An Interview with Comedian Marty Daniels

At first glance when you study Marty Daniels' comedy, you might miss the significance of the man behind the laughs. Truthfully, he looks like any other comic, but his material is a journey. His on stage persona is not natural to anyone else but it just happens to be who he is. I guess some people are that goofy. His thoughts zig where others zag.

His wife, Trina, works as his Booking Agent, Manager, Merchandise Table "Volunteer" and Detail Person for each show. Currently she is putting together dates for a Fall-Winter 2007-08 tour that will take him to churches in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Tennessee. Until the tour starts Marty is performing single dates to keep his routine fresh while adding new material that will be featured on a CD/DVD combo to be released for Christmas 2007.

Recently Marty sat down for this interview with Erik Matthews anaspiring journalist currently attending THE Ohio State University.

Do people expect you to be funny?

Honestly? Yeah, I mean when I'm on stage, I hope so. When I'm offstage they probably just think "This guys a little strange." Most of the time, they're probably right. I am a little strange. Don't you think?

Why do you suppose people prefer comedy that's dirty or shocking?

I don't know that they do. Honestly what else is being offered to the masses? Take a look at the networks and Comedy Central. Sure, there's Brian Regan, Jim Gaffigan and a couple others that are clean but beyond that your scraping the bottom of the barrel again.

I recently saw one of your shows in a church and was surprised that you talked about grief. How do you talk about grief in a comedy show?

The first thing is that comedy is about being honest. Most comedy is born out of tragedy. Just because I am a Christian doesn't mean I'm any different. I like to say it is the human experience. For years I tried to be "The good guy" but frankly life was kicking my butt. I was locked into a place I didn't belong and finally I had to confess it to God and then allow him to move me from there and it was all rooted in grief.

On that level, I'm not so different than "normal people."

What's your material?

It's pretty universal. I guess my incredible hatred of cats would not be a uniting message to the folks in PETA but that's probably the only thing I can think of that anyone would be offended by. Beyond that I look for what EVERYONE experiences car troubles, home repair, weight issues, neighbors, family, you know?

What makes a good comedian?

Knowing when to say "WHEN." I know guys who have an hour and a half of material and every bit of it is funny but after the first 45 minutes to an hour the audience is ready to move on.

Do you have a stage persona?

Not really. When I walk out there I want people to see ME. Who I think is a guy that pretty much anyone can relate too.

I've been to comedy clubs where the audience is just ruthless, waiting for you to suck. Have you ever had that experience?

Not at all. everything I have ever done has worked. NOT! Honestly, Comedy Clubs and Churches are a lot alike in that respect and it is just as tough to be on stage when you feel like an audience is sizing you up. In that situation it is much harder to be funny. The one thing you can't force people to do is laugh. Unless you had a gun and then it would just be nervous laughs and those aren't fun at all.

What do you laugh at?

I like stories. To me, stories are funnier than any joke teller. Stories seem more natural.

Does humor evolve?

Sure. It's why we have Democrats and Republicans and Traffic Jams and Cell Phone humor. If it didn't evolve we'd still be talking about that crazy guy who thinks the world is round or that guy who thinks fire can actually be obtained.

Copyright (c) 2006,MartyDaniels.com.

To inquire about booking Marty Daniels for a single date or as part of his 2007-2008 Fall/Winter tour visit http://www.MartyDaniels.com or call his office at 866-935-7539.

Marty Daniels, Comedian - Demo II

Perky Face

Lift and Separate

Hey there.

I read the Drudge Report a couple times a day. I like it and other sites like http://www.TheOoze.com, http://MarkDaniels.blogspot.com and http://www.RockRebel.com.

Today one of the links on Drudge was to a story in the London Daily Mail which asked a profound question..."Would you wear a face bra?"...Initially I was pretty excited about the probability of a "Face Bra" but then I found out it is an anti ageing device for men and women to
lift and separate wrinkles on the face.

You can read more here.

Ted Haggard Part Deux

I will confess that Ted Haggard has never had a huge influence on me. I bet a lot of people never knew who he was is prior to his very public disgrace this past week but I can tell you one thing, pretty much everybody knows about him now.

