May 29, 2025 • 35 mins
Newt talks with Brad Stine, a prominent Christian comedian known as "God's Comic," about his unique approach to comedy and the challenges of being a conservative performer. Stine, who has authored two books and hosts a podcast, “Brad Stine Has Issues,” shares insights into his career, the role of humor in political discourse, and the impact of social media on comedy. He emphasizes the importance of free speech and the ability to laugh at oneself, critiquing the left's approach to humor and political correctness. Stine also reflects on his experiences with hecklers, the influence of comedians like George Carlin, and the significance of being a truth-teller in today's cultural landscape.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
On this episode of News World. Brad Stein is one
of the most media covered Christian comedians in the country.
The New Yorker magazine referred to him as quote God's comic.
He's also been called a clean Dennis O'Leary. In addition
to performing comedy, he's written two books, Being a Christian
Without Being an Idiot and Live from Middle America, Rants
(00:26):
from a Red State Comedian, and he hosts a podcast.
Brad Stein has issues. I met Brad recently an event
in Nashville. We've had a great conversation, and I thought,
I really want to introduce him to all of you.
So I'm delighted to welcome he's my guest today, Brad,
(00:52):
Welcome and thank you for joining me a News World.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm sitting here with nude gingrich. I mean, I'm used
to just slumming it, my friend. I'm on with you know,
regular folks that haven't accomplished anything.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And look at you.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You have direct line to the White House, and so buddy,
I'm on your coat tails today, my friend.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
You have your own unique audience and you've done an
amazing job. But I'm very curious how did you get
into comedy? When I was in high school, I wanted
to get into comedy. I read Steve Allen's book The Comedians,
and I was all excited. Turned out I was a
really bad comic, so I gave it up and went
into something else.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well, it's not for everybody, that's for sure. Some people
in politics are more comedic than they realize. But you
know what, I don't know that stand up comedy or
to be a comedian is something that you can become.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I think you kind of have an innate I.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Say that we use the phrase he has a good
sense of humor as though it simply means that he
laughs thing or he sees funny things. But I do
believe it really is deeper than that. I think a
sense of humor is literally like a heightened sense like
our senses.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Right, People that can just fine.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Funny in places that most people just overlook or take
for granted is our special gift. We see the human experience,
we mock the human experience. We have been historically the
ones that could make fun of the King, not get
our head cut off.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
That's what the gesture was for.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And so we have a role to play and so
I think that those like myself who came out and
ruined my mainstream career by saying I'm a Christian, I'm
a conservative, and I'm unapologetically patriot. It was costly on
one hand, but it also showed that there was a
demographic of Americans that wanted sophisticated comedy but didn't want
(02:38):
the swear words and didn't want people tearing down our country.
So I think what happened to me was I just
kind of got into the business. I was a professional magician,
believe it or not, but I was funny when I
did it, and I just started working in comedy clubs
and I realized this is what I want to do,
because to have a mind of mouth and a mic
and that's it. You got nowhere else to hide. If
(02:58):
they don't like it, no no where to go. Brother,
You got to finish or you don't get paid. It's
a tight rope walk without a net, for sure. But
for those of us who find it compelling, I think
we can do a service to culture. And hopefully that's
what I'm doing for the subculture of Christian conservatives in America.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
When you think about comedy clubs, for example, I was
shuck with What a tough moment that is when, as
you said, you walk out there, there's nobody else there
and it either clicks or it's going to be a
long night.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, you know it's funny because what happens is you'll
get a lot of people to come up to you afterwards.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Ago, Oh, I wanted to do a comedian o. My
friends said I should be a comedian. And what they
don't understand is this it's a performance art. Okay, So
to say that there's not a lot of funny people
out there, obviously there are. I'm sure you know funny
people in your life that are friends and you love
this guy and you makes your life, and you might
be a funny guy you know with your friends. I
don't know you that will personally. But that's not the
(03:56):
hard part. If you happen to be funny, okay, God
bless you. But what you get to do is walk
out on stage to strangers who don't already know you,
don't already have a history with you, don't already have
a sense of your style of humor that they've already
bought into, and oh, here here comes Joe.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
He's so funny.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Because they already have a relationship of chemistry. You're walking
out to strangers and in like three minutes you have
to make all these strangers get what you're coming from
and want to participate. It's like you're an orchestra leader
and all these people are like, there's the tuba guy,
and there's the cello and there's a piccolo, and I've
got to make all these people laugh together and find
(04:38):
unity in my humor and my point of view immediately
or it's going to be a long, horrible night.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And my brother I have been in the wrong end
of it as well.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
That's the cost of being a stand up comic, and
if you can do it, you might make a living.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I had a parallel experience. One time. I gave a
speech to the South Fulton CPA group, which had a
quarterly meeting, and I did everything in my speech the works,
and they just stared, I mean, no response. Nothing. At
the very end of the evening, this one guy came
out to me and said, God, that was exciting. He said,
(05:16):
we're CPAs you know. Yeah, I've never forgotten it. It's
the only time I remember when nothing worked.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well, first off, I will have to say this, you
get no sympathy from me, zero until you've walked some
of the rooms I have done. My friend, welcome to
the club. But you know what's really fascinating about that,
there are groups of people in this world that I
guess are.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Having a good time and you never know it.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
They don't laugh, they're not demonstrative, they're not gregarious, and
you'll finish your show and they'll be like, oh, you
were so funny, and you're thinking, where were you when
I was up there, because I don't remember seeing any.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Of this response.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
But it's funny how sometimes the tone of the room
is based on maybe their job description, maybe they're tired.
