Jason Earls: Stand-Up Guy
Local Christian Comic “Makes You Laugh to Help You Live” By Judy Truesdell
I
t all started when Jason Earls performed a comedy monologue as part of his Mr. Virginia University audition. Everyone laughed. “I didn’t win, but the next day on campus, a guy with a brassy New York tone yelled my name and said, ‘Last night I was mad and frustrated and didn’t feel like laughing at all, but when you came out on stage, I couldn’t help it!’ I said to myself, ‘Yup. That’s what I want.’ I always wanted to help people more than just making them laugh.” He describes his act as Christian comedy, but not “corny.” Starting out, when he looked at others performing quality comedy, he didn’t see an abundance of Christian material, and realized that, because he is a Christian and dedicated to his community, it was inevitable that he should fill that void. He didn’t, however, start out in the safer environment of churches; he went straight to mainstream comedy clubs. “If I was going to carry the title of comedian, I wanted to represent that title well,” Jason says. “That’s why I decided to start cutting my teeth in comedy clubs. In order to make people in clubs laugh, you have to possess a certain sharpness and skill.”
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