Dude, thank you, thank you for coming out here.
Honored to be here, brother, honored to be here.
It's been so fun to like take the deep dive with you before you come.
You know, when did you first realize you were funny? Oh?
Man?
Did you know that? Or did someone tell you?
Or I mean, well, I mean guess somebody's people still have to tell me now, Like my girlfriend or like anybody in the relationship with me is like, dude, you're like the top the top twenty touring comedian for like the last ten years. I'm like, yeah, I don't know if we want to do it next year. You know what I'm saying.
Does that make sense? Yes?
When did I start.
Knowing I was funny? I mean probably?
I remember in college I was working in journalism at that I was doing the news. I would do like the TV news for the school and they would they would have to do it on the teleprompter. They'd have to type everything. This morning, three people were involved in a wreck and he needed to read it exactly, and I was like, let me just like I go, just put the bullet points on it, and I like riff, and they're like, no, you can't guess that's not how the news works. And somebody's like, you should if you
like to do that, you should try comedy. Should I stand up comedy?
Now? Is that the first time you heard that?
That's the first time ever. I mean I like comedy growing up. I like loved Kings of Comedy, of Kat Williams, all all those guys, Tim Hawkins, Brian Reagan, but I never thought about to do it to Like I liked to watch Jay Leno, and I asked my dad when he took me to tour colleges. He just, what do you want to do? And I go, if I could do anything, I go, I want to be Jay Leno.
What do you say?
I mean, He's like, well, let's look into let's look into pre law. Yeah, they're like I remember I called my parents and told him Mike was quitting my job to become a comedian. That wasn't that wasn't there proud as day that we're not happy about that?
Man?
So many questions, I guess, first, how did you even learn about those guys? I mean, you grew up a pretty pretty strict household, Arry, right, so how did you even learn.
About Jay Leno?
Okay, well, yeah, that's the only I guess I didn't want to. I don't want to host a late night show. But that was the only guy I knew that was doing comedy for a job. Sure, I got that well cause I heard he would be like in high school, Like towards the end of high school, we got a TV. It's like we didn't have it. We were homes school. We have a TV growing up in eighth grade I went to private school, and then probably tenth grade, we got a TV.
In my house.
So then, I mean I didn't live on a rock. I knew about things. But I go that guy does that every year about you know Bill Cosby or you know Cedric the entertainer. Like, I don't think they do it for a job. I've seen their like comedy, I don't know what I've seen them their VHS tapes or whatever. That's not it can't be a job.
It's like letting off steam.
Aside from yeah, he probably has like a nine to five and then he goes to the thing yeah yeah, yeah, or like but I didn't know that was even impossible. And then I remember going, I if I could do anything, I could be a stand up comedian. And then it was kind of comedy. It's weird now that comedy is such. It was it's so like mainstream like you see comics at like the Inauguration is wild.
Is wild?
Comedy was and always still kind of is like a like an outside of like these guys don't fit in, these guys are critiquing, these guys aren't part of the culture. It's always like kind of a like an underground type situation like I would. I remember I saw The Kings of Comedy. First of all, me my high school best friend, snuck into the theater to see Martin Lawrence run till that it was like his comedy special in two thousand and two. We had to sneak out to see it
was it was r rated because it language. And then my college roommate he snuck The Kings of Comedy in two our and we watch that on DVD. And then Kat Williams again, somebody like snuck. It was always it was always comedy was always kind of like that, yeah, or like comedy is not I never knew about anyone doing it for a family or like that didn't make sense to me. I never heard of that.
Well, it's weird because you you mentioned in your book that like when that people need comedy only when they're trying to forget about the problems in their life.
Basically is what you said. Yeah.
Yeah, and so if comedy now you're making the argument that it's becoming more mainstream, then you're also kind of implying that lives are getting worse, right, Yeah, you know what I mean?
Again, Say that again, let me think think about that. Yeah, say that again.
So if it once upon a time comedians only existed in a world where people needed to hear them to forget things, they were kind of niche. But as it grows and it's it's at the inauguration, yeah, then that would mean that more and more people need to forget about the problem.
Yeah.
Well yeah, well that's not a good sign. I guess it's like alcohol, it's like a session proof.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah.
I think I think like the idea that like comedians, you like comedians are famous is is weird? Like that there's I mean not even like the eighties nineties you go like Larry the Cable Guy, Jeff Fox, where the Jay Leno, like the guys there wasn't you would just go even in the early two thousands. You would just go to the comedy club. You wouldn't look up who was there. You would just go.
Yeah, you wouldn't. It wouldn't right.
You would just go to comedy. Comedy was for everyone, so there was no You would just go to the comedy club. And this guy was joking about everything, just like the Tonight Show is everybody now the Tonight Show is, you know, diminished in viewership, and there's like half a million Tonight shows and podcasts. So people go, they rock with you, they go instead of watching Jimmy fallon, I'm gonna come here for an hour. Yeah, and everybody, all of us have like a little one five hundredth of it.
That's right.
And then people you walk through the airport, most people, I would say, don't know who you are with. The people that do are like, oh Mike, yeah, they're saying with me, yeah, They're like, I can't believe because in their algorithm or world, you're the biggest thing. So it's weird because it's very strange.
And we have Samsung TV. Yeah, and so Amber and I we're gonna watch a show at night, and when you first turn it on, it like advertises itself and comes up with whether Samsung TV has its own programming. Sure, right now they're running Letterman, like old reruns from eighties and nineties, over and over and over, highlights, And so I would turn it on. It would come on and I would find a shit. But then I would turn on and kind of wait a little bit, find a show.
And now I'm like turning on and just sit there and watch Letterman and they see what's going on here and just remember Man. I like, it's such a flashback to you know, to when I was younger, and that's a different kind of comedy. And the guys that he has on and they come, like when he has another late night guy come on and sit next to him. You could tell he said, you know, how, how's your day?
She was pretty good? You know Mom called this morning. And you're like, oh, this is a bit. Oh he's doing a thing.
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's like, have you done any vacations lately, Letterman says, and the guest goes, yeah, you know, we went to Disney World.
You know what's crazy about Disney.
Like, oh oh the comics would go into the thing. Yeah. I think the that era of I think that's why that era of like comedy is like people don't rock with it anymore because you now a regular person. It's kind of like that's a he's doing a thing. He's doing a thing, and I probably I bet if you know, Tom Cruise or whatever would come on, he's probably same, Yeah, but what's been going on? He goes, oh, yeah, they
go prompt me with three or four things. Now the pros if he had one of his best buddies on there, they were like, we got it, we can just yeah, we got it. But or like Martin Short has been on that show probably a thousand times. Yeah, he goes, we got it for someone brand new, They're like, you got to help us.
Yeah. It would be like you and you show up and I go, John, how would your trip in?
You go landed in the Austin Airport, Man, I got some tacos and and and there would just.
Be a thing.
You just sit quietly like I was just doing this bit.
Yeah.
I think that era of comedy is like the I mean, I bet you probably saw it. No, I bet you do see it in country where like the era of like and he's one of my favorites of like like the Brad Paisley era of like joke, you know, like early two thousand that was awesome that and now country is more like in its feelings a little bit, a little bit more like you know, you got Zach Bryan Morgan, guys talking about not their mental health but struggles in.
A little ego.
I feel like I know this guy versus the Keith Urbans versus, Like that guy's a character. Maybe does that make sense?
That makes sense? It does. I watched today this morning.
I watched to refresh myself on the transfer portal, the Country Music Transfer portal.
Yeah, oh I should have put you in there.
Yeah we lost are transferred out. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, that we transferred out.
Yeah.
