This Hilarious Christian Comedian Says Jesus Wants Our Tears and Laughter
Movieguide® Contributor
Fox News reporter Shannon Bream hosted author and comedian Ellen Skrmetti on her podcast to talk all things comedy and Skrmetti’s new book, Hey, Jesus, It’s Me: I Have Questions, Comments, and Concerns.
‘“Hey, Jesus, It’s me’ is to show people…so many times we think we only come to Jesus in a crisis. My prayer is that people get that Jesus wants our every day. He wants our tears and our laughter,” Skrmetti explained.
“He wants to be in constant communication,” she continued. “I’ve had people who have said, ‘Can I get that number?’ And I’m like, ‘You have the number. You have it. You don’t need me to give it to you.’”
The former beauty queen talks to Jesus about all things Southern, as well as serious things, funny things, conflicts and for a little help every now and then.
“The journey really started with pageants because it was the night of my talent competition. I got stage fright for the first time. And I said, you know, dear Lord, if you will get me off this stage. I will never, I will never get on another one,” she explained.
“And I thought that I had stage fright and I let that keep me from ever pursuing standup comedy. And what I say in my show, and what I now know is that instead of saying, making a deal with the Lord, I should have said, ‘Hey Jesus, it’s me. Look, I’m 18 and scared’…What I now know is that the devil really used that fear to keep me from talking about the Lord.”
Skrmetti let her fear hold her back for many years and decided to finally take a comedy class at the age of 41.
“There’s never this, this idea that I’ve hit this age. So, you know, if I was going to do it, I would have done it already. At one point in time when I was doing my Instagram and look, the beginning grew slow as molasses. And I just kept doing it.”
“I told my husband, listen, if I die before the world knows I’m funny, will you please put ‘She died trying’ on my tombstone,” she joked.
When Skrmetti first started out as a comedian, she created a character called Kitty Potter. The main reason she created her wasn’t just for comic effect but because she wanted to hide behind a character rather than put her name out there in case people didn’t like her.
“I joked one time that I was able to fit into her boots, and I love her, and I wasn’t comfortable when I first started on social media being myself,” she explained. “And so I created these characters, and Kitty Potter was the first character because of my, my brain worked with, ‘Okay, if no one likes it, they just don’t like Kitty Potter. It’s not me’. It was self-protective as I dabbled into the world of social media.”
“’Hey, Jesus, It’s me,’ was the first thing that I did. That was me, and it was okay, if they don’t like it, they don’t like me. And my girlfriend called me and she said, ‘I really love this ‘Hey, Jesus’ series because it’s more you. We actually are getting to see you and a lot of this is in your standup.’”
Now, Skrmetti is glad she gets “to tell more” of her “stories” and “upbringing” and just be herself.
TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL actress Roma Downey endorsed Skrmetti’s book, saying, “Angels who make us laugh are a gift from above. Ellen is part sweet and part salty with a lot of Southern funny mixed in. A daily dose of her humor is good for my soul.”
Skrmetti’s book just launched yesterday, Sep. 17, and the comedian has shows lined up through the fall among the Southern states.