That's the weird tightrope about stand up comedy. You don't
know what you're going to get because you don't know
where these people are coming from or what their day
was like.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
So your job is to try to find funny for
them and let them.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Forget about what brought them this miserable countenance to the show.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Have you ever had an actively hostile group?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Well? How still in what way?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Commenting back in negative ways?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I mean, well, for sure that would be called a heckler.
And you do have to learn how to fence with them.
And you know, nowadays they have this thing called crowd work.
It's a big popular thing on YouTube where the comic
is talking to the audience, Hey what do you do
for a little bit? Hey where are you from? And
they joke extemporaneously. And I've been doing that my whole life.
I walk out into the crowd and start doing stuff
(06:49):
like kind of like Robin Willms used to do. And
it does go with the territory. Matter of fact, it's
the only performance art I'm aware of that the audience
feels emboldened to participate. You don't go to an opera
and the guy's like and they're like, no, you suck.
You don't ever see that these guys. You just let
them do their little.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Show and leave them alone where you like it not.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But there's something about stand up that gives people this
permission to try to wrangle you and see if baby,
they can overcome you. Maybe they want it to be
a comic or whatever. So it does come with the terrory.
But if you're really good at this, if you've done
it a long time, they're not going to survive. You
will be able to attack them in a funny way.
(07:30):
But certainly in a more professional, sophisticated way, because that's
your job.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's the control words, you know what.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
New This is why comedy is so important as a
regulator of freedom. I mean, if there's one barometer for
what makes a country free its speech, it is there
any boundaries that people are laying down that says you
cannot talk, speak, think, act, behave in this topic. Anytime
(08:00):
that's laid down, you've lost your freedom because your speech,
your thoughts, your freedom of speech is your philosophy, it's
how you see the world. It's your agency as a human.
So it is absolutely sacrosanct that that is never hindered.
And what did the left want to do with comics?
They want to dissensor us. You can't talk that you're
making people uncomfortable. That's the job of comedy to make
(08:23):
people uncomfortable, so that you have to reckon with the
crazy or with some other perspective that their average American
doesn't want to buy into.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And you're forcing.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Me to have to think like you believe like you
are shut up, and you're going to say you're the
tolerant one. So comedy is greatness is it can expose
that and mocking ridicule, because nothing has been more proven
about sort of the worldview and how it plays out
in real time than the difference between a conservative and
(08:53):
a progressive in humor. They can't laugh at themselves, newt
They can't laugh at themselves. They find it irritating, they
find it unfair, they find it deflating, they find it indignant.
And we, as conservatives who have been the punchline and
as a Christian double punchline for years in the culture,
(09:14):
we've learned to say, I don't agree with you, but
I still see the funny.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
That is sophistication. That is a mature citizen allowing all
points of view even if you disagree. They cannot return
that favor. That's how children live. You're not allowed to
make fun, You're not allowed to joke. I can't take it.
So you're seeing systemic narcissism at the root of progressivism. Literally,
(09:40):
a group of people in worship of themselves, calling themselves
the virtuous ones, get to self anoint themselves and then
tell the rest of us how we can live. So comedy,
my comedy disrupts that and exposes that. And that's why
I'm not on the tonight show. But I'm on your
show because they can't handle the truth.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I understand that you first got an audience laughing with
you in kindergarten.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Okay, so that's a crazy story.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I'll try to do it fast for you because maybe
it won't be as interesting to folks. But I was
in kindergarten. I'm six, and the teacher said, we're going
to have a show and tell whatever. It was some
free form day, who knows it was in the sixties.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I'm a baby boomer.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So they said, we're going to have somebody come up
and do a puppet show. Who wants to do it?
So I raised my hand. I always wanted to be
the center of attention. And they get another kid and
they give us puppets. They didn't give us a script,
so they just set these kids loose behind the puppet
board and we put our hands up. So I put
my hand up. I realized nobody knew what to do.
So I just start of saying, hey, you want to
(10:40):
play hide and seek? And the kids like sure, and
I say, okay, you go, and I'll count. And I
went one, nine, seven, twenty to sixteen, one thousand and
ninety and the kids started laughing, because nothing it's funnier
in kindergarten than the old.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Look. I don't know how to count.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Routine, but they were rolling, and I remember leaving my
little show and the kids. I felt like I'm the
funniest guy that's ever existed, and I said down. The
next week they decided to do another one, and they
decided to do a puppet show again, because clearly I
had shown the success of what puppetry can be. So
I raised my hand. I'm thinking, they're going to have
(11:18):
to choose me because I'm the king. They didn't choose me,
to choose two other kids. They get behind there, they
start doing the puppet show, and here's what I hear, Hey,
let's play hide and seek one nine twelve twelve, And
the kids are rolling, and I'm sitting there thinking, that's
my bet.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I'm six years old.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I wrote my first comedy routine at six and had
a ripped off a week later.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Welcome to showbiz.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Copyright infringement, intellectual property ripped off at six. But I
guess the point Not only is that funny to me
and ironic, but to me it goes back to your
first question. Somehow, I knew that'd be funny if I
didn't know how to count right. So again, you either
have this innate ability to find funny in things or
you don't.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And if you don't, that doesn't make you worse.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Go find your strength, Go find your sphere of influence,
and be good at that.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Don't try to be funny if you're not.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Matter of fact, the worst thing you can do is
say I'm going to be funny, because now they expect
you to be if you go on, if I came
to see your speech, I would assume it's going to
be academic, and it's going to be deep, and it's
going to be informative. I'm not expecting you to be funny.