I think he's doing well. Yeah, he's transferred. He's transferred into Christianity.
Bro. Well yeah, so speaking up, there's like vividly remember one time finding you as as the church planner in the.
South to shovel. Oh yeah, planting a church.
You're like planting a church like this town really needs it. And then you clearly see that there's a church.
Right behind you. No, no, you know, pan the camera this way and clearly there's a church over here.
There's like three churches.
Yeah, there's never really needs that they're impoverished.
And clearly there's a million doll neighborhood right right, and that is.
The South Man.
Yeah, dude, well all of my I feel like when I everybody sometimes, I mean for me, that's like a joke, but not no, it's not. Yes, it's funny, but it's like framed in humor, but it's something that I all my comedy is that I lay in bed at night ago this doesn't make sense and all and all the three of those churches probably hate each other too, like you're going over to Yeah.
Where do you stand with that?
Man?
I say in my shows. I mean, my dad's a pastor for thirty years. I grew up in a Pentecostal church. I say for this country that I have said this from the beginning, that the local churches our only hope. I said, And I one time I had an idea. I go, everybody should just GPS their church, and then all the people that live if you GPS the other one right in the middle, whichever one you're closest to,
you're in charge of them. So I go mental health groceries, kids rides to school, if there's a single parent house helping with the kid. That church is in charge of that radius until it gets to the other one and then you go to them.
Mhm.
And I was like, maybe that would save the world.
But I don't know.
There's a lot of fighting, a lot of with the with the churches, you know.
I mean, I don't disagree with you that that's how a church should be operating. I always agree with your your jokes about it. So where does John Chris go to church?
Now? Do you go to church? Yeah?
Yeah, me and my girlfriend go to Ethos?
Is your pastor like better better our pastor?
It's it's one of those churches that he wouldn't No, I mean he knows of me. I think. I don't know.
But is Ethos or shop or a church?
Yeh, We're gonna play a fun game today.
Is this a church or a weed shop?
We are in the parking lot of Higher Path Church or a weed shop? I gotta get out for this path, ladies and gentlemen.
Is a dispensary?
Come on?
Puff puff give? Is that the name of their building? Fund?
Nice?
Yeah, it's.
It's probably both Ethos. It probably is a dispensary, probably in Portland. There's a dispensery called Ethos for sure. Oh yeah, that is funny. I never thought of all that.
Yeah, it is.
It is kind of we we rent, they rent, uh Marathon Music Works.
Oh yeah, yeah. It's a good building.
Yeah, great building.
Yeah.
So we're kind of in there and it's kind of a yeah.
I don't know.
I guess I don't really if the pastor was like, hey, dude, let's get up and, you know, have coffee or something, and then I heard about someone else in the church that was trying to meet up with him and couldn't. I wouldn't want to be shown favoritism or something like that. You know. I just had to kind of go when our Bible study is unbelievable. We go every Monday night.
And yeah, but because you want to have coffee with him, because you want to talk about something, wouldn't be favoritism.
You know what.
That's a fair point range or I didn't think about that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, well he was asking anything from him besides what he's actually supposed to do.
Shepherd, Oh, that is what he's supposed to do. You know.
That's a good point. Yeah, I guess you see a lot of yeah, I think we like it. But he has like my our pastor has like a flip phone, doesn't have a doesn't have the internet, doesn't have a you know, he's not cutting up his sermons and putting captions on him for TikTok, and that it really wasn't supposed to be a joke. But yeah, I think that that like when I was when I was starting. I started comedy when I was twenty five. I'm forty now, so I think.
I was kind of it.
You know, I just come from you know, my dad being a past a lot of the joke because I think the where the where the Christian I guess comedy started is my dad was a preacher. So I would see, yeah, him kind of bring home some of this, like hey,
we are like kind of behind on this mortgage. We need to do like a sermon series on money, you know, like I would, I would kind of see and then I would see behind, and then I go, well, or like there's a better example, or like the worship pastor was a buddy of ours, and he would tell me and the worship pastor son about how he like mutes one of the mics for one of the singer women
because she's not good. But they like yeah, yeah, yeah, but they like kind of kind of very yeah, they kind of like are very involved in the church and maybe give and volunteer. So he goes, I'm not gonna so me younger. Me goes, right, these we really want to encourage people to sing and use their gifts for the Lord. But I go, well, you we heard, so I think that was kind of where it all and a lot of when I was starting twenty five youth group,
lots of those kind of jokes. And I'm forty now, I think the maybe a lot of my like thoughts about like those huge megachurches and the money and the private jets I've kind of I don't know, maybe I just think it's maybe like a little silly, like I don't feel the need to like we gotta uncover them
like I used to. I think I'm just are you used to, yeah, Or that those jokes would would come out of a place of anger oh wow yeah yeah yeah, And when I would miss on comedy, people would be like, dude, this is like if this wasn't so true, this would be funny. Like it was a little too like a knife because I was very angry.
How in the world do you find the balance when you're writing, Yeah, this is too true to be funny, Like usually things are funny.
Are actually true.
Yeah, and but you have to wrap it enough in humor to let it carry or like people's not gonna share it, like if you are very angry about One of my first jokes that I remember when viral was a sketch called Christian Girl Instagram, So two thousand and what eleven or twelve, people would post photos of their Bible and be like love it, like not helping anyone understand scripture, or just be like there's a Bible highlighter, a girl with a purity ring, two beth More books
in the back, a sunrise fresh cut like fruit and oatmeal. And I was like, this photo took an hour. You didn't read the Bible, And I go, Now, if you're posting the Bible and saying I read Joshua six and I really learned it, that's great. But I posted that and it was it was funny enough. I was like, put all, move all the US weeklies and the you know, the Gatoray because you're drunk. Last I moved those out of the photo and just put and everybody was like, dude,
this is and that went huge. But I was angry at that. I was angry at That's what was led to that expression of it. I think when I met I never missed because I'm like too zany or too like quirky. I always miss because it's too it's too angry, or like I'm too I'm so frustrated. But I can't like all the darkness that I watched the news, social media, the airport, the traveler, and it's I try to get it to come out as a rainbow, and sometimes it it's stuck in there.
It's got to be a thing. Right with other.
Comics, yeah, that everybody. Every comic is very very sensitive to the world too, injustice to you know, so you can my girlfriend can just let stuff go. I go, no, we gotta, we gotta go talk to him. I can't, Like I wanted to go confront a guy in the street because he had a loud muffler where else sitting out there. She's like, no, just let it.
I go.
I'm going to talk to him. She's like, no, dude, you're gonna get killed. You're not gonna talk to him because I can't drives me crazy. It drives me like, that's what's funny. Yes, that is also what's funny.
Michael likestance in your in your your latest special, you you start talking about the fourth or drive because of the neighborhood apps, and you're like the people getting on the neighborhood apps talking about the dogs.
You know.
Yeah, I start.
Laughing because that's that's our day, that's this area, and and it's my dogs. A lock up my dogs. They get scared of the fourth of July.
Yeah. But if you if you you get something in your head and you go, I think other people think this and the ones to go viral. Is that hit y'all? And you go, yep, this is us. We know this scenario or where whatever side you're on the protect the dogs or to make fun of there. Then it goes. But sometimes you go everybody else, y'all right, and everybody goes, no, we don't know what y'all don't think. No, we're y'all are fine with that. They're like, yeah, so how do
you test that? I mean, you can't with a sketch video, you can't. You just I'm trying to think of something that is bombed for me recently.
So you do a sketch video. If it does well, then you could actually put it in. No sketching that cauld stand up are totally differently. It's live stand up comedy Monday Tuesday night. We got to open Mike Night. Try everything.
