How Faith Changed Jeff Allen’s Approach to Comedy
By Movieguide® Contributor
Comedian Jeff Allen recently joined Allie Beth Stuckey on the “Relatable” podcast to discuss how his faith changed his approach to comedy.
“Tammy [his wife] at times would come out and see me work and leave in tears,” Allen said of his wife, explaining her reaction to his comedy before he became a Christian.
He struggled with substance abuse, which nearly ended their marriage. Movieguide® previously reported on how the book of Ecclesiastes changed his life:
He turned on some Bible tapes he had received previously and found himself in Ecclesiastes.
“When I read meaningless, meaningless, all in life is meaningless, I went ‘yes!’ And I felt if that was true, then there must be other things in that book that were true,” Allen explained.
He continued to read the Bible and decided to give his life to Jesus.
“I just got on my knees and said, ‘Jesus I’m yours,’” he revealed.
After finding faith, his comedy changed.
“The material is probably the same. I’ve always focused on my life, you know, but it’s just a different heart,” he explained.
His book, “
“Born into a tough working-class Chicago family, Allen fell into substance abuse at an early age, and his problems didn’t magically go away when he got married. In fact, with the arrival of two children, they intensified,” a summary of his book reads. “The sense that his life was meaningless made his family life as dark and biting as his comedy. But in his darkest moment, an unlikely encounter with the gloomiest book of the Bible set him on the path to salvation. The opening line of Ecclesiastes— ‘Meaningless, meaningless, all in life is meaningless’—resonated with him.”
“I told Tammy, you need to read this and be okay with my version of what we went through. So, she read the first two chapters, put it down, came to me and said, ‘We were horrible people.’ And I said, ‘That’s the beauty of the story.’ Jesus changed al. I mean, we’re not those people,” Allen said.
Now, the comedian shares his gift of making people laugh and gives glory to God.
Movieguide® previously reported on Allen:
In an interview with The Christian Post, Christian comedian Jeff Allen shares his journey to defeating addiction and finding God.
“I had a vision one day of being in the back of the car, you’re on a journey, you’re with your parents, you’re a kid. And then they pull into a rest area, and they just leave, and you’re left on your own as a child to navigate your way through life. And I thought that’s what recovery was for me,” Allen shared.
His journey is documented in his new book “Are We There Yet? My Journey from a Messed Up to a Meaningful Life.”
Allen explained how, at age 30, he entered a 12-step program for recovery, but it was not until seven or eight years later that he committed his life to Christ.
“That’s kind of what the book is about is that seven- or eight-year period of a search for some sense of meaning,” he explained.
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