John Crist may just be the hardest-working man in show business. Of course I say this knowing, I would estimate, .03%, of the people in show-business, but the point remains, dude works harder than anyone I know. And if there is one thing I have come to respect over the years, it’s the hustle. John has that for days. As we were sitting down to podcast we were catching up before hand and I asked him, more or less, what he had been up to and he very casually mentioned that he’s been performing about 300 nights a year. 300! That is ridiculous. Baseball players don’t show up that much. Sure there are dudes out there getting their start, grinding from open mic to open mic and tallying that count like there’s some sort of guaranteed reward at the end, some bonus level they can unlock, but John is working actual, booked shows, 300 nights a year. A quick tour down website lane tells you he’s banging out college gigs, corporate gigs, USO spots, making his first stand-up appearance on Live at Gotham, appearing in upcoming films. Simply put, he’s relentless.
He’s also very funny. I remember the first time I saw John at Comedy Works I thought to myself, “That guy crushes.” Then I started hearing murmurs about him here and there, rumors that he was a Christian comic and that information didn’t line up with me because, like most people in comedy, I’m incredibly biased and I pretty much thought if you’re a Christian comic, well, then you’re lame. And not funny. And here was John, not only hilarious, but Christian to boot. And not just, oh, Jesus is my co-pilot, be nice to your neighbor, don’t fuck his wife or kill anyone Christian, but real-deal, fundamentalist-past, performing in mega-churches, Christian comic. And I knew I had to get him on the podcast and talk more about that.
Don’t get me wrong, John is not just a “Christian comic.” He will perform in any setting and destroy. He’s climbing the ranks in the “regular comedy club” circuit and he can drop into any indie darling comedy show and rip it up because he’s a great comedian, plain and simple. But on the Christian circuit, he’s a shooting star and I wanted to know all about it. And so we chatted. Finally. It was hard to find the time as John is all over the place and I get around a lot myself but alas, we recorded this episode together and it was a great conversation and I hope you find it as fascinating as I did. It was also just great catching up with John. I’m a big fan of what he does and it was really interesting to pick his brain more about it. So I hope you enjoy our conversation as well.
I asked John what video he wanted me to post with his episode and he gave me an answer and then sent me a follow-up e-mail. And then another e-mail. This one with four links to different versions of the same Michael Jackson song, making sure I had the perfect version to reflect his preference. Like I said, hustler.
John explained this video in the following manner in his e-mail, “As a Christian, I often get asked what I think heaven is gonna be like. I usually respond by just sending them this link.”
Check out the episode on iTunes here.