That's to try, try everything because tomorrow I'm in I'm in Branson, Casey and Saint Louis this weekend. And those are if you pay two hundred bucks and got a hotel night and put on a collared shirt. I can't be trying jokes that are new. I'll try them on Monday Tuesday. If they work, you can kind of massage them enough to maybe include them.
And that's always been a thing, like like like Seinfeld.
That yeah, now that's fun though. That's if you like some guys I got. I'm working on my fifth hour of material. Probably I've been doing it for fifteen years.
If you just.
Go out on the weekend with nothing new, it's boring.
I want to try.
Like my buddy last night said, he's like, I have a guy in my work that I don't like, and he's like, we're going over to their house for like a barbecue or somebody's going to meet their kids. He goes, I hate their kids. He doesn't even know them. But he's like, I don't like the guy. So I got, I'm not gonna like the kid. Yeah, and then he goes, I'm surprised because I got I like this kid, and he's like, I already hated him. It's a funny idea.
All it is currently is just and I just he was telling us that at dinner and I just wrote it down. I just wrote it down.
What appened to you?
No? Yeah, so I don't know what ages you have? Oh, I mean on my desk top of my computer, I have green, yellow, and red. So green is like stuff that works. I'm doing now currently probably ten pages yellow stuff that I've tried didn't really work. Might try to get it back in, Might try to get it from a new angle. Twenty five and red a thousand, a thousand, and I never have deleted anything, just the thousands ago.
That's funny. And then people go no, And that's what's great about comedy is people are like, how this guy could say all this? We don't if we need you, we need the crowd to take it. We can't do by ourselves. We can't do anything. Yeah, So if the crowd doesn't be like.
Like, how come this comedian gets to say all this?
I we can't say no, we're just a reflection of what everybody's thinking and what we try to be. And if sometimes you go, you know, different areas of the country, different different jokes, different things are funny different as a believer, like comedy, you have to cross the line for it to be funny. Otherwise it's not funny because you're sitting at dinner. Sitting at dinner, he goes, all right, is it just me? Or was that waitress? You said the
thing that everybody was thinking? Right, So it's across the line of social norms. That's what makes it laughter. Right as you go, did anyone else notice it? Or flies down? Or whatever you said it? It's not supposed to be said now as a believer, and this line's always moving depending.
On what you like.
You say different things with your wives. Probably here, not because it's inappropriate, but just because or if there's kids, that's a better example. There's kids here, don't so this line is here, and there's a believer, there's a line out here that you don't want to cry. I wouldn't want to be disrespectful to someone. I don't want to make someone cry or like makes it hurt someone's feelings. So these lines are tough every night, and on the internet.
Sometimes you post something hilarious live and everyoney's like, this is hilarious because they opted in to come to your show. They consented. Now it's on the algorithm and this person's like, I hate this guy. I was like, oh, shoot, I forgot. When we were here, we're all kind of joking about this, and now in the context of the show, and now it got to some people that don't love it.
You go through those comments, I guess you kind of have to.
Write ah yeah, yeah, Well mostly I just see the if it's going in the right direction, like the views if they if they don't like it, they just don't like it. Yeah, now I'll make sure. I'll just look at the comments the first hour to make sure nothing is going wild. But that I mean, you look for the negative. You scroll the y of course. Yeah, lots of people.
Say positive, positive, love you love you, This is so funny.
Yeah, you're an idiot, look at it.
Yeah, And I think that is like, uh, that's probably a larger conversation. But I think if I remember, I wrote him in my book about how when I was getting the first time I got like huge in like twenty eighteen, I would see all these people were lined up like the green room. One time was overlooking the parking lot and there was like the doors weren't opening. It's a line like around the and I just I go, you gotta you gotta close these windows.
I can't look at that.
I don't that. And these people were so happy and get where they had their tickets and you know, like waiting in line for like a this is the thing we've been waiting for.
It's the best.
And I go, I don't feel that way about myself. Yeah, obviously I can't look at this. So when somebody does say, I remember I was in rehab in twenty nineteen, and I remember, and I was drinking a bunch, and I remember.
I didn't have a phone.
We were like out in Wickenberg, Arizona, middle of nowhere, like it Dow. It's just like mental health, like restored. There was therapist there. You were like hiking, doing yoga, all these things, right, and they would be like John, we just want to let you know you're a good man. You're worthwhile and you're a valuable human being, and you made some mistakes, but we're proud of you for And then I I was so uncomfortable with that. I would go after I would go on Twitter and look for
bad stuff about myself. Wow in that while Wow, because I didn't. I didn't. I got that cannot be true. That cannot be true, because look at all these people like and you were like, hey, you're a good man, and and you were proud of you and I just hearing that and you go and I wasn't my I remember confessing that to them and they were like, yeah, people, it's pretty common.
I mean, it's it's theological.
It's like it's like, yeah, it sounds like a Bible verse or like a parable or something like that. Do you go these things that people and nobody knew who I was there and all the all the there's a bunch of twenty five other guys there and they're like, what's up where you're from?
And I was like.
They all thought I was cool. They didn't know I was popular, they didn't yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I remember everybody going, we love you, dude, and I go, well, this can't be and I would go on the internet and find because I because I think what that does, looking for those negative comments, you go this, this, this, I am familiar with this. Yeah, this is at least comfortable to me.
Man I strangely, that's crazy interesting.
I remember so many times when we would be like at a playing affair or festival outdoors and the line would come out past the buses. Yeah, and so we would sit in the bus. They can't see through the we would be sitting watching them in line, and they're like standing there and they got their you know, their drink and their tickets, and they're talking and they got the shirts on hats, and I would just I couldn't help but feel like I'm gonna let these people down.
There's like I'm fooling him right now. They're in line, they bought a ticket, they're going to a show, and they've been deceived because I'm not what they think I am.
Yeah, and that's.
Such a great idea of who we are. I don't know if anyone doesn't feel that, because we're not created to be worshiped in that way.
I mean, yeah, it's a public figure. I don't think anyone. Everyone everyone I know and you've probably the same. We've had the opportunity to meet the people we look up to, and then we go, dude. When I was and everybody's like, yeah, right, no.
One goes.
Whenever someone comes to me or you and goes you whatever. When I was going through a divorce, we used to watch your stuff and it would encourage us. Or I remember somebody sent us a letter. It was like seven pages and I told my assistant, she goes here and I go, I can't, I can't read it. Yeah, she goes why I go. Either way, I don't know what it is. But either way, if it's you saved my life, that's uncomfortable. It was like, I hate you. That's uncomfortable.
Yeah, but.
I guess what's odd is that we were I'm still out on the road looking for that or I don't know what I'm looking for exactly because I got that's not y'all are. I feel the same way about when youwhere in the bus and everybody's like, that means people, But then so what exactly are where do we You want everybody to love you or something maybe to confirm
that you but there's never Yeah, there's never enough. So you go, oh, we sold out the fair and then you go, will soon so sold down on the pre sale, right, and you go, okay, notch down that.
Yeah, we brought in another bleacher system.
Yeah for that. Hey look at this sold out. Yeah, you're like, no, I think that's always always. I told my therapist, I go, when I'm at my worst, like I wake up in the morning and like, let's say this whole wall is like a blank, I would go, oh videos going viral. Plus one reached out for a guy to be on my podcast, didn't respond. Minus one
girlfriend didn't think whatever was fine. Minus one. Uh, parents thought your thing is the best plus one and you're all day plus minus plus minus plus minus plus minus all day reset every day. Does it rese reset every day? Yeah, and there's never it never.