So if suddenly you say some funny, you're probably going
to get a laugh because it was unexpected. But boy,
you go up and say you're a comic, now everything's
(12:32):
on the line.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
As you began thinking seriously about comedy, were there any
comedians who you sort of learned from or modeled after,
or gave you useful insights.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Well, I think it's like in any performance art, it's
impossible to not have been influenced by other people because
they went before you.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
They kind of blazed the trail for you.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I will say this, I never really kind of tried
to watch a comic and become that. I've always been
fairly aware of trying to be unique. If you're trying
to duplicate somebody else, you're really not going to stand out.
You've got to find you what they call your voice,
What is your voice? What is your point of view?
So in that regard, I wasn't trying to do that.
But I can say in retrospect, the comics that I
(13:32):
think I was most influenced or respected would be George Carlin.
He was the antithesis of me. He was an atheist,
he used vulgar language. I don't do any of those things.
But he probably was the smartest comic I have ever seen.
His ability to navigate language and nomenclature to find a
(13:53):
perspective about culture, about politics.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
He was amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So I really was moved by that because, again, as
a Christian and a conservative, I got to tell you something, brother,
You've been in this game a long time. I mean
at the highest echelon of politics and at the White
House and with presidents, and you've been a Republican and.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I'm guessing, you know, conservative right. We have not.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Leveraged the arts as well as the left by far,
and that is a very powerful means of communication. Now
most artists are left leaning, so it's easier to get
the A listers because they already are on board ideologically.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But we haven't been as good at.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
That because I don't know if we didn't see it
as valuable. I don't know if we thought it was
more trite and trivial and it was irrelevant.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But it does move people.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
And so I think that I wanted to say, could
I be sophisticated, not compromise my faith, stand true to
my beliefs as an American, as a citizen, as a conservative,
and still be funny and also be able to laugh
at myself if necessary. So I had an agenda of
what I hope to accomplish, and I guess it has worked.
(15:11):
New Yorker, as you mentioned, did an article about me
in two thousand and four.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
This was during the.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Bush Kerry campaign, and the Bush sisters were thinking about
bringing me in and doing a party or something when
they were doing campaigning, and they could not believe that
you could be a conservative and a Christian to be funny.
That was their angle, and I ended up with an
eight page profile on that because they just didn't see it.
So again it's that myopic view from the left that
(15:36):
only we get to control words, only we get control
what is sophisticated, only we get to decide what is
true art. They will always say, oh, you conservatives aren't
even funny. It's like, yeah, we are. You can't laugh
at yourself. See that's the difference. You hear all those
people laughing at my jokes. Okay, you don't like it
because you were the one that's getting punched at.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I hear this all the time.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Conservative is not funny because comedy is only funny if
it punches up. And I'm going, wait a minute, you
guys are in control. You're the ones that said you
can't joke about us, you can't talk about us, you
can't disagree with us, you can't judge us. Sounds to
me like you have the biggest, largest privilege that has
ever occurred on earth. If you are untouchable, it sounds
(16:20):
like it's your turn to get punched. And so they
can't handle that because they didn't realize that if they control,
who's even allowed to articulate a disagreement, then they control
the narrative. That they control the narrative, they control the culture.
And that is why it's so crucial that Conservatives and
Christians get out and unapologetic, boldly speak.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Truth and let the chips fall where they make. That's
what most.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Impressed me about Donald Trump in twenty sixteen, said, I
don't know if this guy's going to being good at
this or not, but I know two things. One, we
need a businessman because politicians are corrupt to the core.
And number two, this guy doesn't give a crap about
political correct He just says, you're a racist. No, you're
out of it. Next it's like he did it. He
broke the code. If you don't play their game and
(17:07):
say I'm not playing. Sorry, you're wrong. Next they say, wait,
that's how we've learned to control you, guys. That's how
we've learned to wrangle the right and keep you from
making any kind of play in being able to articulate
your right just by simply calling you names. And you
fell for it instead of saying, no, bull crap, that's
not what I am and I'm not playing your game.
(17:28):
The end, so he had enough acumen and enough sophistication,
enough awareness. I don't know how he did it to say,
don't care what you think. I'm going to be honest
and truthful, and the American people absolutely bought it up.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Give us more of this guy.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Did you find the Rise of Trump changed your audiences?
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Well, if it did, it changed them to be more
emboldened to stand up for what they believe and not
to self censor. When we watched the Corona the Cult
of Corona, what most broke my heart wasn't that a
government system in the CDC and this politicized group of
(18:12):
people who were supposed to be just carrying about human
flourishing and health and abandon it for pharmaceutical profits and
so forth, which I guess we all kind of knew
was happening, but boy did it show up during courls.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I always smoke who's running the show.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I think what bothered me was not that they stole
my first ammorate rights. Nobody can steal my first memorate rights.
That's mine. That's intrinsic in my nature. I can say
whatever I want. I might have to pay a price,
but nobody can stop me from speaking.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
That's my volition. That's my choice. People chose to give
away their liberty.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
That's a whole different ballgame than it's been stolen from
you at the end of a bayonet. And when I
saw that, I said, how are we going to win
this game? If I can't count on my neighbor to
defend me when I'm going out and speaking boldly about
free speech, If you guys are going to just bail out,
We're gone. This ain't a revolutionary America. This isn't courageous America.
(19:12):
These are people that want safety and convenience instead of freedom.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
It's like, are you crazy? You gonna lose everything.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
So I think that those who are in the whisper,
those who are being deplatformed on YouTube and so forth,
when they would come out, even doctors saying, hey, I'm
a virologist, this isn't the.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Way you handle this stuff. Nah, you can't speak.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
We've realized now in retrospect, not only can I speak,
and I could have spoken, but this is absolutely essential
for freedom, is that all the people choose to unite.
