No One is Too Cool for Mr. Rogers

A couple months ago I was going down the rabbit hole of watching every Mr. Rogers video Youtube had to offer. After a while I got curious about what the comments on these videos would be like. Youtube comments are notoriously nasty and argumentative. What kind of junk would people say about Mr. Rogers.

In the comments section of one of the videos I found this story:

“When I was in the fifth grade, Mr. Rogers was announced as a guest speaker on the topic of helping. Fifth grade was a little past the age that most kids watched the show, and it was cool to make fun of Mr. Rogers. I remember a bunch of kids saying that they were going to ask him several inappropriate questions or otherwise try to cause a disturbance during his presentation. But when he took the stage, all those kids fell dead silent and listened in awe to the ‘square’ they were going to mock in front of the assembly. I got to shake Fred Rogers’ hand and talk to him for a few moments, and I thank him for the memories.”

The sincerity and love of Mr. Rogers can break through anyone’s defenses.

I’ve done school assemblies where you can just feel that every students has a wall up. It’s cool to not care and they use that as a defense against any message you try to bring them. I have my own little ritual to get myself ready for assemblies like that. But it can be so discouraging.

It’s nice to hear stories like this.

I hear guys talk about how they can’t be effective in youth ministry because they’re too old and out of the loop. But Mr. Rogers is a reminder that your greatest tool in ministry is love. How cheesy is that? Whatever. I’m leaving it.

No More Altar Calls

I don’t do traditional altar calls any more.

If I’m doing comedy at a church and ending with a message on confession, I will close by having leaders line up on the sides of the auditorium.

I’ll say something like this:

“We’re about to dismiss. If you’re good, if things are going great in your life and you feel like this message wasn’t for you right now, when I dismiss I just ask that you quietly and respectfully exit. Feel free to leave or hang out in the lobby.

But if you’re in here and you feel like you need to talk to someone, pray, or you’re just not ready to move on, I want you to stay in your seat. You don’t have to get up or move around. When I dismiss, just hang out where you’re at.”

When people start to exit, leaders can see who is sticking around, sit down next to them, and ask them how they’re doing.

Let everyone else leave. Let those who need to stick around.

It’s PERFECT! It solves so many problems.

No one feels the weird pressure of having to get up and walk to the front.

You don’t have to worry about everyone who didn’t respond just sitting around waiting for people to stop crying so service can be over.

With the auditorium mostly empty, there’s plenty of space for these conversations to happen privately and people can take as long as they need.

I stole this from Matt Stumpf who is the youth pastor at Creekwood Church in Mansfield, TX. He told me he loves this approach because you get to show students that we’re willing to meet them where they are.

I think that’s beautiful.

So far it has been wildly effective. I’ve done it with youth, young adults, and shows for the whole church.

If you’re going to preach on a sensitive topic and want to give people a chance to connect with someone about what they’re going through, it’s worth trying this out at least once.

If you’re interested in hosting a comedy show outreach, I’m starting to book spring 2019 right now. Feel free to contact me.

Me in the bathroom after every meal...

I can’t believe I had never seen this video before. This is the most relatable content I’ve ever seen on the internet.

I have this same conversation with myself at least once a week.

I’ve mentioned before I’m lactose intolerant but I didn’t know it for the longest time. I just thought what was happening to my body was normal. I thought everyone’s butt fell off every time they ate a lot of cheese.

Here’s me talking about about bathrooms on my stand-up album, DON’T PANIC:

How I Fight Insecurities Before Performing

I started a new ritual this year.

Any time I’m feeling insecure before performing—I’m so certain the audience is going to hate me or something will go wrong and it’ll turn into a complete disaster—I will watch this video of Andrew W.K. getting kicked off stage at The Gathering of the Juggalos.

It is one of the most inspiring videos I’ve ever seen. It’s a beam of pure light and it makes me fearless.

The Gathering of the Juggalos is a notoriously hostile festival for performers. If they don’t like you WHO KNOW what horrible things they might throw at you. Empty bottles? Glass? Their own poop? If they don’t like your show they will try to ruin it.

In the first few seconds of the video you can tell the audience isn’t on Andrew W.K.’s side. He’s dancing like a weirdo and sharing a positive message. He’s not trying to be cool. He’s not trying to impress anyone. He is being 100% himself NO MATTER WHAT.

They throw empty cans at him. Doesn’t faze him.

You can tell by even just the little you see the crowd that no one seems into it. Doesn’t stop him.

He’s giving it his all. He’s not giving up.

Eventually some security guard comes and pulls him off stage. It’s over. I guess they realized that no matter what happened out there Andrew W.K. wasn’t going to back down and if they wanted it to stop they were going to have to stop him.

Some times we’ll do a school assembly at a high school where it feels like nobody cares. It’s like every student decided they were going to check out the moment they sat down in the auditorium. You feel like you’re speaking to wall. It’s so easy for that to throw me off and get in my head. But if I picture Andrew W.K. just GOING FOR IT no matter what, it inspires me to keep going.

It might feel like 99% of the audience hate you and everything you’re doing, but even if there’s just one person connecting to what you’re saying, it’s worth it. I’m sure there were a handful of people who were absolutely in love with what Andrew W.K. was doing at The Gathering of the Juggalos. They were worth performing for.

Want more? Here’s a clip of Andrew W.K. talking about his experience of that performance.

A Spiritual Exercise from Curt Thompson

I’m waiting for my copy of Curt Thompson’s Anatomy of the Soul to show up in my mailbox.