Ever cares, no rollover minute.
I wish there was. Yeah, Well the well the plus is they don't care. It's not a it's not a one to one.
Yeah.
Yeah, like people liking your videos, you could have a million people would be like we this guy. One person is like screw this guy, and you're like, well that's a million. Yeah, that's a million negatives. So yeah, when I met my I feel like everybody would would think that, oh we still when we pull people back to everybody wants to come backstage, right, can we give it backstage pass this week? And especially when you do like an
arena show. And I was talking to I think the guys in the in the travel with us, I go, you know what's wild about this? Is there? There there's nothing back here?
Is there? You? There's nothing? There's nothing back there?
And I go, what I think, what's the best part about this is being in an arena ten thousand people and I go walk up to the front and you have a lanyard and that security guard is going to go, y'all too, that that's the benefit. Yeah, there's nothing back here. Yeah, but you want to be Hey, all these other regular people y'all two?
Yeah, isn't that's it? Yeah, that's it.
There's no I want to be backstage.
I want to come back cinder bathrooms and and you know me, you're my cousin.
We see each other.
Yeah a lot. That Yeah, that that really bothered me. We can have lunch next week you like, wherever you want, like privately, we could you want. But but.
If we're doing that on a macro level by touring, and then you just want to be I mean in everybody's relationship. I'm sure at everybody's job, employee of the month, you just want to be.
And that's.
That's we're not running into a parable again, that's the same thing.
Yeah, standing in a meet and greet line and see family in the line. Yeah, what do you guys? Do you see you after when you go to breakfast? Yeah? What are you doing?
And you're taking up you know, you don't mean to sound like that if you're taking up time for other people.
Yeah, everybody, what's the road? We're all on the same road kind of, you know.
And then if you.
Get, if you get, why is it so? Why is it why he makes you so angry when you get cut off in traffic because it's like, hey, everybody, that guy said we're all going you second. Yeah, I'm first, your second, and.
That you don't. You're not going to be late to work.
He goes, I'm priority in front of you. You are secondary, and he goes, this confirms I think this confirms all the other stuff I already think about myself.
We should do like they're doing Asia, where they just just all like a zipper.
Yeah, I think they do it everywhere. It's not just the asia of it like they do in Asia. But why is that such a it's such a like if you were like, I'm trying to think one of the most If you were like, if I just got the Tonight show and the President was like, let's meet up for lunch and you are awarded times greatest Person of the Year, you wouldn't probably being cut off probably wouldn't bother you. You're like, yeah, my identity or whatever is secure. I know this doesn't.
But if you're so, where's the line?
Yeah, where is that for you?
You thought about it?
You got time Person of the Years, that's a line. Oh that's too far. You get to have lunch with the president. He wants to tell you how funny you are.
And aware if I do, I think that's what you and watching your journey is I think you go. I could be wrong. I let's speak for you. But you go, oh, there's nowhere to get Yeah, you're right, there's nowhere. If you go we did this tour, well, like, well, I'm we're say I'm going to Saint Louis on Saturday. Well, we sold it out with like a month in advance, well, next time, we might do two shows there. And if we do that maybe yeah, uh, if we did three,
then we could get to the arena. And you go, that's what you're saying, right, And then and then and then well where Well? I think one of the ending chapters in my book is is, uh, you go, what if I started comedy when I was twenty five? Like, I want to be on the Tonight Show? Right, I want to be on Tonight Show. That would be my dream. So submit an audition. You work for five years, get up five good ben at submit an audition.
Tip.
They don't like it. You try to do your way. Yeah, you try to. You work the road, try to perfect it, try to craft it, try to if I get that.
If if I got it, then.
I would be If I got and I got this, that thing.
Would be.
You find you're sixty five and you finally crafted it and you went in there and you did it, and you're and then you walked out and you're in a sidewalk in Burbank, waiting for the waiting for the uber, and you go, shoot, that wasn't it. That's what I think we're saying, right man, You go, oh, this wasn't because everybody goes, if you're not a believer, you're not a Christian, you're hoping in a better tomorrow. Right, I'm gonna get promoted, I'm going to get a new car,
I'm gonna get a I'm gonna the president. The next president is going to be the one that solves it for me one day. One day.
There's a little book called Ecclesiastes that you know heard of it?
Yeah? It meaning yeah, yeah, yeah, you go.
What, well what I think That's what a lot of celebrities have verbalized. And I think what you have said, and they go, well, I think it was Jim Carrey or some of that. I wish everybody could be rich and famous for like a day so they could realize it's not there.
Yeah.
Whatever, whatever we're looking for out here, it's not here. It's not If I'll tell you this, if it was here, me and you would have found it. Yeah, and then we would have been telling people. You'd have a course. You're like, this is how you and what you're saying is I think in my maybe my rehab journeys maybe helped me in that direction a little bit. He goes, hey, you're saying it's not here or it's not there.
Yeah, it's not. In two hundred and.
Fifty days on the road and a tour bus away from your family, you're saying it's it was, it's not there.
I remember having we had a party for a number one song in the world and it was on music Row, you know, and all that. You know, all the hoos who come and we're all chatting and it feels awesome. I remember I went home that night and the thought was, well,
what's the next single? Yeah, and then the label starts calling, and then that then it goes to to build on this, and then people say yeah, so and so you know Mike in Boston it's not really he's not really into this this new single, and it's like.
What the radio?
Oh yeah. It all ended like the number one party and all that. It it didn't fix anything. It didn't get us anywhere. Yeah, I mean, of course you build a little bit, but help.
Yeah, but it didn't.
What would be enough of a second one? No, fifth one? Would ten number one consecutive weeks?
Yeah?
Yeah, tell me how?
Tell me? Would be twenty? Yeah? You know, I know it wouldn't.
Yes, And that's that's by the way.
I don't. Yeah, George Strait has fifty would it would we need a hundred?
So you're second to him? Or if you got sixty fifty one? How far above him? Like if you if God was like, I mean, God has to be looking down at me to be like bro, and no, you know he doesn't think that about us, but he goes, dude, if you're not I got you got the lottery pick of success or money or or or people know who you are, you would go into the gas station. People are like, what's up like that? But I don't know anybody that's like I chasing down that road. But that
could also be in business. It doesn't have to be fame. Anybody like, dude, how much well? I always joke that. I always joke that we used to live in Marina del Rey and there's a big bunch of yachts out there, and you got the biggest yacht until the next guy pulls up and then you're like, oh yeah, now you're yeah. But when everybody has a normal you got the biggest one. You're the I'm the guy. And then a guy pulls
up that overshadows you. He's got a helicopter pat and you're like I gotta yeah, and if we could, if if we could, Hey, Carsel, if you if I could do the same art, but from a place of this is how I feel about life and society and culture, and other people can relate to this and it helps them and differentiate myself from the Well how many likes did it get? Yeah, that's but but but you also, you can't be this without this. I could.
So there were a few musicians I've met out of you know, so many, there's maybe one or two guys that I think and they could have been lying to me. And it could be the same in comedy. But there's one or one or two guys that had just completely compartmentalized.
This is my job, that's not my life.
I do it, and and it'll I'll get to this level and then I'll start coming down and I have no problem with coming down, and then I'll get back to the club level. I'll go back down to one bus, maybe even go back into a van one day and get into like the dive bars. But that's okay, that's just my job, and I know.
That that that's the arc.
I but that's not me. I cannot live in the arc like that.
I can't do that. But I can't do it.
I was always attached to it too much. I was in the Hampston Wheel.
