From Gambling Halls to Classrooms
| By: Dan Wooding; ©2000 |
| John Pate has gone from a stand-up comedy, performing with such notables as Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld and Red Skelton, to the classroom, where he now teaches young comedians to get laughs without getting vulgar. Dan Wooding talks with him about his career, and his goals in this article. |
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FROM GAMBLING HALLS TO CLASSROOMS: THE EXTRAORDINARY CAREER OF TOP COMIC JOHN PATE
It’s been quite a journey for John Pate.
In a career that spans 22 years, he has gone from a profession as an accomplished writer and entertainer with more than 100 national television appearances, to joining the staff of the California Baptist University in Riverside, Calif., as a speech and debate team coach.
Pate’s early life in Alabama gave no indication that he would go on to perform as a stand-up comedian at every major venue from coast to coast; New York and Atlantic City to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, performing with the likes of Robin Williams, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, and numerous appearances with the legendary Red Skelton.
“I was born and raised in Alabama, in the small community of Sand Rock that didn’t even have a post office,” he said in an interview. “It was just a small community on the top of Lookout Mountain. Kind of like Walton’s Mountain, where everybody knew everybody. My family were all Christians, and we were raised with those same principles and ethics.
“When I first started thinking about becoming an entertainer, I kinda wanted to find the place where a Christian could make some impact, and yet was needed the most. I chose comedy and television writing, simply because I felt that was where the hardest inroad would be, and I felt that that was where God said to go.”
Surprisingly, making such a transition was not difficult for John.
“That was the way I had been raised,” he says. “I didn’t really know any other lifestyle except for a Christian one, so I continued to work from that premise.”
A Clean Comedian
What about the foul language and “blue” material of many comedians? Didn’t that make being a Christian comic very hard?
“As far as the difficulty of being a Christian comic, I never really experienced it. You can be funny and still be clean. That may have puzzled some of the other acts, as to why God allowed me to be moderately successful and remain clean, but it was no mystery to me.”
John says that the late Red Skelton has been a huge influence on his life and performances.
“How I got involved with performing with Red Skelton was also one of those perfect timing things that only God could arrange,” he said. “I collected some of his art, and once when I was performing in Las Vegas, I visited an art gallery, and the owner was putting together a large Red Skelton art show. I mentioned that I was a huge Red Skelton fan, and that if there was anyone in the business that I ever wanted to meet, it would be Mr. Skelton. I told them that I had patterned my act after what I always saw Red do, and they asked me to be on the show as his opening act. After the show Red and his wife talked to me for quite some time, and from that point, anytime there was a Red Skelton show, I was invited to be a part of it, and Red would always sit and pay close attention to my act, and he would always give me huge insights into what to do.”
About two years ago, John received a letter from Red Skelton in which he said, “John, of all the new comedians, I think you are the best. Things you say and the gentle way you deliver the funny lines are meaningful and at times touching. When I first saw you perform I watched the audience, and they seemed to feel as I did. You were having a personal conversation with us.”
“Most young comedians are quite ignorant (that) they must win over the crowd in 15 minutes. Some make a vain attempt but fall short, but they must hear a laugh, so they use the shortcut for thinking and resort to sex jokes and four-letter words. They successfully become not comedians but exhibits, and soon are forgotten.
“I have never been a frequenter of Comedy Clubs. I have tried to watch these young clowns with their misfit cap and bells, so at best, my judgment is simple. I am not a critic, but most comedians are as appealing as an unwashed dishrag.
“As far as Robin Williams and any of the other acts I have worked with over the years, I just wait on any opportunity that God provides for me to speak with them,” he said. “Usually, when we would talk at the comedy clubs, any and all comics would open up to me with any moral or religious questions, and I would use those times to share with them. Today, Robin would probably not even remember my name, I haven’t seen him for over five or six years, but he would always remember my face, and the things we talked about at the clubs. So yes, if he saw me, we would easily strike up a conversation, but, no, I don’t usually pal around with a lot of the guys with whom I have worked, and yet, it would be very easy to sit down and share a pizza with Jay Leno and have a talk.”
