Join us for the triumphant return of our comedy programming at Studio Channel Islands Art Center! This series, curated by Jason Love, will bring all the family-friendly laughs into your Friday night and, in June, will feature Mary Gallagher, Don Friesen and Feraz Ozel!

Mary Gallagher

As she worked her way though college in Wisconsin, Mary Gallagher responded to a “Help Wanted” ad for singing telegrams. Her first one was for The Green Bay Packers! They requested she come dressed as a clown (and why wouldn’t they?) Since she had no idea how to sing, she put on her best rainbow wig and began crafting killer jokes just for The Packers and their families. A career was born and one clown made an iconic institution’s day!

She honed her writing and improvisational skills at The Second City in Chicago. There she also got hired by Citibank to show potential customers a new rewards program. That corporate gig ended up paying off her entire college loan, all while she learned improv from the finest teachers ever at The Second City.

With her friendly girl-next-door personality, she moved to Los Angeles and began her professional career in the entertainment industry. She's now been in over 50 national commercials, has guest-starred and recurred on many hit television shows (Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, The West Wing), and has also been in several major motion pictures. She's hosted three national TV shows and in 2018 she had her national television stand-up comedy debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!

She now hosts and performs at colleges, corporate events, churches, non-profits, and comedy clubs all across America. In 2022, she flew to the South of France to personally host a private event for Kevin Hart! Since she's starred on several hidden-camera prank shows, he had her pull a prank on his good friend. She is now an international prankster!

Don Friesen

His kids think he’s fun. His wife thinks he’s an idiot. Audiences think he’s hilarious!

Don Friesen is a modern suburban dad just trying to raise his kids and get through the day with a bit of money in the bank and a scrap of dignity intact. With a unique style that can best be described as frenetic and engaging, Don captures the irony of parenting, marriage and everyday absurdities through characters, voices, parodies and some of the best written routines around. He’s a wanna-be geek who constantly upgrades to the latest technology, but can never get it to work, leading to signature bits about tech support, Idiots Guides, texting and passwords.

Friesen has recently taken his smart, savvy, and highly-caffeinated comedy to the stage at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA, for the taping of his new Showtime one-hour special titled "Ask Your Mom." In his first nationally released concert special, Don delivers a winnng hour of clever, true-to-life “he’s talking about my family up there” comedy that manages to be adult-smart yet family-friendly.

Feraz Ozel

Feraz Ozel was recruited by the CIA, but turned it down for a life in comedy. Now, this LA based comedian tours internationally providing crowds with an energetic brand of insightful stand-up, often stemming from his perspectives as an Afghani-Pakistani American. Also a formally trained actor and improviser, Feraz has appeared on national television on 2 Broke Girls, Hollywood Darlings, Comics Unleashed, Conan, and Hulu's Coming to the Stage, and recently shot his lead role in the feature film "Hollywood Dirt." Feraz is also a seasoned writer and recently directed the film "Curious Georgina," which starred Himself and Bobby Lee, screened at Just for Laughs in Montreal and was distributed by Kevin Hart’s LOL Network.

Feraz has been featured in the LA Times, The Atlantic Magazine, Rolling Stone, and several documentaries. Feraz also performed in the 2016 CBS Diversity Showcase, and wrote several sketches that appeared in the show. Recently, his stand-up album "Chillennial" charted in Billboard's top 10, and iTunes' top 3 for comedy albums, and his tracks regularly play on Sirius XM. Viral clips of his stand up have over 20 million views and have been distributed by mega-blogs like NowThis and LADbible.

You can catch Feraz performing regularly at comedy clubs all over Los Angeles including The Comedy Store and The Hollywood Improv. Or at his house trying to figure out what bitcoin is.