And if and if somebody you know a lot of all of my buddies are like, you know their their kids are in travel sports or what you go, well, what if your kid gets the Elite eleven or I don't know what you know. They're always it's not just us Because I try to get away from just two celebrities talking about how our lives are tough. I don't think. I don't know if anyone wants to hear that. But
everybody relates to this. Everybody relates to this in a way that well, what if you got employee the month? What if you got a double rays? In essence, what yeah, what would do it? And I what would do it?
Same question? Yeah to everybody?
What if your kid got what if your kid was the Michael Jordan with that, And I think that the earlier in life, well, I should say the early in life you figure that out, then you're free. But then there's we we. I would imagine you're not to worry anymore. You moved out here, but you still like ask somebody how the pods doing yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you go all right. I want to be I want to try to dis it's myself from this, but like, yeah, how's the.
It's everybody.
No, I didn't here right now, And you know, I always say, man, I don't care about downloads. I just want to have conversations with people I like, you know, And if I had conversations with people I like, the more I do that, then naturally it should grow.
But then I'm like, what was the numbers last week? Yeah?
And if the numbers are good, then what or if the numbers are bad, then what you can't I don't think you can. Maybe as like a believer you said, we say we're supposed to be totally disconnected from that. We don't care at all, but to be to be it's it's okay. I feel like I could be wrong, but it's okay to want to know if you're doing good at work, at your it's okay if you gotta yeah,
you gotta yeah. I would imagine if I came into my therapist and I say, yeah, my my buddy who's a comedian friend of mine, got a my bock Mercedes, and I go, that makes me feel some kind of way.
Yeah, I think.
The message of Christ and I could be wrong, but you're like, he would be like, I understand that.
Yeah.
I think if you know, if we were homesteaders and we were chomping wood, yeah, for the winner, we would look at our woodpiles and go and he's got a little more.
Yeah, and I bet his wife thinks he's more of a man than me. Yeah, it's the same thing. Yet every so in Essa's we're telling our story from our perspective, but every person listening is good. Yeah, so what and you go, Hey, our kid got turned down from the premiere twelve year old soccer, But what if they got it?
Then? Yeah, that does feel pretty good. You know.
Yeah, what if you Yeah, that does feel pretty good. Or they call to do the thing, or they we want you to come, Yeah, that does feel pretty good. Is whatever worldly validation, but if you attach yourself too close to it, you're gonna die.
Think about this a lot, don't you.
Yeah, all day every day, I mean, on this topic. But I think very heavily.
And I think I think probably guys that weren't didn't come from a Christian worldview.
At least like you did.
Yeah, at least they don't have a way to reconcile it at all, which is why you just spin off into addictions and yeah, mindless hobbies.
You're saying.
If without without and as a believer, you probably spin off into them. And you go, I know this isn't the way, sure, but they might go this sure yeah, yeah, yeah, you go, yeah, yeah, I grew up. I think that's everybody our age. You go, I grew up with the with the knowledge, with the you know, with the you know, the fruits of the spirit, that these are the good qualities that Christ, even if you're not a believer, that this guy put others in front of himself, that served
his friends. That you go, man, there's a lot of other things. You know. You watch TV and you got someone with trying to sell you a prayer cloth that's going to heal you. You go, well, I don't think that is it, but yeah, I think everybody. I could be wrong, but everybody, I think what would get to a place you were like, I think that guy. I think that guy that might be the way.
As a reminder, you could always get a hold of me on cameo dot com slash Granger Smith it's a great way to get a message, a video message from me from anywhere in the world to whoever you want to send it to. You go to cameo dot com slash granger Smith and you fill out whatever you want me to say, Happy anniversary, happy birthday, may be a ward of encouragement to someone that needs to hear it, and that person may be you, and then I'll send you a video message. It's it's super easy and it's
a good gift. I've been doing this for many years now. It's a good gift to someone that is impossible to buy for and you don't know what to get them. Once again, go to cameo dot com slash granger Smith. I got to tell you all about this, and have you heard about yeg Fest. It's happening this year May ninth and tenth in Georgetown, Texas at the EEE Farm, So you can come hang out with us. Me, my brothers, my family will all be there. We've got a track
show happening. We've got a mud Bog competition kind of like we did last year, but the new edition this year is a concert by me and my band and my old crew. This is not a tour. This is not me getting back into music. This is one time every year we hope to do a concert for my friends and family, especially Maverick who's never seen me play live before. So come out have a meal with me and my family on Friday night. I'm gonna give a little devotional from the Bible, maybe play an acoustic song
or two. This is really a once in a lifetime experience. And if you want to find out more, go to eeye dot com.
You have a denomination that you think you align with.
Our we're non denominational, but our I asked our pastor the other days. I make a lot of jokes about denomination, I know. He said, he said, we're we are Church of Church of Christ. We we split from that and become denominational, which all that stuff is kind of silly to me, but.
Well, you know, non denominational is always a cover up for something. Is as soon as you ask them how they baptize or what they think about the.
Yeah, you'll get to it.
You'll get to it.
This is not a denomination. It's just a group of us that have separated ourselves from the other ones.
It was like a nomination.
No, no, no, no, We love everybody, we love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That I think that.
You got a joke about the Church of Christ and oh yeah yeah yeah about to know church is the Church of Christ, the Church of God.
You're both of them.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, a Church of the Christ. About what's it like to as a woman, what's it like to be this close to the stage.
Yes, that was a joke because they are not allowed.
The women aren't allowed on stage in the Church Christ. And my my joke really is you know, because I said this, somebody said I used to be Catholic. I go, no, I'm at Christian.
Like.
The joke is not I'm deciding who's a believer. The joke is, well, some of us don't think that you're you qualify. That's the joke is more like Tim Hawkins had had a bit early on in his career. It's like some people all the different worship hand signals you probably want, is this one's, this one's, this one's, this one's, this one's once the winshi a wiper like and he goes and people would go, really, you're gonna mock, You're
gonna mock the way someone worships Christ. And he kind of explained it, like, no, I'm what I'm saying is, if you really think about the joke, it's worship however you want, express your love however you want. These are just the differences. It's actually the opposite of what people are being offended about. Sure, oh, you're making fun of the way, or like, no, we're actually making fun of
the way. Everyone thinks. Oh if I just do it like this, the you know, the carry the baby my fish was as big, or I don't remember the joke, but yeah, but.
Like if if.
If I am, Like a lot of people at the beginning were like, is this guy a Christian when I was first coming out, because nobody who I was, because the jokes were like calling out a lot of things in the faith. Because if I am a believer, those jokes are hilarious. They're like, this guy gets us. This guy, no, I can't believe he's saying these things. This is our guy.
If I'm not, these jokes are wildly offensive because you're pointing a finger at something that's so close to everyone's heart, their faith and want to look at y'all, and I'm trying to hold the mirror up to us. Yea to be like like if somebody's making fun of NASCAR or whatever. I make a lot of jokes about NASCAR, but I go to six races a year, and everybody in racing like, no, no, no, he's I have my own racing team. Like this guy is yeah he almost he can say this. It's like
somebody making fun of your mom. You or your brothers can do it. Yeah, but if somebody else does it, you want to fight him.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I think you approach it in a in a very practical way that I actually think is healthy. I think Christians should and could think through the way we're doing things in a practical way. We can think practically, we don't. It doesn't have to be all all emotional. I think we can go, huh, would we we be planning a church on this on this corner?
Like yeah?
