The Struggle and the Upside of Being a “Christian Comic” in 2016

john crist

John Crist is a Christian comic, but he’s also a very funny comic who happens to be Christian.  Mostly that means he performs in both churches and clubs.  Crist says he does about 300 dates a year, with about 230 of those dates taking place in clubs. The remaining dates he is going up at comedy clubs, like the Comedy Store. He released his first special “I Got Questions” late in 2015, and he makes wildly popular viral videos with his recent video already up to 1.7 million views.

In some ways, being a Christian comic is just like being any kind of comic, Crist told The Interrobang in a recent interview.  “The interesting thing about a lot of Christians if there is such a thing as Christian comedy cause we’re all just Christians that like to do comedy just like a Christian baseball player or a Christian Nascar driver– it doesn’t really matter. I guess it matters more in this job because we’re talking about our belief in our lives maybe a little bit more.”

But as Crist talked more about the two roles he plays it became evident that, at least for him, being a Christian comic is more than just being a comic who also happens to follow a particular religion. He actually does Christian themed comedy, as well as secular material. And it’s not always easy to do both. There are plenty of mines to dodge, working clubs and churches, and one of his challenges is to try to appeal to both audiences using different material. He told us that some of his comedian friends have warned against doing both types of comedy, and said that he needs to pick one.  But John says he enjoys the challenges that he faces in the two completely different environments.  “All the comics are telling me that at one point or another I have to choose one,” he said in a recent phone interview with The Interrobang. “I don’t know if that’s necessarily true, but maybe. I’m not sure.”

Each environment has its own  limitations.  In clubs, for example, he doesn’t do any of his Christian material.  “I mention the fact that I’m a Christian in my show,” he said, “but I wouldn’t make fun of Christianity in a secular venue because everyone else is kind of already making fun of it. All the other comedians are all making fun of Jesus and stuff anyway. If I did it, it’s just piling on.” Whereas in Church he says, “I can be like, I’m on your team. I grew up in church, I love the church, I’m not angry at Christianity. I do think there are some things that are hypocritical about it.  But I love Jesus. Now that being said, here’s some things that I think we should be able to make fun of, just like any subculture will do with their jokes of that nature.”

On the other side of the coin, the downside of performing in Churches means no swearing, no jokes about sex, no stories about drinking, and you have to even avoid some hidden perils, like referring to living with someone before marriage. Not eery comic, including John, necessarily would want to touch on all of those topics, but still, the idea that there are places that are off limits can be, well…limiting.  “There’s a bunch of landmines all over the place that you gotta watch out for, but if you didn’t grow up in church it would be hard for you to know,” he said.  “It’s more than just doing a clean comedy show. I got in trouble for saying pissed the other day.  They said that was across the line.”  That type of self censorship is generally an anathema for stand up comedians. If there is a ‘religion’ to stand up, changing your material to suit your audience can be considered a comedic sin.  “A real traditionalist of comedy would be like, comedy is the last avenue of free speech you should be able to get up and say what you want up there,” he told us. “If a comic knew I was tailoring my show and taking out the word pissed because the crowd got offended they would be like, ‘you’re dumb dude you’re stupid for doing that. you’re going to let these crowds dictate your comedy or your message?”  But Crist justifies the compromise as just a part of the business, and says everyone edits even if they don’t realize they do. “Like a comic who does have a rape joke or an abortion joke- if the Tonight Show called and said we love your comedy we want to have you on the Tonight Show, we’re just going to have to have you take out that abortion joke, ten comics out of ten would say absolutely sounds good.”

There’s a tremendous upside to working with Christian audiences.  He likes being able to  exploit topics and material that other comics can’t address, and it allows him to write what he knows. “My Christian Mingle video is at 1.5 million views on Facebook [it’s now up to 1.7 million with another 200,000 on YouTube] and I honestly think that I might be the only guy who can make that video.  Because I am a Christian, I’m on the team and I have the confidence to go after the joke.”  Anyone can make a joke about texting and driving, he said. But taking on the sacred cows in the Christian faith, John says, is something he can own.

There are other benefits too. Working within a niche audience like the Church can be financially rewarding.   “I know comics that do only cruise ships or only churches or only clubs, or only colleges. Everybody, as they go along in their career finds their niche.” Sometimes, a niche can be detrimental to creativity, he said.  “A lot of guys who found their niche outside of the clubs kind of resent their audience.  I know a girl that does only colleges but she’s in her 40s now and she kind of hates college kids but she knows how to do the joke.”  But he doesn’t resent his audience and likes bringing comedy to a fan base that might not otherwise have a comfortable place to enjoy the art form.  “A lot of Christians become disgruntled with going into the comedy clubs,” he said, saying that if there’s 15-20 comics performing at a comedy club on any given night, easily half or more of those comics that have jokes about Jesus or Christianity or something faith based.”

Despite being a clean comic, Crist says he stays edgy.  “If you come to my club show, there are multiple times in the show where they say, oh man, he just went there, I can’t believe he just said that. It’s just not laced with profanity i guess is the difference.”

You can follow John Crist on twitter @JohnBCrist and you find out what he’s doing next at johncristcomedy.com.

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