That's the other thing that the right, I think struggled
with was finding a continuity. How do we bring everybody
together so that we have a solid base, and Trump
(19:55):
kind of figured that out, especially this last election, getting
people minorities that would have never voted. He's found a
way to do what has been impossible here for find
a unity amongst people that we just somehow never found before.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So yes, the Trump beings who have always.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Been pretty bold wearing their hat and whatever, but being
much more embold and I think much more earnest about
realizing how important it is to be a truth teller
in your sphere of influence. It can't be compromised anymore.
It's not up for grabs. You have to get all
in or you will not remain free. And we're the
last truth tellers on earth. That here as Europe doesn't
(20:32):
seem like it's going to last long. I mean, you're
in the inside of this stuff more than a guy
like me. But Buddy, I have lost all faith and
politicians guys are so corrupt. I don't know what to
do with it. I don't know who to trust anymore.
I know a lot of people saying a lot of things,
but I don't know what's true. By your fruit, you
will be known. I hear about Epstein lists being given,
(20:54):
but I don't see it I hear about people being convicted,
I don't see it, So I don't see in justice
being served. And that's what I think has made Americans
so frustrated and discontented, is we don't feel like anybody
is finally coming through and there's been a price to
pay for the horror that's been inflicted on us in
(21:14):
the last ten twenty years.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
I mean, I do think that the depth of dishonesty,
and as long as I've been in this business since
a pretty long time, I had no real appreciation of
how sick it had gotten. But I'm curious you did
get an amazing coverage from The New Yorker. Do you
consider yourself a Christian comedian or a comedian who happens
to be Christian?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Well, that's how I normally used to frame it. I
actually would when I started working in churches. I would
finish my show and I'd say, if you've learned anything today,
I want you to learn this.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I'm not a Christian comedian.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I kind of pause, so they'd be like, what have
we been laughing at a Buddhist?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
What if we lost our salvation? What's going on?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
And then I'd say, I'm a Christian that happens to
be comedian, because I felt like what was important and
part of historically Christianity has tried to make a majority
of their witness in their behavior. We're the ones that
started hospitals. We're the ones that started taking care of
the poor. We're the ones that took babies that were
(22:11):
left on the side of the road to exposure and
said we're going to bring them in because they're made
in the image of God. We're the ones that said
that all people are intrinsically valuable because they're made in
the image of God. We're the ones that started universities,
were the ones that started modern science during medieval age,
where we believe that there is a God that has
created a natural order so we can study it and
(22:32):
count on it work and tomorrow, so we make predictions.
Christianity change the world, and Jesus is the most influential
human that sever existed on earth. So in that regard,
I have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be
embarrassed about. And what I found out was the mainstream
media and that New Yorker and you again, you've been
in this game much longer than me. That's a very
(22:54):
powerful magazine I didn't realize it, but the moment my
article came out the next day, I got two calls
from sixty minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I was on CNN, I was on.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Nightline, got a book deal out of it. Live from
Middle America. You mentioned that, so it was my tonight show.
It was my Johnny Carson, if you want to go
back to those days. But what I realized was I
can't control how they want to define me. That is
another tactic of the left, is that we will speak
(23:24):
pejoratives towards somebody and force them to stay in this
stratosphere over here that we've gone ahead to define them
of and that way they'll just shut up because they
don't want to be thought of as a bigot or whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
We call them.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And we almost self create the illusion that they're actually
this guy because people weren't bold enough to say no.
So I realized, well, listen, they're calling me a Christian comedian,
whether I like it or not. And it was almost
like I went to God and said, man, I came
out of nightclubs, Buddy, I'm not safe. Denish Jesus is
calling me the most dangerous Christian comedian in the country.
(23:56):
Because I had things to say, and I wasn't going
to puss your foot around. And what I realized, I
feel like God told me you are a Christian, your comedian,
that's what they're going to call you. So accept it
and redefine it. Yeah, I'm a Christian comedian. Get a
load of this. And so when you take an unorthodox
approach to something, when you embrace it and redefine and
(24:20):
literally create the power of the moniker that they use
as a pejorative, and I turned it into leverage and
as a warrior sword, saying yeah, I'm one of these guys,
and I ain't going away now what you're going to do.
I think it just gave me a new perspective that
this is something to not only embrace, but to stand
for because it's under attack. The West is walking away
(24:43):
from its Judeo Christian roots, or it has been. There
seems to be a little bit of a resurgence returning.
But I have to go down believing this is true
and standing for that. That's what it means to be
a christ follower. Either you believe this or you don't.
And if you do, act, and if it costs you everything,
welcome to crucifixion. Welcome to what is expected of those
(25:06):
who stand for truth in the face of tyranny.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
So in that regard, I'm apologize.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I guess that was kind of a convoluted answer to
a pretty simple question. But yeah, I'm a Christian comedian,
but I'm not like anybody else you've seen out there.
So I think I found a subculture and a niche
that is scratching, a niche that a lot of Americans
have that they didn't know where they could go for
entertainment that was dignifying.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
We've performed in a wide range of venues, in churches, clubs,
political events. How much does your routine change based on
the audience.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
The only thing that I really would change, I think,
like my latest album hasn't quite been released. It it's
called laugh while it's legal, so that should give you
an idea of where I'm coming from. But the only
change I have to make, and it's just more being pragmatic.
