Christian Comedian Chonda Pierce Shares How God Uses Laughter as Medicine
By Movieguide® Contributor
While Christian comedian Chonda Pierce might have been about tickling the funny bone for years, most of the trials she has been through are no laughing matter.
“My sisters and my brother and I, we were very close. Sadly, when I became a teenager, my big sister was 20 when she was killed in a car accident. We had just moved to the Nashville area,” Pierce recalled on the “Jesus Calling” podcast.
Tragedy struck the family again no less than two years when her younger sister died of leukemia; the loss of two children eventually led to her parents’ divorce.
Pierce found her escape in theater; she would become a theater major and got a role impersonating the very Southern Minnie Pearl at Opryland amusement park.
“I just fell in love with the sound of the laughter. It became more of an interest to me than singing a song or the applause of people,” she said. “I loved the laughter, and looking back now, in hindsight, I realize God was using the medicine that I so desperately needed and the medicine He designed to change my life.”
At that time, she met her husband, David Pierce, and began to get “serious with the Lord.”
“I don’t know what your theology is, but I got saved three hundred and forty-two times! Finally, one of those times, it really did strike me. I really did want to tell the world what the Lord had brought me through and how he had brought laughter to my life and what an incredible, beautiful gift it was,” Pierce stated.
Despite her faith, in her 40s, she began to suffer from depression at a time when her family was “bombarded on every side.”
“I found myself in a deep, deep depression, crying all the time, just sad about life. You know, all the sadness of my life, I just could not get over it. I couldn’t focus on the future,” the comedian recalled.
Her family intervened, and she eventually sought help at Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and was able to overcome her depression.
“There is such hope. I have not had a deep, dark, depressing episode in probably 10 years, and that is just the healing power of Jesus. Now I tell the crowd this all the time…‘It’s the healing power of Jesus and 150 milligrams of Effexor,’” the 63-year-old said.
Hope and faith in Jesus helped her through another hurdle in her life—her husband’s alcoholism that he hid until he passed out one day, and she found out he was inebriated.
“[I]t became a full-out war that we fought together for five years—it was a five-year struggle: sober a few days, not sober a few days. In and out of rehab, and eventually he had a stroke, and he died,” she said.
“I’m at that place in my grief where I can remember now those tumultuous days, and I’m so happy he’s at peace. I’m so glad he’s in the hands of Jesus. He’s at rest, and he’s not sad,” Pierce added.
Pierce said that a key to her successful career and her Christian walk is honesty.
“It’s those truthful things that I have shared on the stage I think are probably what’s given me a 25-year career. The truth is what has set me free. Every day of my life is being completely honest; and the first person I’ve learned that I had to be completely honest with is God,” Pierce said.
In addition to her standup comedy, she recently came out with a movie, ROLL WITH IT, that Moiveguide® reported on:
Her latest movie, the story of a widow working to stay afloat financially, is the first time Pierce has scored a leading role. In addition to that, the comedian has a very personal connection to ROLL WITH IT’s story.
“It’s kind of the last story idea my husband and I worked on before he passed,” Pierce shared. “It sat on my desk for a long, long time. I think I was in the middle of doing a Hallmark movie and one of the directors said, ‘Have you ever done a movie around your persona?’ And I said, ‘Well, as a matter of fact I have.’”
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