Last week my friend Cameron sent me a Q Talk from Andy Crouch called Overcoming Our Greatest Affliction. In it Crouch references Thompson and I love the quote he gives.

“Our deepest drama is that we are looking for a face that is looking for us.”

I had to find out who Curt Thompson was and read something from him. Turns out I had several of his books on my To Read list already.

I also found the lovely video I shared above while looking around for more info about Thompson. The spiritual exercise he walks through is so simple and sweet. It’s not big or weird or self important. It’s such a lovely little way we can remind ourselves of how God is with us and what he thinks of us.

I can’t wait to read more from him.

Pictures of E.T. in a Turtleneck

I watched E.T. again the other day for a VERY SECRET PROJECT. For some reason on this rewatch I was fascinated by his look and design. I was mostly just interested in his weird neck.

What a weird neck, am I right folks?

Then I started to think about how funny it would look if you put a turtleneck sweater on E.T. and his weird neck. It was very amusing.

Now, there’s a lot of truly wild and wonderful things on the internet. Some times it feels like any strange thing you can imagine probably exists somewhere out there on some obscure website. I like to play this game of “surely, I can find this on the internet.” I’m confident I’m not the first person to have this weird thought.

So I google “E.T. wearing a turtleneck.”

And I’m shocked at the lack of results.

Siri, find me pictures of E.T. in a turtleneck.

— Taylor Johnson (@taylordson) October 12, 2018

There are zero photos of E.T. in a turtleneck. How is that possible? Why is no one drawing this? The internet failed me today.

— Taylor Johnson (@taylordson) October 13, 2018

Attention artists participating in #Inktober

Please draw E.T. in a turtleneck

(bonus points for barrette and cigarette)

— Taylor Johnson (@taylordson) October 13, 2018

Luckily when I put this call to action out to the world there were brave men and women who were ready to rise to the occasion.

I got this one from Hazel.

Patty went full french with hers. Looking great, E.T.

And Seth Urbina drew this beauty.

I don’t know why I couldn’t get this weird and specific image out of my head but I’m glad people drew it.

E.T. looks better in a turtleneck. He looks chill and trustworthy. When I was a kid I was terrified of him. If only he had a turtleneck, I wouldn’t have felt so threatened.

I was on the radio

Welp. I guess I was on the radio today.

Thanks to KHEA Radio for letting me hang out on Pushstart.

I noticed that whenever there was a lull in the conversation, Gardy would reset, saying the time and whatnot. At the beginning he was having to do that every few minutes and that threw me into a panic. That meant I wasn’t being a very good guest. So it became my goal to see how long we could go before he’d reset and say the time.

I had fun. Hope I get to go back.

Sharing My Wisdom

Something Good is Coming

I love how Andrew Peterson describes hope as the belief that something good is coming.

When he was experiencing this season of depression he describes in the video his wife would often repeat that phrase. He needed that reminder because when you’re in that darkness it can feel like it’s going to last forever. It’s the new normal. You lose all hope because you believe you’ll never feel sunshine again.

But something good is coming.

It reminded me of an Ask Andrew W.K. article where someone asked “How Do I Get Through Dark Times?”

Andrew’s response focused on the cycle of light and darkness that all of us experience. Nothing lasts forever. Life is constantly changing and transitioning just like the night always changes into day.

“We must not mistake the experience of darkness as a sign of torturous death or the end of all good things. It is just a turning point, a part of a cycle. And once the darkness has completed its part of the pattern, the shadows will retreat, the sun will rise, and the light will return once more.”

And he ends the piece with this:

The shadows aren’t always bad. Sometimes they’re just the result of so much light around the corner.

Some times we can remind the people we love that something good is coming. But some times all we can do is be their anchor and believe it for them.

We want them to have hope so it changes their outlook but we also need to let the hope we believe in change our outlook on them. We can sit and listen to their heartache and pain without worrying or nervously trying to offer any advice that comes to mind because we KNOW that something good is coming for them.

We can be patient.

We can wait.

We can love.

In Lord of the Rings Sam knows he’s not allowed to carry the Ring for Frodo. It’s Frodo’s burden to bear. But when Frodo is at his weakest Sam proclaims “I can’t carry it for you but I can carry you.”

Something good is coming.

Taylor Johnson's Sermon From SAGU Chapel

This last week I got to do an event at Southwestern Assembly of God University. I'm still replaying the whole thing in my mind because it was all just too cool to be true.

I spoke in chapel in the morning and did a free comedy show on campus that night.

Was I nervous to speak in chapel? Yes. Absolutely. I was terrified.

1. I graduated from this school. I sat in chapel for 4 years. I remember what it felt like when there was a great speaker and when there was terrible one. What if I’m one of the bad one?!

2. The way I thought I was supposed to end my sermon felt so risky to me. I kept asking God to confirm that this was His idea and not mine, because if it was mine there was a chance it would crash and burn and be a disaster.

3. I had a comedy show on campus that night. I knew chapel was going to be a bit of an audition. If I bombed in the morning then there was no way anyone would come to the show. I had to bring 100% if I wanted any sort of audience. 

But the students in chapel wiped all those fears away. They were on board for everything. They bravely responded to the end of the message. And we had around 500 people at the show that night!

It was awesome.

I'm so happy I was able to take the type of event I do for churches and adapt it for Christian colleges. It would be so cool if this opened more doors at more schools. I love speaking to college students.