If you're hired to go bring laughter to people, that's
kind of the job. Is not necessarily social commentary, though
(26:20):
I do that. It's bringing laughter. So if I were
to go work for a conservative group or where you
and I met May twelfth here in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
You know that type of folks.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Yeah, I'm going to be unapologetic, full blown conservative Christians
because I know that's my constituency. This is going to
kill Oh my gosh, I'm with my people. But let's
say you're doing with Illinois Right to Life.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Okay, I'm a.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Pro life guy, but guess what those groups are much
more ecumenical. They'll bring in Democrats who happen to be
pro life. They bring that, and so I have to
think to myself, Okay, these guys need money to save
children's lives.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
We're going to be aborted, and these guys are going
to help pay for it.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
So I do want to be sensitive to not being
too dogmatic about my point of view because there's a
bigger goal at play here, and it is to fundraise
for a particular cause. So I will alter, I'll never compromise,
but I'll strategize how to best effectively.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Work this room.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Now, most people, and most people that bring me in
and hire me churches, conservative groups, political groups. I work
with Rick Green, who created Patriot Academy. We do the
comedy and Constitution show. So he's trying to raise up
in the next generation of Conservatives and Christians and knowing
our heritage and our Christian heritage as Americans.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
So those guys, all bets are off. I go in
full board.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
But yes, if I felt like there is a mixture here,
I will be sensitive to not trying to make them
feel that they're not welcome or that they don't have
a placed at the table, which, by the way, is
the antithesis of what the left does to people like us.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
You started in comedy before social media became pervasive. How
has social media changed the world of comedy?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Oh, my goodness, the question is probably not robust enough.
Social media has changed the world. When I started out
in comedy, you needed a record label to get a record.
When I started in comedy, Jim McCauley over at the
Tonight Show has to book you, and he has to
watch you, and he has to make sure that Johnny
is going to like now that I'm giving my age away.
(28:34):
Johnny retired in ninety two. But that was the big
brass ring. When I just go around, I was getting
on the Johnny carsonoe. So there was a time when
the dissemination of information was controlled by a very specific
myopy group of folks, and there are three major networks.
There wasn't even the depth of all the different channels
(28:56):
that have come on since then, So you kind of
were stuck a keepers that if you couldn't break into them,
you probably weren't going to do so well. All of
a sudden, YouTube is your own television program, it's your
own network. I can say whatever I want, I can
put out whatever I want. I can do from my
point of view. I mean, I guess they could censor you,
(29:18):
and they have, and they can shadow ban you, and
they have. Is at least when it comes to monetization.
But for the most part, your content is going to play.
You can go find places that normally would never have
given you a platform and create your own. It's true
entrepreneurship and a creativity access that has never existed in
human history. I mean, to me, the greatest miracle, no,
(29:43):
I can't say greatest, but one of the most astounding
miracles in the last few years was when the richest
man in the world decides to join our side for
a second, say I'm buying Twitter and I'm going to
let people talk and do. If we didn't have the
(30:04):
richest man in the world that could write a check
for forty five billion dollars and not sweat it. I
don't know what this country would have been. Seriously, I
don't know if we would have survived. Everybody saw this
last election with Kamala as this is it. If we
lose this one, we will never vote again. Now, I
(30:25):
don't know if that's being over dramatic, but buddy, it
is tenuous. And by the way, Trump winning isn't something
to gloat over. It's a reprieve. Now, we got to
get busy. We got a midterms that we have to control,
and we have to keep this idea of what it
means to be conservative. And you know what it is,
(30:46):
and you could probably answer this better than me, buddy.
There used to be a time when the greatest thing
you could be was to be a citizen of the
United States. That's what people would die to come see you. Well,
I've just learned something in the last few years. There's
a different between being a citizen.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Now and being an American.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Anybody can be a citizen, really, you just apply and
if they give it to you, or you're born here,
you're in. That used to be holy. I was like
being a Roman citizen. It was a power that nobody
else had. It was something that you grasp for and
held with great dignity. But you know what, you can
be a citizen and not be an American. Because an
American believes in this nation, in its sovereignty and its
(31:25):
ability to control its borders, in its language, and its heritage,
in its history. If we don't have a foundation of
what started this nation, what made us great, we can't survive.
A house divided falls And so we have to decide
going forward, are you going to be an American or not?
Because that's what's expected of you. You want to bring
(31:46):
your own culture, You want to bring the best of
what the world has to offer. Bring it in. We'll
gladly embrace it. But you will become one of us,
or you don't belong here. You need to go somewhere else.
Because this is what we expect of you. It's going
to be a sacrifice, not of who you were. You
have a dignity in your ethnicity and your history. Be
(32:07):
grateful for it, but you are sacrificing that to become
one of us, an American. And if you can't do that,
I'm sorry. You don't deserve to be in this country.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Well, I couldn't agree with you more. Is there a
dream venue or a dream gig you always wanted to perform?
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Well, I mean, like I've mentioned it before, I guess
that Tonight show it with Johnny Carson that's long gone.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
That was something that everybody wanted to be able to do.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
But I think if there was one thing that I
tried years ago was a sitcom where I got to
be a conservative. We pitched this by the way to Hollywood,
where you know, my wife would be maybe. I think
the way we put it was she was a teacher
in Boulder, Colorado, at a college, so she was more
left leaning and my daughter was going sideways and I
(32:51):
was the one conservative. And this was back in two
thousand and four and again after the New Yorker where
they said, let's go see what this guy has offered,
because apparently he's a.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Big fan base.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
And we made this pitch to this young lady and
she's like, well, you certainly have a point of view,
don't you. And I realized, oh, and what she's saying
is neda and rs. I realized that these guys that
control Hollywood in that they ain't going to give people
like me a shot.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Now.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Tim Allen ended up kind of doing a show like that,
and so it has existed. I don't know if you
know this. I was up for a show at CNN.