I don't doubt that his heart and passion for Jesus are high but I would say that even while doing so many GREAT things for the body of Christ that and the cause of Christ that his walk got off step. I am not throwing stones at Ted Haggard. I have gotten out of step with Christ before and it is clearly no fun.

Getting out of step is no fun because it humiliates you. It causes others to doubt the power of Christ to change us. It causes others to stumble and it causes division, a division that is sometimes under the roof of a house shared by a man and and a woman and sometimes under the roof of a congregation.

There are two things at play here as I see it.

Ted Haggard was revealed to be the image of Peter as the cock crowed three times...Peter denied Christ three times and then looked into the eyes of Christ...At least that's the way I've always envisioned it. He had to deny Christ every time he picked up a phone to call the escort service. Every time he uttered a word. Every time he went to the hotel and when he returned to his holy calling. Ted Haggard had a lot of times to deny Christ and to lie to himself. To the people around him and to his God.

Ted Haggard also revealed something I've written about before in a blog called the Judas Spirit of the Church.

Haggard is a person who was profiled in a film called "Prayer Camp" and while this picture was produced by non-believers it shows what I would call a negative portrayal of Haggards efforts to impact younger children for the cause of Christ by instructing them to impact the political landscape. Many times we in the church, like Judas, look for a political solution to a spiritual problem.

Often times our problems would be solved if we would simply shut up and live what we believe the Bible says. Instead we spend too much time flapping our gums, writing on websites and putting our thoughts out there by any means other than the LOUD WITNESS OF A CHANGED LIFE.

If you are married your first ministry is to your spouse. If things are not right at home you have no business going out the door to win others to the cause.

Ted Haggard swore that things were right at home with his wife...He called them "steady"...but that can't be true because when you are married according to the scripture two become one and if one is delving into sexual relationships outside of a relationship with their spouse and doing drugs, something is very wrong at home....There is something very unsteady in that house.

The roles of ministers and leaders of the church today have been so clouded that we have pastors pretending to be politicians and politicians masquerading as theologians...It is nonsense and an outrage and all the while the verbiage of FAMILY VALUES gets shoved deeper down the throat of our culture when the family in the church is going to hell.

Be on guard and let your loudest words be spoken in silence by the witness of your changed life and faithful marriage.

Pre Show

Click to Play

This is just a taste of what I go through prior to every show.

Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: comedian, comedy, exercise, muscles, work out, funny

Ted Haggard

I just got done reading the article on abcnews.com about Pastor Ted Haggard who is not only the Pastor of one of America's largest churches but he also heads the National Association of Evangelicals.

The article reveals that Haggard has been accused of having sex with a man for the last Three (3) years. Is there any truth to it? Who knows.

Here is what we do know.

Haggard is a staunch political conservative who along with James Dobson and Focus on the Family have pushed to put the same sex marriage issue front and center in the state of Colorado this voting season. These sort of accusations true or false should be expected.

What if it's true?

If it's true does it mean that Jesus is any less who he said he was and who many of us have learned he is through trial and error? No, of course not!

Unlike men and organizations such as the church, Jesus does not need any PR. He stands on His own merrits and even when his followers like you, me, Ted Haggard and ever the Apostle Peter fall or deny Him, He is still God.

So if you find yourself shakeing in your shoes because of the accusations of human frailty and sin in a very high profile church leader, stop it. Nothing any person does here on earth or in heaven above is going to change who He is.

I WANT YOU!!!

Okay before you think I am recruiting for some militia let me clear this up.

I am looking for a cartoonist.

Your location does not matter but I would like to find someone who is interested on working on a few projects a year and you have to have samples of your work online or available to send to me.

So, contact me through my website at http://www.MartyDaniels.com, just go to the booking form and fill it out.

Thanks!

@ The Circleville Pumkin Festival

Watch the Video

Five Things List

I was reading Ben Yoskovitz Instigator Blog and thought I'd join in on the fun of his suggestion to "Blog about 5 Things" to try and restart this blog up.

So here we go....

