Honest Christian Conversations
A weekly podcast dealing with cultural and spiritual issues within the Christian faith.
Honest Christian Conversations
Does God Have A Sense Of Humor?
Do you think a pastor can do stand-up? Well, Pastor Michael Dennis is here to share his journey from the pulpit to the punchline. What started as a bucket list challenge has transformed into a meaningful way to connect with people who might never set foot in a church.
Check out Michael's Comedy: Instagram- @michaeldenniscomedy
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Who doesn't love a good laugh? I know I do. Who's your favorite comedian? For me it's hard to say now that I'm following Christ and I'm trying to live a more wholesome life. Back in the day I would have said David Spades always made me laugh. Joel McHale, chris Farley all the greats. I really like them, but there's one glaring problem and their comedy tends to be a little on the dirty side. I don't like that anymore. I'm not about that lifestyle, so therefore I have a hard time enjoying it. I still love a good Seinfeld episode, although that also has its problems sometimes. Frasier, that's another one of my favorites, but again, there's content issues. You can't have your kids wandering around because they might hear something that's not quite appropriate. Now here's the good news there are comedians out there who are making clean comedy. There's a whole bunch of them, and the best part is they're hilarious.
Speaker 1:And today's guest is a pastor slash budding comedian. I know it seems weird and maybe you're thinking crickets. That doesn't sound funny, but you're going to enjoy this episode. Michael Dennis is very funny. He's very humble and he's got some great stories to tell. Let's get to it. Before the episode starts, make sure you follow the show so you never miss another episode. Michael, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'm very excited to talk to you. You are a pastor, but you're also a comedian, and when I saw you on Podmatch it says a funny pastor. I'm like that was intriguing enough for me to keep scrolling. I saw a comedian and I was like huh, now I'm really curious. So I had to have you on. How long have you been a pastor?
Speaker 2:first of all yeah, so just over 20 years years I've worked as a full-time pastor. Wow.
Speaker 1:Are you still a pastor today, or has your comedian career just taken off?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know that is a common question. I work as a pastor right now, but the assumption is that I'm trying to parlay this into like a, you know, a comedy career. But really this is, I want to be a pastor, as long as the Lord allows me to do that, and the comedy is really just, you know, living in Austin and you know Joe Rogan is global, and then people are moving here, you know, because of what he's doing for our city, and so I kind of just stumbled into it and so it's just a hobby for me, but it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would think that it is. I watch a lot of dry bar comedy. I don't know if you've heard of that yeah. And yeah, I love it, especially because it's clean and if my kids walk in I have to be like. Whoa, it's. It's a skill to be able to make clean comedy, I think.
Speaker 2:I am.
Speaker 1:I mean to make people laugh when you don't have to use dirty humor. You know like anyone can do that. It takes a real comedic genius to be able to make it completely clean a whole set and have people rolling on the floor laughing. So yeah, I commend anyone who does that. I don't even think I could I have more of the kind of comedy you would find in Seinfeld. It's more sarcastic and you kind of have to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have to be in a situation and then I can come up with something really good, but I could never do stand up. I've got stage fright anyway. So there's that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. I've been a pastor so I've been on a stage for 20 years, so that feels comfortable. But it is completely different walking up into a room full of strangers and within seconds try to make them laugh and it is intimidating and I mean, golly, there's just times I get off the stage and I'm like why did I do that to myself? You think is funny or what. You sit around with your friends and you're just assuming a lot of context that when you stand up in front of strangers you don't have that context. And so you got to try to get to the punchline with as few words as possible and it's hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how was your first time doing it? How did you feel physically and emotionally? How did it go?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a blur, and so I'm a very process-oriented person. So, like even with sermons, I manuscript. I'm all about preparation, and so I spent months thinking about what I wanted to talk about, went and watched other people do it, and so I knew what I was, to try to basically calm my nerves and be prepared as possible. And I got done. It was only four minutes and at an open mic, and I go to my wife and I say how was it? Because I don't remember anything.
Speaker 2:I just said I mean it was just a complete blur.
Speaker 1:What did she?
