#Tuestimony
*Part 2 of 2. My pursuit of Comedy.
For the first few years, my content was pretty vulgar and I used a lot of profanity. As I continued to grow in God, I started to feel guilty for my language usage on stage. So, over the past few years, Ive cleaned up my material tremendously. It was a hard task because I thought my jokes were great the way they were. I feared that if I removed the profanity from some jokes and gotten rid of jokes that were too vulgar in content (and couldnt even be cleaned up), then I wouldnt have any material. But I had Friends, Family, and even other Comics encouraging me and praying for me to follow my Spiritual instincts.
A milestone moment for me was in 2014 when I was asked to perform for 15 minutes at a Church. I was scheduled to be the 'Opening Act' for the Headliner who was set to do 35minutes. So, I performed my 15mins and then sat down with my Wife (GF back then) while other activities took place. Then the Church Event Organizers came running back over to me and asked if I could go back up for another 30 minutes... because they had just heard from the Headliner that he wasnt gonna make it due to a sudden emergency. Immediately I said "No, Im very sorry, but I dont have the material." I only had the 15mins of clean material that I already gave them! I had nothing left! Then my Wife asked if she could help me. The Church entertained the guests with music for about 10mins or so. My Wife and I sat down and quickly went over my repertoire of jokes. We figured out ways for me to clean up enough material for an additional 25minutes. So I went back to the Admins and said "Call me back up. Im ready!" And it was a blast! The audience had a super jolly good time! From that experience, I realized that I didnt have to be vulgar or profane to be funny. It increased my Faith to rely on God to give me the ability and creativity to be funny without using bad language or unnecessarily explicit/graphic content.
BUT.... dont let me fool you into thinking that my material is 100% G-rated... because it's definitely not! I still share some stories/jokes that are appropriate for Mature/Adult audiences that I wouldnt share in Church or in front of Children. However, I try to steer clear of profanity/vulgar language.
DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT KNOCKING ANYONE ELSE WHO USES PROFANITY OR VULGARITY IN THEIR JOKES. I STILL LAUGH IF THOSE JOKES ARE FUNNY. I'M ONLY SPEAKING FOR MYSELF BECAUSE OF THE GUILT I HAD FOR USING SUCH LANGUAGE IN MY OWN MATERIAL, WHILE WALKING IN MY FAITH. So if you curse and you're okay with it for yourself, then all good!
But as for me, I want to reflect God-In-Me in everything I do. And while I havent reached pinnacle-level Christianness (as if there is a such thing), I believe MY comedy is meant to Honor and Glorify God... and I dont think I was doing that to the best of my ability when I was cursing every other word.
I thank God for the Gift of Comedy.
I thank God for transforming my mindset about my material.
I thank God for convicting my Spirit when I slip up on stage and say something I shouldnt.
I thank God for my supporters; those who encourage, uplift & pray for me, and those who are entertained by me.
I thank God for what He already has planned and prepared for me.
#WontHeDoIt!
<Part 1 of "My pursuit of Comedy" was on last week's Tuestimony>