Review

Comedian Michael Jr. has done a lot of gigs in a lot of places, everything from hole-in-the-wall comedy clubs to The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Oh, and lots of churches. As a Christian, he sums up his modus operandi like this: "If I'm in a club, my material has to be clean enough to work in a church. If I'm in a pulpit, it has to be funny enough to work in a club." Michael Jr. Like anybody in his line of work, Michael Jr. wants to make you laugh. For years, that was his main professional goal. But not long ago, one gig in an upscale California club changed his way of thinking. "I was praying before that show," he says, "and God sort of changed my mindset. I went from wanting to get laughter from people to wanting to give people the opportunity to laugh." After that same show, while hanging and laughing with some fans on the sidewalk out front, Michael Jr. saw a homeless man across the street his in a neighborhood where that's a rare sight. They made eye contact. Michael Jr. says he asked himself, "How could I take comedy to him? What would that look like?" What it looks like is what he did in the ensuing months, taking his routine to a youth prison in California, abused children in Colorado, a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, and those suffering with HIV/AIDS in Fort Worth, Texas. All of it was recorded for a new documentary, Comedy: The Road Less Traveled, which will screen in churches this fall before becoming available for general DVD sales after that. For Michael Jr., the experience so powerful that he has worked such events into his regular schedule; he seizes every opportunity to take his comedy to these groups, which usually include people who need to laugh more than anyone. Such gigs don't pay well, if at all; Michael Jr. sometimes even pays his own expenses to go to these places. Christianity Today recently chatted with the comedian about the film, his work, and Christians' sense of humor. (Click here and here to see a couple of his jokes.) You took your comedy routine to some places where people are really hurting. Tell a story or two that stands out from this experience. At the youth prison, one of the guys said, "When Michael Jr. made us laugh like that, he made us feel more human." I was blown away by that, because I never thought they were anything but human. At the Union Mission in LA (a homeless shelter), there was a meth addict on the front row. I remember him laughing really hard, hardcore belly laughter. I got a hug from him afterward, a hug like I'd never gotten before like he was feeling some kind of release. When somebody in bondage starts to laugh, it's like overcoming the devil. He didn't say anything at the time, but when I saw him some months later, he had completely gone straight. He said that that (comedy routine) was the day everything changed for him. He said, "I am free," and said he's now a youth pastor down there. I was amazed. And there was another guy down in Fort Worth at the HIV facility who said he hadn't laughed in over 20 years. Can you imagine that? Twenty years. Are you funny in person, or just on stage? I'm not that funny in person. If I was at a party, I'd be off to the side, usually just watching people. My comedy is mostly just observational humor. I observe what people do, and talk about it in a funny way. It's sort of a different kind of humor. You say that when you're in a club, your material has to be clean enough for church. And when you're in a church, it has to be funny enough for a club. It sounds easier said than done. --Christianity Today - Mark Morning

"Catch them with the comedy; keep them with the Truth. I thought that was a slogan, but I found out it was an assignment." - Comedian Michael Jr. Little did fourteen-year-old Michael Jr. know when he accepted a dare from a friend to provide the entertainment during a technical glitch at the cinema, that he would be where he is now, sharing the stage with the likes of the comic greats like Jerry Seinfield, George Wallace, Jay Leno and Chris Rock. As a young teen, and long before Michael Jr. became a Christian, he made a pact with a friend that the two of them should refuse to curse because it just wasn't an intelligent way to communicate. The threat of corporal punishment kept them accountable to the pact. "If I cursed, he would be able to hit me in the stomach really hard and vice-versa," Junior explains. On the day that the movie screen blanked, the dare to go up and tell a joke to the entire audience prompted the middle school student to move from his spectator's seat to center stage. However, in that moment the only joke Junior could think of was a dirty one. Since he couldn't pass up his friend's dare, but didn't want to get punched by his other friend for cursing, on the way down to the front he cleaned up the joke. "There were like 400 disgruntled people in this theater when the movie stopped. However, when I told the joke and everyone laughed," remembers the comedian, "seeing their reaction gave me this ultimate high-not that I've ever done drugs before." In retrospect, Junior recognized the purpose in what he was doing. "I could clearly see that this was God saying, This is what I have for you to do,' even before I came to Christ." Laughter that Moves You He's been compared to old-school Cosby mixed with the ease of Dave Chappelle. You might have caught him on Comedy Central, BET, Jimmy Kimmel Live! or The Tonight Show. You wouldn't notice it overtly from his spoof of MTVs Cribs or his "hard news"; interview with the Easter Bunny, but his comedy is far more than just another way to exercise your gut. His innovative approach to his gift moves the audience to stretch and think about life on a whole new God-level, whether they realize it or not. Before his standup debut at the movies, the comedian says he's always had a strange ability to take the mundane and ordinary, flip it upside down and wrong-side out, and etch out life truths. It really seems effortless; that's why he knows it is a special God-designed insight. That insight has helped Michael mold his approach to comedy that packs a punch into the punch line. "If I have a good hour, I will ask some questions," says Junior. "Then the audience gets really relaxed. Most answers are funny but every fourth one is serious." Unlike fellow comics, Junior isn't afraid of silence. In fact, he likes incorporating quiet moments into his shows. "Stuff can be way too noisy. I like just getting the audience to a place where they are still and contemplating in silence. I also move really slow, where I don't even give them the punch line so they can fill in the blank." Whether in a Vegas club or a church rally, this approach helps Michael Jr. administer the Truth everywhere he finds his feet. Laying the Path Michael Jr. was well into making a name for himself in the industry before he realized something was missing from the journey. The Grand Rapids, Michigan, native had moved to New York to jumpstart his career. "I was doing a show at the Comic Strip Live. It's a really hard club to get into. Somehow I found an in, and the manager was going to take a look at me. The manager asked me if I wanted to go on before George Wallace. He's a big name-he should have gone on before me. It was clearly God." --Cornerstone Connection Christian Magazine

"Makes a grown man laugh and cry." --Movie Guide - Ted Baehr

• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.25 x 0.25 inches; 3.2 ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Michael Jr.
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 40 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ February 21, 2011
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Michael Jr.
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Michael Jr. Entertainment
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2