of the sexes. Jon’s show, although relevant in some aspects, didn’t seem to have that touch of personal relatability that makes a comedy show advance from an enjoyable event, to a memorable one.