Tonight! One Night Only! Comedian Michael Jr.’s More Than Funny Movie Event

The Stream talked to the popular Christian comedian and actor about his new special, which is being presented tonight in theaters across the country.

One night at a comedy club outside L.A., Michael Jr. felt led to change his approach to comedy. Rather than going on stage hoping to “get” laughs, he felt he should “give” the audience “the opportunity to laugh.” A subtle difference, but profound. This revelation led to the comedian seeking out places where he could give others facing hard times this opportunity to laugh.

Michael Jr.’s change of perspective has taken him to prisons, homeless shelters, facilities for abused children, and other venues of the hurt and lost. It’s also led to his latest project.

Tonight, for one night only, in theaters across America, Michael Jr. offers up his new special More Than Funny.

Yesterday, I got a chance to talk to Michael Jr. about More Than Funny. The interview has been edited for clarity.

The Stream: How did More Than Funny come about?

Michael Jr.: When it came time to do the comedy special I was like, “I don’t want to just do jokes. I want to do more.” So we took our camera crews across the country and we captured three of these type of stories of people who were having some hard times, where other people stepped up to help them in a big way. And we decided to put those stories in the middle of this comedy special. So we call it More Than Funny.

It’s stand-up comedy in front of 4,000 people. But then we keep cutting to these stories. And it actually works! It seems like it wouldn’t work. It seems like there’s too much contrast. How can somebody laugh after hearing about homeless people living on the dirt in a wooden area? But it actually works.

Could the common denominator be connection? Our underlying humanity. Is that why you have the subtitle “Everybody has a punchline”?

Yeah. The way comedy works, as you know, there’s always a set-up and a punchline. This normally takes place in some way or another anytime you laugh. A set-up is when a comedian makes you think in one direction. The punchline is when he changes that direction.

I’ve been digging into this, and I feel that life is very, very similar. There’s a set-up. Your set up is about what you receive. But your punchline is about what you’re called to deliver. And if you know your set-up — which we all do — but you don’t know your punchline, you’ll feel like something’s missing. What you try to do to fill that void is you think you need more set-up.

What you really need to know is your punchline. So there is a lot of people walking around who can see their set-up. Everybody knows their set-up. I went to school, I got married, got a house, a car. But what are you called to deliver? What’s your punch line?

So the movie is really about opening up those eyes and hearts to understand that there’s something you’re called to deliver. There’s something you’re supposed to give.

The weather here stinks. Why’s it important for people to get out and go share this experience with other people in a theater?

Because what will happen is people will start to get stirred up in a great way about what they can do for other people. And the more people who are there the more opportunities there are for people to help people. I think we’ll find out about some stuff that takes place in different communities that you would have never ever thought of before, because our default more times than not, is to help somebody else by giving them money. There is a dis-attachment that happens there. Your set up is defective.

In a clip from the movie, you talk about your team helping you execute your vision. What is that vision?

When people see the movie they will catch the whole entire vision. The first thing is for them to laugh, enjoy that. Just sit back, enjoy the movie. And then the viewers should do whatever they feel like they should do next. Now I think it’s going to be something … actually, I can’t wait to find out how people respond to this. I cannot wait.

Because this has never been done before. Not to my knowledge. I’ve never seen these two elements in one movie before in theaters. Stand-up comedy and some dramatic inspirational stories in the same setting. I can’t wait to see how people respond.

Will you be there? To get tickets and find out where the More Than Funny event is playing near you, please go to MoreThanFunnyMovie.com or Fathomevents.com/MoreThanFunny.

The film is rated PG-13, but Michael Jr. promises it should have been rated PG, and is perfectly safe for young children.