Speaker 2:say Well, my wife is amazing as a pastor, like every sermon I've ever done. When I get done, she says that was amazing.
Speaker 1:And I know that's not true. She's very supportive, very supportive.
Speaker 2:And yet when it came to the comedy, she says you need to be more funny and so, just like you need more funny parts. And she was right, you know, because I'm used to having maybe three to five minutes to explain something and so you just have a lot of dead time to get to a funny part. So they say you're supposed to go for a punchline every 10 seconds.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean hey, at least you heard it from a source that loves you, right? You could have heard it from some harsh person who had choice words for you on how quote unquote well, you did. I mean constructive criticism is. It's difficult to hear, but I think it's a wise person who can handle it and respectfully listen to it and mull it over and tweak things accordingly.
Speaker 1:I've had people have to do that for me with the podcast. You know, and you either get mad at them or you realize that it comes from a place of love and respect for you, that they're wanting to help you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she was right. I mean, by the time I got to my car I was like I think I could, I could, I could do it make. I think I could make it funnier. And then my second time it was even worse. And then the third time is when I started I talk about being a pastor, and so I just kind of take advantage of that tension, because you have this context of where people are talking about really you know, graphic parts of humanity. And then I stand up and within a first sentence I'm like I'm a pastor, crickets, yeah. So I try to take advantage of that. And then I've just been really encouraged by how well people have responded, not necessarily to the comedy, but just the fact that I'm a pastor doing this, that there's been no attempt to kind of run me off or shut me down or shut me out. It's been just incredibly welcoming and friendly environment, and so that's been a huge benefit.
Speaker 1:Has your congregation been supportive of it?
Speaker 2:Oh for sure. And I was nervous early on because, at the end of the day, I don't I don't care that much about this that it's going to take the place of being a pastor.
Speaker 2:So I didn't want to give the impression that I was chasing after other things, but they, they just think it's, you know, silly and funny. I mean, one person in my church said you're not even that funny. What makes you think you can do this? I was like thanks, because like I'm not doing, I might say something laughter in the middle of a sermon.
Speaker 1:And sometimes he's not trying to either. I think that's the best kind of comedians, you know. They just kind of have that air about them. They're not really out there trying to make you laugh, they just they say something and it makes you laugh. I love the people who have dry humor, because they're not there for a show, they're just there being dry humor and it's hilarious to me. Have you had an experience at one of these comedy clubs that made you question if you wanted to continue doing it? Because I know a lot of times the comedy clubs have different types of comedians, so they may have colorful language, they may be talking about things that are not what you would be talking about. Do you ever have moments, or have you ever had moments, where you felt this may not be where you belong?
Speaker 2:100 like you know there's. I mean I've had other guys tell me like I can't put you on our show because you're going to change the whole, the whole temperature of of the room and you know the whole vibe. And we're in Austin, so it's a city and there's mostly it's mostly 20 year olds that are chasing after this dream and a lot of them are relying on shock and awe, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And then people are out drinking and laughing and having a good time, and then I'm up you know, it's a little kind of goody two-shoe kind of contrast. And I tell them I'm like, hey, you can make fun of me. And some of them have, but it is kind of like with fingers crossed, how's this going to go? Because you don't know how the room is going to respond. And so that's definitely had me have moments where I'm like, why, why am I doing this? And, and I think Nashville, I've been told, has a lot of clean comics because of guys like Nate Bargatze and others, but Austin really doesn't.
Speaker 2:There's really not very many and I just got asked to do a comedy show at a lock-in for high school students at 3 am 3 am.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And and they, they basically tell me they're like we want to make sure you're, like we need squeaky clean comics and there's not a lot of you will you do it, and so I'm one of. You know other a few others they found, but they're just not. So I'm kind of you know they're looking at the bottom of the barrel to find you know clean comics, and but that's okay. So I kind of have taken this approach more work for you guys, then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm going to say yes to everything that comes my way, so we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure it'll be good. Teenagers, they can be a tough crowd though.
Speaker 2:I don't even like teaching teenagers in our church. I'm not that guy, yeah. So I don't know how my wife was like why are you, are you doing this and well it'll be a good challenge she sounds hilarious too, you guys should do a duo together sometime?
