First, I will start by telling you that I have and am living the life of a Christian Comedian, so I will tell you what I have done and what I have to do to be successful in what I do. The world of Christian comedy is increasingly flooded with people who want to try telling funny jokes to a clean Christian audience. In fact, this is not an easy task because not many people know the business of Christian comedy.

At first glance at the word Christian Comedy, many people assume that they are going to hear about biblical scriptures and church jokes all the time, but I disagree. As a Christian comedian, I have experienced some things that weren’t as fun as not getting all the work I did when I was a secular comedian. A lot of places didn’t want to hire me because they thought I was going to come in and preach a sermon, but I had to prepare a program and put it on DVD so they could see the program that I was going to do.

So you need to make sure you know what audience you are trying to attract. My goal was never to attract a crowd that wanted to hear a lot of ignorant material on sex, drugs, and violence because there was so much more to talk about. Now I will proceed to brief you on the steps to start a successful career in the Christian comedy business.

Step 1) Know your target audience

-In the comedy business you have to have a target audience that you want to attract. This is important because when writing comedy material you have to know what people like to hear and what they will remember most about you. Many comedians write for years and years before they finally come up with that perfect ensemble that people will remember then.

Step 2) Consistency

-One of the most important things you should do is maintain consistency. When chasing any dream, it takes consistency to make things happen. If you only do one show a year it will be difficult to perfect your art so you have to stay on stage and keep writing jokes / material. You should also realize that the more people who see you, the more they will remember your face and your material, so stay consistent.

Step 3) Networks

-Networking is very important in the comedy business because it is not about how many jokes you can write, tell or how many minutes you can make. It’s about who you know and who knows you! A lot of comedians use each other to work, which is good because no one knows everyone. You have to be around like-minded comedians who believe in keeping a network of club administrators, church group leaders, and advocates on their contact list.

Step 4) Stay around positive people and develop thick skin

-You must be surrounded by positive people to be successful in anything, especially comedy, because people will kill your dream before you even start. Many people wish they were brave enough to stand on stage and tell jokes, but since they can’t, they will try to bring you down and hope you are like them. If you stick with the right people, they will cheer you on and even help you by giving you a story or maybe even a joke or two to use on stage. Don’t let the critics’ comments affect you at all.

Step 5) Have products to sell

Lastly, you must have products to sell to your audience. These items should include, but are not limited to, CDs, DVDs, T-shirts, hats, and anything else that doesn’t cost you a lot of money up front. Your goal shouldn’t be to make big profits, but it should be to keep your face in the eyes of your audience. Many comedians have learned this way of doing business and it works for many of them. Create unique marketing and advertising concepts and you’ll be the stand-alone comedian.

If you follow these few steps that I have listed, you will be on your way to becoming a successful Christian Comedian.