| Christian comic finds humor September 6, 2006 By DAVE DEMAREST
Until a few years ago, Coleman’s comedic talents were limited to family and friends. But with the help of the Lord, Coleman says she has started making huge audiences fall out of their seats with laughter. And the best part, Coleman says, is that the comedy is good, clean entertainment. Coleman, 40, is a Christian comedian who performs shows locally and around the country. “You can have your mother there right alongside of you and it would be OK,” said Coleman, a member of Grace Covenant Church in Cornelius. “The thing I like the most…is you don’t have to worry about what’s being said. You can bring anybody with you and leave (a performance) feeling positive and uplifted. You walk away feeling good and having hope.” Christian comedy is a lot more popular than many people think, Coleman said. Many churches have hired Coleman to come to one of their women’s nights. Much of Coleman’s comedy comes from her experiences as a mother of two young children.
“A lot of it is your personal experiences. A lot is observation comedy. Comics are observers,” said Coleman, who gets her material from everyday life issues. “I just feel blessed to have this talent.”
“They’ll look at you really funny, and they say ‘Christians laugh? What do you do make fun of, God?’ ” Coleman, of course, doesn’t make fun of God, but she does make light of some of the funny things that happen to you in God’s world. Her most popular bit is called “Hats,” in which Coleman wears different hats on stage, in a funny way to show all the different hats a mom must wear while raising children. The first time she performed the routine it was in front of about 600 people. How did it go? “Oh, my gosh, I got a standing ovation,” she said. “They were dying laughing!” Ever since then, Christian comedy has been her way of life, sending her all over the country to perform in front of hundreds of Christians who love to laugh. Cornelius’ Angela Massingale knows firsthand how funny Christian comedy and Coleman can be. Massingale’s Christ Community Church in Huntersville held a women’s conference in March at which Coleman performed her popular “Hats” routine. “Women just raved about her,” Massingale said. “The women absolutely loved her.” Massingale said she wishes more Christians could experience how funny a Christian comedian can be and how important laughing is to the human psyche. “I think God has a sense of humor,” she said. “A lot of times it’s overlooked because you don’t realize how fun it is to be a Christian. It’s OK to be happy and fun.” High Point’s Sarah Harper organized a women’s workshop in August for her Assemblies of Christ church. She said the ladies loved Coleman’s Christian comedy. Harper had met Coleman at a conference in Greensboro and thought she was hilarious. So she booked her for her church’s next women’s workshop. “They just loved her,” Harper said. “That’s what they told me. It just opened them up for the workshop afterwards. “Laughter is like a medicine. So it was just so good to be able to laugh because we don’t do that enough. We don’t have enough laughter. Every workshop that I do for people will always involve comedy.” Kim Coleman shares one of her comedy routines with Navigator readers: “Don’t get me wrong, I love my girls. I have two — one is 7 and one is 4. The 4-year-old we loving refer to as the screaming streaker. That’s because when she gets mad she screams, “HAAAA,” and when she’s really mad she can warm her voice up like in octaves. And when she really gets screaming, clothes start flying. I don’t know what this happens. I was telling this in a church one time and a lady stood up and said, “Well you know they only do what they see at home.” And you have to be nice. I said, “Ma’am, I can assure you that I do not display that kind of behavior, ... Not since I started taking Prozac. I’m fine now!” And I know if I’m in the Super Wal-Mart and I refuse to buy her a toy, screaming is going to start, shoes are going to start flying, socks are going off, and if I don’t reach her by the time we hit produce, I could be arrested. And it’s at that time that I’m at my wits end, at that time when I’m ready for the Calgon truck to pull up outside my door, it’s at that time that she runs up to me and says, “Mommy, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tell me so. (she sings this). I love you Mommy.” Then I stand with this dumb, bewildered look as if to say, “Now why did she have to do that? Now I’m not mad anymore.” And I tell her, “I love you too, Jordan-Grace.” You see, that’s God’s way of slapping me upside the head and reminding me that they are only little for a short time. And it is our responsibility to teach right from wrong and train them up to know the Lord.
AREA CHRISTIAN COMEDIANS
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