And if like well, at at the beginning, like in the Roman, that that's what the court jester was. Yeah, so everybody goes, look at this kingdom. It's unbelievable. And the court jester, they they gave him like ten minutes. He goes, what about those people are living in squalor? But you couldn't say it. Nobody was allowed to say it in the presence of the king, because he would kill you. So you go, well, the court jester could come up there, and I'll say, there's there's a court
jester of of country, those mean paiges. There's a court jester of Christianity. There's a court gester in politics, there's that role, like there's I used to do a bunch of Christian conferences and I was like, everybody loved the comedian. I'll go, yeah, but if it was all comedy all weekend, it doesn't help. It's like the one body, many parts. If it was all turn or burn, that doesn't help. If it was all just encourage you all grace, that doesn't help. I think all these almost like a like
a city council or something. Hey, should we put the azaleas in the roundabout? That would look beautiful. I would love it. It's gonna cost us money. And then we like with many what's that of proverbs? Many advisors things succeed.
I get it wrong.
Yeah, No, I think there there inevitably have been people that have seen stuff from you on social media and thought, yeah, it's probably right.
The Christian girl Instagram think it did stop, Yeah, it did and that's a very small example, but like, yeah, we've been on our podcast for the last we don't talk about it anymore because I think we we didn't we didn't personally end it, but we started talking about tipping. I was like, this is insane about it's somebody gives you a coffee and it's thirty percent.
I go, do you do you all realize I've yeah.
Yeah, and everybody yeah, of course yeh, or like it's not even like somebody you're at the airport and you just get you get it and the guy and there's like that. And we were like we were in on our podcast, we were like kind of waving the red flag, like this is thirty percent, and and it it is.
It has dialed back, not because of me, but there's a lot of comedians, but everyone made fun of it so much kind of in a way that we're like people were businesses like, yeah, we got to start paying our employees or we can't put this on tipping everywhere and it's less now yeah because not saying me, but but because people.
Were like, hey, this is absurd.
And then kind of a little bit of shame or a little bit of maybe not shame, maybe accountability to these like, oh, we don't have to now. Everybody would watch my podcast and they'd be like, we tip zero percent and we we are. We are comfortable with it now because here in you.
I think, yeah, in the same way I think the stuff you do with churches. Yeah, I think it's valuable in that way actually.
If it's done right. Because but I I'll be the first guy to say I miss sometimes.
That's an example of one you missed.
I remember, I I remember. I mean, I don't know if I still stand by it or not. But somebody was advertising this like workout line of apparel where there was like it was like women in yoga pants and like sports bras and had like a cross here there's like a cross on the butt, and like and I go, all right, like I just made a I made a sketch about it, and I go, I don't think anybody's
in heaven, Like how did you get here? I was like, oh, I was checking out that girl's butt and I saw a cross and I was like, hey what and then she led me in the Sinner's prayer anyway, Yeah, I just thought it was a little it was very suggestive, like the clothing was very suggested.
I'm waiting to hear how you missed this.
Well, I think I right, well, all right, maybe I missed because I felt bad because the guy, the guy, the CEO, was like, I'm out of business, and I felt bad because he said his wife. I mean maybe not, but he I remember he said his wife like had like some debilitating like disease and like she couldn't work, and this is how it was supporting the family. Maybe I just felt if Joe Rogan goes on his podcast and says, hey, the tractor supply is a money lot,
that it will affect their business. He's so big, it will it might put them out of business and then it would lose employees. But it.
I get what you're saying.
Yeah, yeah, it's honorable that you're saying that way.
But you still didn't miss it.
Yeah I should have.
You're just saying told.
Me I was right off because of the right by you. Yeah, maybe because I felt.
You guys making yoga pants with crosses on the butt.
It's crazy, dude, with like nail cross it was like two nails, and like I was like, this is two but sometimes yeah, we'll make somebody will send us a clip for our podcast we review clips.
Yeah, and I go, man, this is kinna oh man.
Yeah, you know, like, what's I think you have a big platform here with your podcast. You go, man, this is gonna oh man, do we really want to do this?
Maybe?
Do you really want to put this guy? You know our podcast is huge? Do you want to Yeah? I guess you gotta look.
Yeah.
But everybody, I think the the meme pages, I think there's a little bit of anonymity to them, that it's not a person, and they go hard and like the onion. It's not like I go, it's kind of unfair. I have tour dates, you know, where I'm gonna be. Somebody could come fight me, and they have, Like John Chris said, this, y'all, don't you don't know who were Who's the onion? This is wildly offensive?
But like, well, who is it?
It's like uh uh South Park or the family Guy. You're like, it's not it's stuff that, but who is it? And so you go. But I think some of those, some of those, especially in Christianity, I think some of those mean pages go too far and this is not this, this doesn't seem to be this doesn't if I make fun of NASCAR or country music. At the end of the day, I love it. I love and and the
Body of Christ too. I love them. I don't There's a lot of people that have come through comedy or even music that you try to use the Christian platform to get. Once I get big enough, I'm going.
Right.
I never different conversation. But I love the local church and I've I love going to tell jokes to them and to the because I and I think I think people know that I do.
I could be wrong.
Do you feel the pressure of I'm sure you do, of being a being that doesn't have to follow the constraints of your faith at all.
Let me let me say this before we enter. Let me say this.
I've heard somewhere that there that were like short words that end with a hard consonant like K or T are funny and they're funnier, and comedians use that as a tool in the tool belt. And you don't get.
To do that. So you're you're what do you mean, You don't get to say the hard words with the.
K O word yeah, yeah, yeah.
And so you're you have one less tool to use.
I don't look at it like that. You don't look at it in terms of uh.
No, I think I don't hear your show, by the way, and think you need anything else.
I hear it.
I think a guy, I think, I think that is the well, if you go to open mic night, that's what that would be the easiest way to swear, or certainly to tell a joke that you're like, I can't believe he's saying that. It's the easiest way to start, just to you know, and I think it takes I would take and I know the other guys that are doing it well, that are clean napargad see Leeann Morgan is killing it, Derek Streue is killing like. We take a tremendous amount of pride in that, and not to
look down on anybody. I was just raised in a house where we didn't swear. I remember going to the comedy club the first night and I heard a guy swearing and publicly, and I was like, is he is he in trouble for that? That's just how it was raised. So I'm not I don't want to be like a well, I'm better than our.
Comedy, But I think.
If you want to communicate that that point of anger or frustration or at least sincerity without I mean, I've never heard my parents because but if my mom ever, I would be like me, it meant so much more, you know what I'm saying. She never did, but if I would. I think I heard her say crap one time and I was like, we are dead.
You know, it's just a scale.
So if you if you use those words flippantly at all times, that you'd be like, well they don't they mean less? Yeah, And I think that language is as a whole, that's what those words are for.
There was a there was a time and self help where it was like a thing where Tony Robbins and those guys were saying, oh, you don't yeah.
You don't have their attention.
They don't know that you're saying, I remember that, like the Gary v era. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I think a lot of people say we love your we love your comedy, and we love listen and we'd love that I can put it on in the car and with with the kids, and not that we don't do it for that, but you go, yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel the same.
You think you'll do this a long time? Considering everything we've talked, about.
You slaved me a contract work on the farm.
Well, I went to a few a few areas where I think.
When when I first did when I first did into that July twenty third, June twenty third, two thousand and nine, I first did open mic night and I bombed. It was two minutes as the first time I ever did it, did it formally bombed, And I was driving home. I was in a silver I was driving down Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Silver, I think a two thousand and one silver Honda Cord two doors, and I go, I'm gonna do this the rest of my life, and I bombed.
It wasn't nobody gave me a standing ovation. Nobody even cheered. But it was such a I mean, it just sounds bad, but I can only compare it to it sounds like somebody who did Heroin to take out this changes. I'm changed.
I am changed.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I think.
You can't.