5 SITES I VISIT EVERY DAY

1) Rock Rebel: A site that finds articles, interviews and insights about mainstream
musical artists who are influenced, persuaded or infected by Christianity.

2) RedsZoneL
A site dedicated to mindful and mindless fans of the Cincinnati Reds. 
Which one am I?  I am not even close to being objective. I am a complete
"homer" and make no excuses for it.

3) LifeHacker:
I learn so much just by spending a few minutes at this site.  I learned
about a new podcast tool that I intend on using very soon to create my very own
podcast but there is just tons of into on this site about free utilities, hacks
and how to's that I need a fix every day.

4) Dictionary.com:
I confess!  I am a horrible writer. My punctuation is bad and my spelling
is worse. At least Dictionary.com can help me with one of those two problems.

5) BlueLetterBible.org:
I participate in their daily bible reading plan.  On their site they have
just about any version of the Bible you would like to read and the daily plan is
laid out for you so it is very easy to follow.

CHECKING BACK IN

It has been very busy of late. Sorry to just sort of vanish from time to time.

I had a nice Valentines Day...actually it was a good day but "The Mrs." and I didn't do anything special to celebrate...that happens tomorrow!

SO MUCH has happened since I last posted on here...every other good/bad/ugly comedian has used all the available lines for the VP shooting his "huntin buddy"...that's what happens when you give a Redneck a limo and a gun!

What else?????

I want to let the folks I have perofrmed for over the last couple of weeks know that I had a really great time and I am grateful for the trust and opportunity you gave me.

I am part of a comedy duo and invite you to check out our website at http://www.IndividuallyWarped.com

Off to a dinner...tonight I get to yuck it up with a group celebrating a "killer Quarter" in sales...It is for a funeral home...REALLY!!!

Have a great day.

Sad to say that Grandpa Munster died. He was 95.

IT'S A PRETTY BIG DAY

Not today, yesterday. Yesterday MartyDaniels.com officially passed the 11,000 visitors mark.

Not a bad year.

I am not saying I am obsessed with the numbers that visit my site. I only care that the people who visit my site want to hire me.

So, what do you say? Hire me!

CREATIVE THINKING

"If you take risks, you may still fail. But if you do not take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing."

Roberto Goizueta

I like underdogs!

I like people who not only have the ability to think creatively but in some instances I love when those people MUST think creatively. It is in that time when you really see what people are made of and what level of belief they have in their idea, product or company and in themselves.

One such example is the late Roberto C. Goizueta, the former CEO of
Coca-Cola. Sure, Coke is a powerful world imprint that has enjoyed success
but it wasn't always that way.

After the infamous switch to the NEW COKE, the company was on the ropes and
losing market share in the States. It was Goizueta who targeted Asian and
Hispanic markets which saved Coca-Cola from its demise.

Your company may not be in that bad of shape but maybe you are not far from it? Belief in your company, product, idea and yourself is contageous. I'd like to help you communicate your agenda to your target audience.

Contact me today to reserve your date.

SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?!?!

Well, it's my birthday too!

39 years ago today I came to play and haven't stopped since. Thanks to everyone who has helped and continues to help me out along the way.

I had fully intended on going to the DMV and getting my license renewed earlier in the month but that did n't happen. So now, I get to edure a LONG LINE filled with others who put it off to the last minute.

TODD BIROS

My good friend and the creative force behind the new blog "No Jacket Required" got married yesterday...BRACE YOURSELF!

XM RADIO

My wife got me XM radio for Christmas. Over the last several weeks I have fallen in love with it. Don't get me wrong, it is not like local FM/AM radio (which is hardly done anymore) but it beats the daylights out of what fills most of the FM/AM dials now days...I especially like the REAL JAZZ, FRANK'S PLACE, HANK'S PLACE and THE LOFT. On those four channels I'll hear all my favorites and some obscure stuff as well. Sure there is a ton of crap on XM and SIRIUS (Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, etc) but by and large there are a lot of artists getting a paycheck that otherwise wouldn't get airplay.

A few groups and bands that come to mind that you should check out.

• Grateful Dead
• Over the Rhine
• Sam Phillips