This is another one. Two thousand and four after New Yorker.
They brought me into New York CNN to do a pilot,
and I sat in the desk of the presidents who said,
we're trying to.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Bring back viewers. We lost to Fox NW.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
This is two thousand and four, twenty five years ago
or whatever, so they knew they had a problem twenty
something years ago. And they ended up giving this show
to Glenn Beck because he had two million people on
his radio show.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So I understand.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
But those were some things that I kind of thought
would be fun if I could have a chance.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I've been in twenty five films. I'm an actor.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
I thought it'd be fun to have a said to
be fun to maybe host a show and meet interesting
guests and talk to people from my point of view
and show that Christians and Conservatives can be funny and
interesting and we also embrace one of the lost arts
of civility, and that is to agree to disagree agreeably,
(34:20):
and that needs to be returned to America if we
have a chance of not completely splintering.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
You have a fascinating point of view and I think
you're a very important part of our culture. I'm so
glad that we had a chance to chat in Nashville,
and Brad, I want to thank you for joining me.
I want to let our listeners know they can find
out more about your work by visiting your website at
Bradstein dot com. And thank you so much for sharing
with us.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Well, brother, it's been my pleasure. It's been an honor
meeting with you. I appreciate all the hard work and
just keep up the good work.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Brother. We need true conservatives in places of power.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Thank you to my gu brad Stein. You can learn
more about his comedy on our show page at Newtsworld
dot com. Newsworld is produced by Gingriish three sixty and iHeartMedia.
Our executive producer is Guarnsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson.
The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley.
Special thanks to the team at ginglishtree sixty. If you've
(35:20):
been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast
and both rate us with five stars and give us
a review so others can learn what it's all about.
Right now, listeners of Newtsworld can sign up for my
three freeweekly columns at ginglishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter.
I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Newtsworld
On this episode of News World. Brad Stein is one
of the most media covered Christian comedians in the country.
The New Yorker magazine referred to him as quote God's comic.
He's also been called a clean Dennis O'Leary. In addition
to performing comedy, he's written two books, Being a Christian
Without Being an Idiot and Live from Middle America, Rants
(00:26):
from a Red State Comedian, and he hosts a podcast.
Brad Stein has issues. I met Brad recently an event
in Nashville. We've had a great conversation, and I thought,
I really want to introduce him to all of you.
So I'm delighted to welcome he's my guest today, Brad,
(00:52):
Welcome and thank you for joining me a News World.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm sitting here with nude gingrich. I mean, I'm used
to just slumming it, my friend. I'm on with you know,
regular folks that haven't accomplished anything.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
And look at you.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
You have direct line to the White House, and so buddy,
I'm on your coat tails today, my friend.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
You have your own unique audience and you've done an
amazing job. But I'm very curious how did you get
into comedy? When I was in high school, I wanted
to get into comedy. I read Steve Allen's book The Comedians,
and I was all excited. Turned out I was a
really bad comic, so I gave it up and went
into something else.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Well, it's not for everybody, that's for sure. Some people
in politics are more comedic than they realize. But you
know what, I don't know that stand up comedy or
to be a comedian is something that you can become.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I think you kind of have an innate I.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Say that we use the phrase he has a good
sense of humor as though it simply means that he
laughs thing or he sees funny things. But I do
believe it really is deeper than that. I think a
sense of humor is literally like a heightened sense like
our senses.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Right, People that can just fine.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Funny in places that most people just overlook or take
for granted is our special gift. We see the human experience,
we mock the human experience. We have been historically the
ones that could make fun of the King, not get
our head cut off.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
That's what the gesture was for.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And so we have a role to play and so
I think that those like myself who came out and
ruined my mainstream career by saying I'm a Christian, I'm
a conservative, and I'm unapologetically patriot. It was costly on
one hand, but it also showed that there was a
demographic of Americans that wanted sophisticated comedy but didn't want
(02:38):
the swear words and didn't want people tearing down our country.
So I think what happened to me was I just
kind of got into the business. I was a professional magician,
believe it or not, but I was funny when I
did it, and I just started working in comedy clubs
and I realized this is what I want to do,
because to have a mind of mouth and a mic
and that's it. You got nowhere else to hide. If
(02:58):
they don't like it, no no where to go. Brother,
You got to finish or you don't get paid. It's
a tight rope walk without a net, for sure. But
for those of us who find it compelling, I think
we can do a service to culture. And hopefully that's
what I'm doing for the subculture of Christian conservatives in America.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
When you think about comedy clubs, for example, I was
shuck with What a tough moment that is when, as
you said, you walk out there, there's nobody else there
and it either clicks or it's going to be a
long night.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, you know it's funny because what happens is you'll
get a lot of people to come up to you afterwards.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Ago, Oh, I wanted to do a comedian o. My
friends said I should be a comedian. And what they
don't understand is this it's a performance art. Okay, So
to say that there's not a lot of funny people
out there, obviously there are. I'm sure you know funny
people in your life that are friends and you love
this guy and you makes your life, and you might
be a funny guy you know with your friends. I
don't know you that will personally. But that's not the
(03:56):
hard part. If you happen to be funny, okay, God
bless you. But what you get to do is walk
out on stage to strangers who don't already know you,
don't already have a history with you, don't already have
a sense of your style of humor that they've already
bought into, and oh, here here comes Joe.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
He's so funny.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Because they already have a relationship of chemistry. You're walking
out to strangers and in like three minutes you have
to make all these strangers get what you're coming from
and want to participate. It's like you're an orchestra leader
and all these people are like, there's the tuba guy,
and there's the cello and there's a piccolo, and I've
got to make all these people laugh together and find
(04:38):
unity in my humor and my point of view immediately
or it's going to be a long, horrible night.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
And my brother I have been in the wrong end
of it as well.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
That's the cost of being a stand up comic, and
if you can do it, you might make a living.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I had a parallel experience. One time. I gave a
speech to the South Fulton CPA group, which had a
quarterly meeting, and I did everything in my speech the works,
and they just stared, I mean, no response. Nothing. At
the very end of the evening, this one guy came
out to me and said, God, that was exciting. He said,
(05:16):
we're CPAs you know. Yeah, I've never forgotten it. It's
the only time I remember when nothing worked.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well, first off, I will have to say this, you
get no sympathy from me, zero until you've walked some
of the rooms I have done. My friend, welcome to
the club. But you know what's really fascinating about that,
there are groups of people in this world that I
guess are.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Having a good time and you never know it.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
They don't laugh, they're not demonstrative, they're not gregarious, and
you'll finish your show and they'll be like, oh, you
were so funny, and you're thinking, where were you when
I was up there, because I don't remember seeing any.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Of this response.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
But it's funny how sometimes the tone of the room
is based on maybe their job description, maybe they're tired.