I mean, I think when I was in rehab, it was it was two I was nine months and I didn't post anything online and I'd never and I was I thought that was going to be my death and it wasn't. In fact, it was like, oh, maybe me strong, so I go, oh, I don't need this to survive. I thought prior to that, I have to have this. I was chasing it, running if I.
Don't and I don't need this. Now I missed, dude.
I remember sitting in rehab and they would let us watch maybe TV, like on them on Maybe. I guess it was the National Championship. It was the National Championship because it was in January and Lauren Daegel will singing the national anthem and then Trump was there.
And I remember just wanting to.
Be present to that and I was like, I'm on the sideline. I didn't have a phone. I go, I want to If I would have made, I would have made everybody was I know everybody's thinking because that was it that Lauren was very controversial, and then Trump it's not like he was now. It's in two thousand nineteen or whatever, and there were so many like nuances of like our community. I was like, man, I want to speak about this, and I and I there was At the time, it wasn't. That wasn't what God's plan for
me was at the moment. But now, whether it's live touring or you know, you could write a book, you could do a pod. There's ways to like I think you. I think you felt the same. I couldn't. I shouldn't speak for you, but you're like, well, I still want to. I have valuable things to contribute, and there's other believers. I can't just let's say you had enough. I can't just move out here and be.
Done. Yeah.
If I can do it, if I can do it in a healthy way and still prioritize my family and my faith, I would still like to contribute.
Yeah, to.
Encourage it has the energy has to go somewhere, the h yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the god given passion has to be directed, has to be aware.
Yeah, And I think I my brother, I've I've obviously struggled to do this healthily, whether it's addiction or just validation or attention that I have lost my way, sometimes with tremendous consequences, some less.
And my brother.
I remember I was talking to my brother, It's probably about a year ago, and I go, maybe maybe should just hang it up. Maybe I should. He lives like he lives out in middle of nowhere Georgia, and he builds homes, and I go, maybe I was trying to kind of find my way here and try to do it, and also being in a relationship and one thing to have a family, and I go, I'm struggling to be able to do this, and I go, maybe I should just move out to where it can work for you
and like build homes. He goes, Dude, you would be so pissed, you'd be so resentful, and he goes, Honestly, you would go to home depot and try to chat up the cashier to try to get you would still be doing it. Yeah, that doesn't solve it, is what I'm saying, goes, So I think whether it's whether it's touring one hundred tour days a year forever, probably not. But the idea of contribute maybe. I mean some guys used to do it and write a cartoon. They write
a Sunday cartoon that was there. I would, I would, I would feel now. Jerry Seinfeld said somebody asked him why I never wrote a book, and he said, because I can't hear the laughs, which it is like, he goes, I couldn't you feel that, don't you?
Yeah?
Because I yeah, heavily, because I for the last I remember it must have been that summer where I took three months off of Instagram, four months and I could still make Like with my therapist were I was like over kind of over leveraged in the social media and he goes, well, you can still make the videos and then just get your guy to post them. I go, yeah, but I don't you know what I'm saying. Yeah, but I don't see. That's like I don't see if it's good or if Yeah, you know.
I remember when we when COVID hit and we started doing these virtual shows.
Yeah, like people could tip you, yeah, And it was like such a great idea on paper. Do we still play concerts? People could like buy tickets and watch us.
And after one I was like, I don't do this anymore. Yeah you didn't.
The horrible a transaction was the unhealthy part.
I guess. Yeah, No, I know. We need Yeah, we needed the people. We needed, We needed feedback.
I wonder how the guy, the guy that writes the Sunday cartoon knows, right.
Yeah, I would get him. Let's get him on all right.
So like let's say like let's say like Dilbert, Okay, So he would be like, all right, what's another one Garfield family circus?
Hey, how many.
How many publications are we in? And did we how many is Garfield in? And how many is what's the guy renting the giraffe with the kids.
That's what I'm thinking.
So he goes, well, how many are they in? I'm sure even that's just that's before social media. So you go, oh, I bet everybody's on this. Yeah, and he goes, we have.
To get absolutely there.
Yeah, you can't. You kind of I guess. I think I guess we're saying.
You can't.
Like if if you struggle. I've struggled with my own you know, journey and lust and everything like that, it's like, all right, I'm just going to be a monk and live in the woods. You're like, WHOA. That unfortunately doesn't solve it.
It doesn't. There was hundreds of years they tried that, they tried, they tried.
So I think as Christian, you go, well, I'm gonna well that you still have your thoughts and you still so I think all these things that were saying very human feelings, I would imagine everbody's gonna listen, it's gonna be like yeah, yeah, And and the goal is maybe not to the takeaways, maybe to to not not have them or to feel bad about having them.
I started so crazy when people used to ask me, what what's your favorite song to perform live? I get that question all the time, and I always thought that is such a stupid question. It's the one that they cheer them the biggest one.
What Yeah.
It doesn't matter what I like or what I how how the band sounds, or how artistic or creative, or the depth of the lyrics. It's whatever song they cheer the loudest, which actually changes market to market sometimes, And.
If somebody said something that wasn't that, you'd be like, you're lying, yeah, and that's what that's what.
Yeah.
Has disenfranchised a lot of people from Christianity that you're You're like, I know what my brain is and I'm a monster, or.
Like you you and theological gain too.
You're hateful your self fish and you go and you go, there's no way that this guy's biggest struggle was that he ran into CBS and parked in the handicap parking spot. There's no way. And then you go, well, like you know, I was like I'm thinking about murdering my boss or what you know?
And then you go.
And then when somebody does say, yeah, I'm having a hard time. I feel like ten times out of ten everybody else was liked.
Good for you.
Jesus was the only answer against all the voices of the world for me during heavy struggles in my life, Jesus was the only one when everyone's like, you're a good person, forget you need to forgive yourself, grangdeer, you need to love yourself.
Jesus was the only one that goes, no, no, come to me. I heal you. I make you clean. I forgive you, not because on what you've done, but what I've done. I heal you. Yes, you're a bad person. I make you obviously, you know. And everyone resonates that. What they what we don't resonate with is you're a good person. We know you're a good person.
You just need to love yourself more, or you need to forgive yourself more. And I remember, like, what's the mechanism that would like what practically, how do I forgive myself? How do I love myself more?
Tell me how to do that?
And you can't.
You can't. There's no more. There's no there's no end to that, no end, there's no end to that. And and and everybody. What's wild about what you said is that you could live in that today and then go back and pick up the other stuff tomorrow. Yeah, it doesn't. It's you're like, I'm a yeah, and I think I I in my book, I said when I remember my darkest point, I was some in the middle of I was like an airport holiday in like drunk and trying to like call this woman or something to come over
to my room or something. That's back in twenty seventeen, I remember telling my therapist that story and he goes, what do you think?
What do you think.
Jesus would think about you being doing that? Well, the way I was raised is he'd be like, I can't believe you just did that show to church. This is embarrassing. I can't you don't say that you're a representative of me. I would walk by this bar and go I can't believe he's in there, and my therapist is not for me.
I can't. My therapist goes, I think.
Jesus would sit down next to you, goes, and I'll be like, I'm feeling sad. He goes, Yeah, he goes. You know, we think about Jesus's He's perfect and you go. But he was sad. All his friends left him. He was one hundred percent human, he was alone. His best
friend Lazarus died. He goes, all these feelings, I I have them, and he'd probably sit down right next to you at the bar, goes, hey, if you get another couple of shots here and go up to your room with that woman is like, that's that's not the best that's not the best plan for you. But he goes, if you did that, I would understand. Now, I don't let you have the hook. I don't I don't agree with it, and he goes, I got a better plan
for you. I have a better way for you. But when you're so lost, we were talking about that before we started, Like we only have a couple of cards to play, so you're like, this is the only one. This alcohol one is the card I know how to play.
