Michael Jr: Connecting Through Laughter

Comedian Michael Jr. Creates Connection with Humor

by Laura Neutzling

LAUGHTER = HOPE

AS A STRUGGLING COMEDIAN trying to make it in New York, Michael Jr. was down to his last few dollars. He decided to use them to get to New Jersey, hoping to perform a set in front of iconic comedians George Wallace and Jerry Seinfeld. The men were there as Michael took the stage to perform. By the time he was done, he’d earned two standing ovations.

After that exciting night, Michael’s life would take a turn—but definitely not the one he expected.

“Right after the show was over, the club manager walks up to me and says, ‘Michael, hey, you’ve got a great set. Would you like to go to church with me tomorrow?’”

Michael was puzzled. “Church? For what?”

The last time Michael had been to church was early in his childhood. “It was miserable,” he remembers. “My grandmother forced me to go. It lasted nine hours, and there was yelling and screaming from a pastor who had phlegm in his throat.”

The answer felt clear to the comedian who’d just had his best night ever: a hard no.

Twenty minutes later, the club manager’s beautiful fiancée approached him as well. “Michael, would you like to go to church with us?” she asked.

This invitation had a different effect, and Michael answered a bit more willingly. “Well, I was just looking for a church the other day—yes, I want to go to church!”

God works in mysterious ways, and before Michael knew it, the address of the church was handed to him on a napkin, everyone had cleared the club, and the now-penniless performer realized he hadn’t been paid for the gig. He was stuck, with no money and no way to put gas in his car to get home.

As a dejected Michael walked by the bouncer on his way out, the man gave him a high-five and slipped some bills into his hand. The grateful comedian expected he would find the typical amount for a new performer—maybe ten dollars, enough to get him home. When he got to his car, Michael unfurled his fingers from around the bills and was amazed by what he saw.

“My eyes start to water as I notice it’s two $100 bills. I am done. I look over at the seat next to me, and that napkin with the address to their church is there. I’m like, I am going.”

Michael made good on going to church, and he surprised himself by going back each week. Intrigued by the altar call to “give his life to Jesus,” but feeling like he needed to know more about Him, shelters and prisons and facilities that house children who have experienced abuse and take comedy there. We do it because laughter is the tangible evidence of hope. No matter where a person is, if they could just laugh, they know there’s hope.

“God gave me this gift not to serve me, not so I can do a bunch of shows and make a bunch of people laugh. It's so much more than just laughter. Comedy is the vehicle—it is not a destination.”

he also started reading the Bible. Between hitting the clubs, going to church and reading the Bible every hour in between, it took him thirty-six days to read the whole thing—and he finally felt ready to commit his life to God. He also began to find purpose in the gift of humor he was able to bring people through his performances.

Laughter is the tangible evidence of hope.

Michael set out to take this gift into unlikely places, which eventually led him to found a nonprofit called A Red Blueprint. “Our assignment is to make laughter commonplace in uncommon places, “ Michael says. “So we’ll go to homeless

To keep up with Michael’s latest projects, visit his website at michaeljr.com.

Adapted for print from the Jesus Calling Podcast. Put your phone in Camera mode and hover over this code to hear more of Michael’s story!

IMAGES COURTESY OF CATHIE WOOD'S PERSONAL ARCHIVES; ISTOCKPORTRAIT COURTESY OF FIVE 35