That's the weird tightrope about stand up comedy. You don't
know what you're going to get because you don't know
where these people are coming from or what their day
was like.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
So your job is to try to find funny for
them and let them.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Forget about what brought them this miserable countenance to the show.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Have you ever had an actively hostile group?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Well? How still in what way?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Commenting back in negative ways?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
I mean, well, for sure that would be called a heckler.
And you do have to learn how to fence with them.
And you know, nowadays they have this thing called crowd work.
It's a big popular thing on YouTube where the comic
is talking to the audience, Hey what do you do
for a little bit? Hey where are you from? And
they joke extemporaneously. And I've been doing that my whole life.
I walk out into the crowd and start doing stuff
(06:49):
like kind of like Robin Willms used to do. And
it does go with the territory. Matter of fact, it's
the only performance art I'm aware of that the audience
feels emboldened to participate. You don't go to an opera
and the guy's like and they're like, no, you suck.
You don't ever see that these guys. You just let
them do their little.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Show and leave them alone where you like it not.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But there's something about stand up that gives people this
permission to try to wrangle you and see if baby,
they can overcome you. Maybe they want it to be
a comic or whatever. So it does come with the terrory.
But if you're really good at this, if you've done
it a long time, they're not going to survive. You
will be able to attack them in a funny way.
(07:30):
But certainly in a more professional, sophisticated way, because that's
your job.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's the control words, you know what.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
New This is why comedy is so important as a
regulator of freedom. I mean, if there's one barometer for
what makes a country free its speech, it is there
any boundaries that people are laying down that says you
cannot talk, speak, think, act, behave in this topic. Anytime
(08:00):
that's laid down, you've lost your freedom because your speech,
your thoughts, your freedom of speech is your philosophy, it's
how you see the world. It's your agency as a human.
So it is absolutely sacrosanct that that is never hindered.
And what did the left want to do with comics?
They want to dissensor us. You can't talk that you're
making people uncomfortable. That's the job of comedy to make
(08:23):
people uncomfortable, so that you have to reckon with the
crazy or with some other perspective that their average American
doesn't want to buy into.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And you're forcing.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Me to have to think like you believe like you
are shut up, and you're going to say you're the
tolerant one. So comedy is greatness is it can expose
that and mocking ridicule, because nothing has been more proven
about sort of the worldview and how it plays out
in real time than the difference between a conservative and
(08:53):
a progressive in humor. They can't laugh at themselves, newt
They can't laugh at themselves. They find it irritating, they
find it unfair, they find it deflating, they find it indignant.
And we, as conservatives who have been the punchline and
as a Christian double punchline for years in the culture,
(09:14):
we've learned to say, I don't agree with you, but
I still see the funny.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
That is sophistication. That is a mature citizen allowing all
points of view even if you disagree. They cannot return
that favor. That's how children live. You're not allowed to
make fun, You're not allowed to joke. I can't take it.
So you're seeing systemic narcissism at the root of progressivism. Literally,
(09:40):
a group of people in worship of themselves, calling themselves
the virtuous ones, get to self anoint themselves and then
tell the rest of us how we can live. So comedy,
my comedy disrupts that and exposes that. And that's why
I'm not on the tonight show. But I'm on your
show because they can't handle the truth.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
I understand that you first got an audience laughing with
you in kindergarten.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Okay, so that's a crazy story.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
I'll try to do it fast for you because maybe
it won't be as interesting to folks. But I was
in kindergarten. I'm six, and the teacher said, we're going
to have a show and tell whatever. It was some
free form day, who knows it was in the sixties.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
I'm a baby boomer.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
So they said, we're going to have somebody come up
and do a puppet show. Who wants to do it?
So I raised my hand. I always wanted to be
the center of attention. And they get another kid and
they give us puppets. They didn't give us a script,
so they just set these kids loose behind the puppet
board and we put our hands up. So I put
my hand up. I realized nobody knew what to do.