Speaker 1:do you have aspirations to maybe go on dry bar comedy.
Speaker 2:I mean that would be great. I think it's really hard.
Speaker 1:I don't even know how good on.
Speaker 2:I think I was told you have to. Basically, it's like the mafia you have to get people that will vouch for you. So really well, maybe other touring comedians have to, kind of, you know, say like yeah, you should put them up. And you know what's that phrase about. You know you got to put in your time.
Speaker 1:I think they put in the work and everything yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I've definitely. I've only done it a little over a year, but every time, even if I'm just watching a show I'm learning. It's almost like a magic act with words and there's just so much kind of taking place with tone and word and pauses, like it makes all the difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you have two grown children, right. What do they think of this? Are they supportive? Do they are they? Are they like, oh, dad, you do they think of this? Are they supportive? Are they like, oh dad, you're embarrassing us, or something?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it started with what is he doing and then it transitioned to this is kind of sad, why is he doing this? And then I think, now they've come, our church has been doing some clean comedy shows, and so my son came to one and he saw other people laughing and he's like, oh, that was funny. So they just they haven't really had a chance to experience it yet and I mean, nothing in my life has indicated that this is going to be a track for me.
Speaker 2:And so it really came out of nowhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So how did you stumble into this after being a pastor? Did you just have so much comedy gold? I guess from some of the stuff that you're just like, you know what I can use this. Or was there a different way that it came about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I kind of I try to make a joke about that Like this guy hasn't got enough stage time already, he's got to come and do this. How much does he love being in front of people. It really came out of, you know, during the pandemic I was hanging out with some friends and in a sermon a couple of people will laugh, and so I thought, well, could I make strangers laugh, Because it's just different. And so I just kind of came as a bucket list, kind of dare, kind of do one time. I never anticipated that it would go further than that.
Speaker 1:That's how God works. Some of the stuff that we think is just a hobby or something fun, let's try it once, and then he does something with it.
Speaker 2:I mean yeah, early on there was somebody in my church. She said you should talk about being a pastor and I said that would be the worst idea. That's not. No, I'm not going to do that. And because I don't want to make fun of the church, I don't want to make fun of the world, and I was like so what am I? How am I supposed to do this? And then God just kind of gave me some ideas to try, and the first time I tried it somebody came up to me and they said, as soon as you said you were a pastor, like I started listening and that really just stood out to me of like there is something unique and most people they don't know pastors. So, aside from maybe somebody on TV, you know, and it's usually a negative portrayal and so I'm a little bit of a novelty to them also. And so that's been really the best part is getting to know these other people that are pursuing comedy and just getting in their world a little bit and building relationships with them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would think that that's a very good evangelism type of opportunity, a very unique one too.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:With some of the stuff that they joke about. I'm pretty sure they don't go anywhere near church. So to be near someone who is and see that there's a different side to comedy, see how you interact with them, it'll give them a new perspective of you know. Maybe church people aren't as bad as I've thought before, or maybe they can be funny, because a lot of times they think we're prudes or we're stuffy, we're boring, we don't do all these things. They can see that, yeah, we do, we just do them differently. We do them in a way that brings people joy and happiness, and you don't have to use colorful language or awkward things that make people feel uncomfortable. Your kids can listen to this comic. What is one of your favorite jokes to tell? Do you have one that every single time you do a set, you use that same joke? Or maybe you tweak it a little bit, but which one is your?
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Speaker 2:I mean probably just when I immediately say I'm a pastor and then I just I try to create attention of just to relieve that, but just say, like I'm not going to force Jesus on you, people will laugh just from that. I don't want them to give the like.
Speaker 2:People will laugh just from that. I don't want them to give them like it's going to be like a bait and switch and try to have a moral lesson no-transcript. So it's had some harsh criticism but I am proud of you for continuing even still, because it I'm not the only one on stage that's struggling or it's crickets or stumbling over their words and so kind of. The sport of it is such a high challenge that it creates a common brotherhood and sisterhood of people of like, hey, you're trying to do something, I'm trying to do, and it's incredibly hard, and so that's what you know just allows you to freely talk about it.
