How God Used Comedy to Help Chonda Pierce Through Tough Times
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian comedian Chonda Pierce explained why she needs comedy and how God has used it to help her overcome the hardest times in her life.
“I love that God blessed me with a sense of humor and an ability to tell a story or two that makes a room laugh because I love it just as much as anybody else,” Pierce told The Christian Post. “I need the laughter as well. I love that I get to do that for a living, and wasn’t God so kind to direct my path that way, because that laughter has brought a lot of healing my way.”
“Hearing people laugh is just as much medicine for me as it is for anybody,” she added. “I think early in my career, my comedy was probably a lot of deflecting going on to try to mask some pain.”
Pierce is getting ready to launch her new book “
“In Life Is Funny until It’s Not, Pierce recounts a preacher’s daughter’s childhood filled with heartbreak, including abuse, her parents’ divorce, and the sudden deaths of her two sisters in the span of two years. Even after she achieved success in her comedy tours, trials and tragedy dogged her through marriage, motherhood, and widowhood. But God was there with her through every sorrow and every joy,” a summary of the book reads.
“The overall message [of the book] is that there’s a girl who went through a list of traumas and came out of it still loving God, still loving life and still laughing. That it’s possible,” she told BeliefNet.
“What is amazing about God is, he created all the arts, and the devil’s job is to pervert them all. And in that deflecting or using comedy that’s cruel or hateful or filthy, that is Satan’s job. He loves to steal that,” Pierce continued.
Pierce began her career in comedy because she felt that she had a story to tell. Over 30 years later, she has become the highest-selling female comedian in history and continues to be a force in the industry, all while keeping her content clean. While comedy is her starting point, she also uses her platform to share about Jesus and the impact her faith has had on her life.
“Comedy is always the opening act, but I also turn the corner to share the stories behind it,” she said. “Jesus himself used humor in his teachings, and I aim to show both the good and the bad so people can see God at work.”
“I’ll never get and HBO or Netflix special because I really talk a lot about Jesus,” she continued. “But when God directs your path, there’s a lot of peace. A whole lot of peace may not be as big as a paycheck, but…it’s in telling the good and the bad and the ugly that you actually get to see that hand of God.”
It is for this reason that she is candid in her comedy, sharing the difficulties she has gone through rather than only keeping things light. She hopes that the stories she shares can inspire others to look to God when things don’t go according to their plans.
“I wanted to tell my story to help people, but I didn’t want to dive into the sad parts outright. I start with comedy, then turn the corner to reveal reality,” she said. “I had people say they were considering ending their life, but my stories pulled them back. It’s moments like those that make all the sacrifices worth it.”
“I want people to see that there’s a woman who walked a rough road but never walked away from God,” Pierce added, “and to find hope and healing in His enduring faithfulness.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Christian comedian Chonda Pierce is known for making crowds laugh at the crazy parts of life, peculiarities within the church and her own perspective of the world.
In an interview with CBN’s Faithwire, Pierce talked about her experience as a comedian.
“You have instant gratification or instant rejection. And, I’ve had both,” she said.
Pierce quotes Scripture while also making people laugh, embracing the art of comedy and encouraging her audience to feel the different emotions of life.
“God created every one of our emotions and allows us to use every one of them, even anger,” Pierce stated. “He says, ‘Be angry but sin not’…everything that we do, all the arts, was used at the beginning for worship.”
Ultimately, Pierce knows that the “art of comedy” is a “sweet gift” from God.
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