That's right.
This, this gambling one is the card I know how to play. This anger one, this is the car I only I'm I'm upset, I'm i'm uh depressed, I'm sad, I'm alone. What cards do you have to play? And if you go, I'm gonna get drunk. I'm gonna get high. I'm gonna I'm gonna go look for some attention on the internet. I'm gonna post a store.
I remember this.
I'm gonna post a story all these people, get the comments going, and I'll be good until I fall asleep.
I live that. Ye Jesus would sit next to you and say, I know you want that.
Yeah, He's not gonna shame.
That's what I think.
That's what we're saying, I know you want that, yeah, instead of saying you shouldn't want that, or you you don't want that, Chris, you don't want you or or slap your hand, you go. I understand why you're reaching for that.
Yea, I know. I know.
God s crime.
He just looked to me.
Yeah, and he says, you don't know me well enough, that's why you want that. But I know you want that because I made your heart and I'm not all the way you grew up and your pastor or your youth pastor was like I remember, we would wear like a rubber band if we lusted, we would like snap it or like we or you know, all these like things to like yeah, rein in versus like I'm not
there yet, but in a healthy place. As a believer, they'll be like, that's there and that I'm not going there because I God has a better plan for me. Not have GPS on your phone so somebody doesn't know that you. But if like this idea of if you ever got free of all these limitations, you would go wild, you know, like the you got tracking on your phone, you got filters on your and those are healthy in a in a in some ways. To build up some strength, I needed to go to rehab where they literally kept
me away from alcohol. Now I've been sober for five years. There's alcohol in the hotel last night that when I checked in, I go, I got a better plan.
What is God's plan for you? You said that twice?
Now I think my I was put on earth to do this.
You know the.
Uh was it Prefontaine or whatever? When he was running, he's like, I feel God's pleasure when I run. He's like a marathon runner. And I go, I love that movie because he's like, that's a very.
That's not a.
What you would call the ministry or like a noble. He's like, I feel that God made my body like this and when I use it in this way that I feel his pleasure. That's how I feel when I'm healthy doing stand up you healthy now, healthier, healthier. Yeah, I don't. I never want to be the guy that's like, I gotta figure it out. Follow me, I gotta figure it out a healthier Yeah, but I could.
I could.
I remember days, I mean, before I went to rehab, They're like, if you take this from me, I'm going down with it. And now, I mean COVID happened, we couldn't do it, and I just come out of rehab. I was like, I'm great, and everybody else's kind of falling apart, and I think, yeah, I think.
That's it.
Every day struggle for me, balancing the validation of the I'm probably gonna go check in a month how this one did versus the other ones that you released before and after I did that with my assistant. I go, hey, look at all these pods I was on. Check just check the views, and we.
Need a good title in thumbnail.
Or else I'm going to go back to rehab.
Yeah. Well, do you remember when you became a Christian?
Yeah, my dad.
Two thousand and what was the date.
I was nine? I was born in nineteen eighty four, so it be nineteen ninety three. I think it was August seventh. My dad still has it. He has it like a two by four and he was he was building the an addition on our house and he's like, John, come over here. And he drew out with a construction pen the you know, like the cliff and then the other cliff, the gods over here where we're here in the cross, and he like true. And I'd obviously been in church and he's like, what do you want to
accept Christ into your life? And I said, yeah, I pray with my dad. And I think he still has that. I think he's waiting to give it to me before, like when I get married or something. I was like, I'm forty, Can I get the Wait, when do I get the two by four? It's got to be still at the house somewhere. Yeah, But that's an interesting journey of picking it up and putting it down and leaving it for years and but but never never being like, it's all up you go. I think everybody. I said
this on a podcast yesterday. If you go to open mic Night at Zany's on Monday night, it's twenty comics, right, twenty comics, Eighteen of them will have a joke about Jesus and these are not these are he's not Christians. So so, but they grew up obviously they were in Nashville. But but this is, this is everywhere though, everywhere I go, everywhere I go, so all these comedians that have a mind like me that I go, look at the liars, hypocritical judgmental my mom said she was a Christian and
then cheated on my dad, all these things. But they're they're they're laying their head on the pillow and going it might be something to it. You know that there's no I've never heard a joke about Mohammed. I've never heard a joke about Joseph Smith. I've never heard a joke about all of them. And everybody is. And you'd be discouraged by that if you think very surface level. But if you think a little bit deeper, that should be wildly encouraging to every believer.
Yeah, wildly.
And you go everybody's like it's not true, you go, might be And I think that's what everybody has felt. I don't know what do you call the Holy Spirit or or that.
They forgot the way you were raised already, Dude, I was currently reading this book on Cortes from Quistador and he was going and as he was going into Mexico, he's going to all those pyramids, the same pyramids that people these days like go and take selfie and it's got nice flowers. And those were those were pyramids for
human sacrifice. Those Aztecs were the priest were going up there, constant flow of blood on those pyramids, on the rocks, cutting people's heads off, pulling their beating hearts out of their eyes, because Yeah, because they knew something in them was saying, we owe something to God and it it requires a human sacrifice. It requires it requires blood. And you think about why are they doing that. When Jesus says, I'm the human sacrifice, I go the cross.
It's my blood.
I atone, I forgive because of my blood. Why all the way across the world in a different era are these people that have none. They have history, throughout history, throughout history, all over the world, and they're going, it requires human sacrifice.
I'm not forgiven. I'm wrong.
There's something in me that's bad, and to clean me, somebody needs to die. That is that's the weirdest.
How would you possibly have Yeah, and so yeah, you are. That's not an American thing. That's not a Western, that's not an enlightenment, that's not a technol. We didn't think that now for since Cana and Abel. You know this, Yeah, something we have to Yeah, there's there's there. Why don't you even your atheist? Why don't you it's just you and this grandma? And why don't you kill her? Well?
I don't, Well what, yeah, it matter? It doesn't matter.
Well, karma stop? Why and then why do you feel? What is it when you help someone, when you look out for someone, when you put someone other in front of yourself, when you serve, when you give.
You should kill them? That would actually be a lot better for society.
Yeah, you should just kill it. He's just kind of wasting resources. Yeah, and he's not giving it.
You should kill him? Why not? And that that's where that's where the message of Christ. And I like the idea that that Christ was always like, people are like, how do we do it?
What's the way?
And he goes it's like kind of like a tree planted by a river, and right, it wasn't that he didn't say, are you the Christ? Oh don't think you know what? And it was always like it was always a parable. He's like, well, it's like a seed planet in uh and you go, it was up to that's like some of the loudest voices, and maybe in Christianity, I go to have some more confidence in it. People know a lot of these social issues are like, dude,
we don't need to be yelling fighting with you. They I think at the end of the day, you lay your head on.
The pillow and you know, mm hmm.
That's why it's thinking. It's beautiful about about the faith.
Bro, Thank you for being here and taking the full ride.
Let me say it is out here. It is out here. This is the guy that just went off. I was driving over here and a guy just in his truck just went off. It wasn't even a road. Yeah, he goes, I'm going down here.
I'll make it John christ a bit. One day he's like, I was going to visit my buddy in the podcast.
And yeah, on the show, I think it's about us.
Bro.
Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate you absolutely.
Thanks for joining me on the Grangersmith podcast. I appreciate all of you guys. You could help me out by rating this podcast on iTunes. If you're on YouTube, subscribe to this channel, hit that little like button and notification spell so that you never miss anytime I upload a video.
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