Speaker 1:How did you become a pastor? Was that something you always wanted to be?
Speaker 2:No, like. I grew up in Dallas, texas, which there's like mega churches everywhere, but my parents divorced when I was young. I was raised by a single mom. We moved a lot and so no one ever came and knocked on our door. And I saw Christians at school, but they were basically going to the same parties that I was going to. So I just never had any interest, no exposure to the Bible.
Speaker 2:But towards the end of high school I had a friend that talked to me about Jesus relentlessly and through that the Lord used it to change my life and I didn't have really any interest in being a pastor. I feel like I kind of stumbled into it. I just in college I ended up at a church that had a high value of teaching you how to study the Bible and how to share it with others and how to talk about Jesus. And so I, just I did those things as a young 20 year old. And then they would say, well, how about you lead this team and how about you, you know, try to do this? And then the next thing, I know I was in seminary and I mean early on just kind of like looking around, like what am I doing? And yet the Lord has allowed me to be in this role for, you know, 20 years, and so, yeah, I mean I feel a little bit like a kind of a snowball.
Speaker 1:Well, god definitely uses us when we don't feel equipped for it, and then he shines through. Yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad you followed the calling and I'm pretty sure your church benefits well from that. How different was your first time preaching from your first time getting up to do comedy? That's a good question. It's probably pretty similar to do comedy. That's a good question.
Speaker 2:It's probably pretty similar Because I didn't plan on being a guy who taught the Bible every week. I was in a larger church and so I thought I was just going to be in a supportive role. And then, when I finished seminary, a church called me to be a pastor to college students where I would teach every Sunday. And I mean, probably after like three sermons I was like what else do I talk about? And the lead pastor was like you just teach the Bible, go to a book, go verse by verse and chapter by chapter. When I started to do that, there was an older man that was there. I think he was actually. I never verified this, but people told me that he actually was on an old comedy show called Hee Haw.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you ever heard of that, so it's like he actually was on an old comedy show called Hee Haw. I don't know if you ever heard of that. I heard the name but never actually seen it.
Speaker 2:And as I was walking out, he said that sermon wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. So I was like I don't think that's a compliment.
Speaker 1:No, not quite, man. People are ruthless with you.
Speaker 2:It's crazy, I get feedback.
Speaker 1:Yeah, at least they're giving it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I mean, I like challenges and so I just I like the process. I like the process of putting together a message, and that's what I love about comedy. It's the process of how do you say this punchline and how do you get to it as concise as possible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, so do you feel comfortable giving us some comedy gold?
Speaker 2:Oh, I don't know if I have comedy gold.
Speaker 1:Comedy bronze.
Speaker 2:I'm trying, I don't really have one linliners. They're kind of stories, and so I just turned 50 this year and so I'll say things like I liked being 50 when I was younger. There was no telling how smart I was going to be and all the things that I would accomplish, and now I know this is it. This is as high as.
Speaker 1:I'm going to get.
Speaker 2:And then I talk about walking into a Wells Fargo bank, the actual building, and the lady behind the counter is like, hey, everything you need is online. And I'm like, yeah, well, I'm already here. And she says, yeah, but everything you need is on the app. And I say, look, lady, I work as a pastor and so I already deal with one invisible entity all day. I want to see my overdraft fees face to face, like a normal human being. So a lot of things like that. They're just real experiences. I literally was in a bank and there was no employee or customer in the bank and it was the weirdest experience for me especially being 50, because I remember going into banks were a big deal.
Speaker 2:And you know, you get a piece of candy and you have marble like columns and then now it's just a ghost town.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I can relate to that. Is there a way that anyone can contact you if they are looking to maybe book you for an event that they want to do, or if they just want to give you some feedback?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, probably the only thing would be Instagram is I have Michael Dennis comedy on Instagram and I mean I haven't even thought about like being booked for an event, you know, outside of Austin, so that'sgarity. There's a lot of people moving away from that. They're over it, they're tired of it.
Speaker 1:They don't want to see all that stuff anymore. We want something with substance and if you can have a comedian who can make you laugh for a certain amount of time and they don't have any of that problematic stuff.
