Observe the Absurd

It takes a particular type of person to tell humorous stories to a crowd of strangers and hope for the best, and that’s a juxtaposition that local comedian Chris Freier is still making sense of every time he hits the stage.

“I’ve always said that anybody who wants to be a politician, I never trust,” he said. “Who would want to do that? But then as time went on, I started to think, ‘What type of person would go up in front of people — strangers they’ve never met — and say jokes that people might or might not like with a possibility of bombing?’ I realized it’s the exact same thing. So I have trouble weighing those two things in my head.”

Mitchell native Freier’s stand-up journey got started with some early influences brought to him as a child by family members — namely the late-night hosts that were formative for him.

“As a kid, every single night my dad would watch Johnny Carson,” he said. “So comedy was just a natural thing that was in the household. And that moved into Jay Leno. He would switch back and forth between Leno and David Letterman. I loved the skits and that evolved into me watching Saturday Night Live and Conan O’Brien.

“That’s when I really got into it. I would copy the skits — I was stealing jokes of course, but I was a kid, so I didn’t know the rules — and doing it for my family. That was the start.”

It was a conversation with friend and fellow comic Will Conway that led Freier to make it official and take a swing at an open-mic night at Boss’ Comedy Club.

“I just told a story about riding a bus to the Metallica concert long, long ago during the Death Magnetic Tour,” Freier said. “I just told a funny story — it wasn’t even really a joke. After that first time, I realized I liked it. I got people to laugh at things that I didn’t even try to be funny with. People told me, ‘Hey, you should do this every week.’ I listened, and I just never stopped. It may have been bad advice, but it worked out.”

His signature absurdist sense of humor has helped Freier to develop a recognizable style as he builds his following as a comic.

“I’m an absurdist. I do one-liners,” he said. “Observational, absurdist one-liners. People say my jokes are like Demetri Martin, but my style is like Steven Wright. But personally I like Todd Barry, who’s kind of a mixture of those two. If you put those three together, that kind of describes my style.

“I have what I call a cartoon brain. Even when something bad happens to me, or if I’m hurt and want to cry, there’s part of me that sees the silliness of it. I don’t really try to be an absurdist — that’s just how my brain works. It’s how I see the world. And if I can use my twisted, warped way of thinking to make people laugh, that’s why I’m drawn to it.”

This approach has led to some recent opportunities that Freier cites among his proudest moments as a stand-up, including performing at the District as part of a Last Comic Standing event.

“To be able to go up on the stage there and see all those people, on a stage where I saw Third Eye Blind, Limp Bizkit and all kinds of bands — I was standing in the same place where they were. It had a really official feel to it.”

In addition, Freier has been selected for the Sno Jam Comedy Festival, has performed a set at Acme Comedy Company in Minneapolis and was nominated for a Sioux Falls Stage Award in 2022 for his efforts. But beyond the recognition he’s received as a comedian, Freier has been able to apply going through the stand-up wringer to his everyday life.

“It’s really helped me in two ways — being able to speak my mind about things while being conscious of whether or not I’m just complaining about something or talking about something I truly believe in,” Freier said. “Being able to say those things in front of a crowd and seeing an instant reaction is immensely helpful to look internally into how you talk to people and what you’re talking about.

“I did a joke where I said, about myself, ‘what an idiot,’ and then I saw a girl cross her arms and back up a little bit. And then I thought, ‘You know what, it works for the joke, but I don’t need to use the word idiot,’ because some people might not like hearing that, and it’s not necessary for the joke. I’m able to use that in my actual life and think on whether these negative words are necessary. Is this expression of anger necessary? It’s been a big part of shaping my life and how I interact with people.”

So what does the future hold for the comedian? He’s not putting too much stock into “making it,” and is more focused on the here and now.

“I’ve heard Ari Shaffir say on a podcast, ‘Don’t worry about making it, because you’re not going to enjoy the journey along the way,’” he said. “And when you make it you’re going to think, ‘This is it? This is all it was?’ So I’m really conscious of enjoying what I have now. Right now my goals are to hang out with my friends, travel and do fun things. I’m doing that right now, and I’m loving it.

“Ultimately, my goal, once my kids graduate, is to be able to do comedy and work less. To make money from comedy and have that be my main source of income. The big goals are to travel to places and to headline — to be able to have a full schedule. I’m going to work toward every single one of those goals — and working toward each gets me to the next one.”