Did he ever find it a problem performing in gambling casinos?
“There was never any problem performing in the Las Vegas casinos, because they knew what they were getting,” said Pate. “I didn’t have to change my act for them. They just recognized that funny is funny and, at the same time, the audience would walk away realizing that they had just laughed at 20 minutes of very clean material.”
He added, “I hope to achieve exactly what God has for me to do. As the doors open, I walk through them. As they close, I have to learn to wait.”
Into the Classroom
John explained how his career radically shifted and how he came to join the staff of the California Christian University.
“I came to the university to fill a need there as a Speech & Debate team coach,” he said. “It was a very easy transition because I always have a built-in audience. (And besides, they always HAVE to laugh at the teacher’s jokes.) The wonderful thing about traveling around to different speech competitions, is the same feeling that I have as a comic.
“The students are winning the competitions with clean performance materials. They are regularly defeating opponents who have dirty material. I want to continue showing them that it can be done, just the way I always did it with comedy and writing. They are always amazed at first, and then they become more confident with it, and can boldly share their faith now without any reservations.”
Into the BERRY PATCH
His new book, Berry Patch Works, is the culmination of hours spent in bookstores, perusing the shelves for performance materials for his students. He says he chose to make his task a bit easier for the young artists, by providing a variety of material from which to choose, all in one collection. His pages offer riveting characters and plots that are already being praised in print and reviewed as a new breed of performance material, taking it to the next level.
“The reason I wrote Berry Patch Works is that I wanted them (the young artists) to have materials that would speak to an audience in a certain way, and at the same time deliver a message in many cases,” he said. “Some of them are just for fun, but some of them speak to very deep questions of our time. I have performed several pieces from the book at different venues and the response has always been tremendous. I even have people come up to me in tears after the performances and ask where they can get a copy.
“The reviews have been consistently good. I hope that will continue.”
John knows how to use comedy and drama to convey the message of Christ.
“My views about Christians using comedy and drama are simple,” he said. “Know the goal. Know the audience. And, know the expectations. If you are in it to make a name for yourself, you are in it for the wrong reasons. I, by no means, am a household name, but I also am very happy for all the things that God has presented to me to do. I enjoy seeing people being moved and changed by God using drama and comedy. At the same time, I don’t believe that it should be misused. I have never believed that church was a place to go to have all of your senses stimulated or to be entertained, but to have a drama honor God and blend in with a message is very powerful. So it can be done, but it must be done right, and with the right timing.”
He concluded with a heartfelt appeal to the church.
“My message to the church would be to get more involved to help change the perceptions that exist today,” he said. “We want to enjoy clean shows and material. There is a school of thought that things are getting worse, as the industry pushes the edge more and more. It is our job to try to show that there are other alternatives to this. It will get worse if we let it. But, it is not an easy job. Nobody ever said it would be. But, the job will never be done by people sitting on their hands shaking their heads.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information on how to get a copy of Berry Patch Works, write to John Pate, 631 W. Bagnall Street, Glendora, CA 91740, call (626) 3358405 or (909) 343-4514, or fax (909) 351-1808. To help Hollywood find alternatives to foul language, explicit sex, graphic nudity, extreme violence, immorality, false ideas, and evil beliefs, donate your time, effort and money to MOVIEGUIDE® at 2510-G, Las Posas Road, #502, Camarillo, CA 93010.
Dan Wooding is an award-winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife, Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times). Wooding is also the author of some 38 books, (the latest of which is a second printing of Blind Faith with Anne Wooding, his 92-year-old mother who was a pioneer missionary to the blind in Nigeria, ASSIST Books and WinePress Publishing). He is also a syndicated columnist and for ten years was a commentator on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC.