Speaker 2:he says I think I want to try to do clean and I want to try to craft my material without the cuss words and it'll be a good challenge for me and he's like I think it'll be better for me professionally and so even from a career perspective he's seeing the door is wider with clean comedy and that's really a unique perspective just on the history of comedy.
Speaker 1:I know, yeah, george Carlin, and all the quote unquote greats.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Can't listen to them.
Speaker 2:with kids around, and that's where you know, I grew up listening to Eddie Murphy Like that was probably my first exposure, my mom, took me to go see Eddie Murphy in the movie theater when I was maybe like 10. Wow, and so that's why I never thought that I could do comedy, because those people were just talking about things and doing things. And so it's just recently where you see people that are just talking about life and presenting it in a way that's, you know, it's fun to laugh Like I. Like your scripture, ecclesiastes 3.
Speaker 2:Like I was talking with somebody and they're like yeah, is God, you know? Does God laugh, like is this really something you know? And I'm like, yeah, like I think he has a great sense of humor. Have you heard a?
Speaker 1:fart, not to get weird, but have you heard that he would not make it that funny if he did not have humor?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, thank you so much, Michael, for coming on and talking with me today and sharing some jokes. Laughter is a good medicine, you know, soothes the broken heart. It does so much so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And God's using it. I mean that comic telling you that you know he wants to try clean comedy. You don't get people saying that unless they see the benefit of it, unless they see the fruit of how good it really is. So that's really encouraging to see that some people are doing that. I know Adam Carolla. I don't know if you know who he is yeah. He just recently did one, maybe two comedy specials with Dry Bar Comedy.
Speaker 1:He admits the first one that it was really hard for him and you could tell the poor guy I mean, I used to listen to him when he was on a radio show back in California but you could tell that it was not easy for him to do. I kind of want to see a second one to see if he really stepped up his game in that one.
Speaker 2:But yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that. I saw him do that set and I was really curious to see how and I like that he just embraced it like this is really uncomfortable for me and yeah. And then I think he even had one joke that maybe kind of went maybe a little flat and then just you know kind of acknowledge that and yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you love it, you love to see them trying. That's what's most important, is that they're trying and it's sharpening their skills too, because I mean, like I said, anyone can come out and make a joke and just throw F-bombs or whatever out and get some laughs, but it takes a real skill to be able to make someone do that same laughter. And you didn't need any of that graphic material.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and especially when you don't swing to the other side and you know you can and just do kind of cheesy puns. You know, like we have a show this Saturday and you know I told the guys like you don't have to make church Bible references, just do it normal, because they'll try to force their one Bible joke. They know, and I was like, just be normal. Not everybody there is from our church, not everybody there has a faith background. I think that's what people are really drawn to, just like oh, these are just normal conversations and they're finding the lighthearted part of life and when everything else is so serious, I think people are really gravitating towards it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have you heard of Michael Jr?
Speaker 2:That sounds really familiar.
Speaker 1:He's pretty hilarious. He's a Christian comedian and he does some really good stuff. He's really hilarious and then sometimes he'll get deep too and just share things at one of his events, but then he follows it back up and makes it lighthearted so it almost would feel like I guess maybe like a mini sermon, but most of it is laughter. It's really fun. Michael Jr comedy I think that's what his handle is everywhere. But yeah, I love comedians. I definitely love to laugh, and if you can give it to me without all the dirt, I love it even more.
Speaker 1:And I'm excited to see what he's going to do with your comedy gold.
Speaker 2:Yeah, comedy gold. Yeah, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Yeah, no problem, I'm glad we got to connect. This has been really fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it has. Thank you again for coming on. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, leave a review for the podcast wherever you are listening, or click the link in the show notes. If you have feedback for me, use the leave a message or voicemail links also in the show notes. You can check out my website honestchristianconversationscom to leave a review or feedback as well. Join the community and become part of something bigger than yourself. Lastly, sign up for the mailing list and get the free seven-day devotional as a thank you gift. Once again, thanks for listening. I look forward to our next conversation.