So I just start of saying, hey, you want to
(10:40):
play hide and seek? And the kids like sure, and
I say, okay, you go, and I'll count. And I
went one, nine, seven, twenty to sixteen, one thousand and
ninety and the kids started laughing, because nothing it's funnier
in kindergarten than the old.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Look. I don't know how to count.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
Routine, but they were rolling, and I remember leaving my
little show and the kids. I felt like I'm the
funniest guy that's ever existed, and I said down. The
next week they decided to do another one, and they
decided to do a puppet show again, because clearly I
had shown the success of what puppetry can be. So
I raised my hand. I'm thinking, they're going to have
(11:18):
to choose me because I'm the king. They didn't choose me,
to choose two other kids. They get behind there, they
start doing the puppet show, and here's what I hear, Hey,
let's play hide and seek one nine twelve twelve, And
the kids are rolling, and I'm sitting there thinking, that's
my bet.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I'm six years old.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I wrote my first comedy routine at six and had
a ripped off a week later.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Welcome to showbiz.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Copyright infringement, intellectual property ripped off at six. But I
guess the point Not only is that funny to me
and ironic, but to me it goes back to your
first question. Somehow, I knew that'd be funny if I
didn't know how to count right. So again, you either
have this innate ability to find funny in things or
you don't.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And if you don't, that doesn't make you worse.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Go find your strength, Go find your sphere of influence,
and be good at that.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Don't try to be funny if you're not.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Matter of fact, the worst thing you can do is
say I'm going to be funny, because now they expect
you to be if you go on, if I came
to see your speech, I would assume it's going to
be academic, and it's going to be deep, and it's
going to be informative. I'm not expecting you to be funny.
So if suddenly you say some funny, you're probably going
to get a laugh because it was unexpected. But boy,
you go up and say you're a comic, now everything's
(12:32):
on the line.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
As you began thinking seriously about comedy, were there any
comedians who you sort of learned from or modeled after,
or gave you useful insights.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Well, I think it's like in any performance art, it's
impossible to not have been influenced by other people because
they went before you.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
They kind of blazed the trail for you.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
I will say this, I never really kind of tried
to watch a comic and become that. I've always been
fairly aware of trying to be unique. If you're trying
to duplicate somebody else, you're really not going to stand out.
You've got to find you what they call your voice,
What is your voice? What is your point of view?
So in that regard, I wasn't trying to do that.
But I can say in retrospect, the comics that I
(13:32):
think I was most influenced or respected would be George Carlin.
He was the antithesis of me. He was an atheist,
he used vulgar language. I don't do any of those things.
But he probably was the smartest comic I have ever seen.
His ability to navigate language and nomenclature to find a
(13:53):
perspective about culture, about politics.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
He was amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So I really was moved by that because, again, as
a Christian and a conservative, I got to tell you something, brother,
You've been in this game a long time. I mean
at the highest echelon of politics and at the White
House and with presidents, and you've been a Republican and.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I'm guessing, you know, conservative right. We have not.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Leveraged the arts as well as the left by far,
and that is a very powerful means of communication. Now
most artists are left leaning, so it's easier to get
the A listers because they already are on board ideologically.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
But we haven't been as good at.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
That because I don't know if we didn't see it
as valuable. I don't know if we thought it was
more trite and trivial and it was irrelevant.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But it does move people.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
And so I think that I wanted to say, could
I be sophisticated, not compromise my faith, stand true to
my beliefs as an American, as a citizen, as a conservative,
and still be funny and also be able to laugh
at myself if necessary. So I had an agenda of
what I hope to accomplish, and I guess it has worked.
(15:11):
New Yorker, as you mentioned, did an article about me
in two thousand and four.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
This was during the.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Bush Kerry campaign, and the Bush sisters were thinking about
bringing me in and doing a party or something when
they were doing campaigning, and they could not believe that
you could be a conservative and a Christian to be funny.
That was their angle, and I ended up with an
eight page profile on that because they just didn't see it.
So again it's that myopic view from the left that
(15:36):
only we get to control words, only we get control
what is sophisticated, only we get to decide what is
true art. They will always say, oh, you conservatives aren't
even funny. It's like, yeah, we are. You can't laugh
at yourself. See that's the difference. You hear all those
people laughing at my jokes. Okay, you don't like it
because you were the one that's getting punched at.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I hear this all the time.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Conservative is not funny because comedy is only funny if
it punches up. And I'm going, wait a minute, you
guys are in control. You're the ones that said you
can't joke about us, you can't talk about us, you
can't disagree with us, you can't judge us. Sounds to
me like you have the biggest, largest privilege that has
ever occurred on earth. If you are untouchable, it sounds
(16:20):
like it's your turn to get punched. And so they
can't handle that because they didn't realize that if they control,
who's even allowed to articulate a disagreement, then they control
the narrative. That they control the narrative, they control the culture.
And that is why it's so crucial that Conservatives and
Christians get out and unapologetic, boldly speak.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Truth and let the chips fall where they make. That's
what most.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Impressed me about Donald Trump in twenty sixteen, said, I
don't know if this guy's going to being good at
this or not, but I know two things. One, we
need a businessman because politicians are corrupt to the core.
And number two, this guy doesn't give a crap about
political correct He just says, you're a racist. No, you're
out of it. Next it's like he did it. He
broke the code. If you don't play their game and
(17:07):
say I'm not playing. Sorry, you're wrong. Next they say, wait,
that's how we've learned to control you, guys. That's how
we've learned to wrangle the right and keep you from
making any kind of play in being able to articulate
your right just by simply calling you names. And you
fell for it instead of saying, no, bull crap, that's
not what I am and I'm not playing your game.
(17:28):
The end, so he had enough acumen and enough sophistication,
enough awareness. I don't know how he did it to say,
don't care what you think. I'm going to be honest
and truthful, and the American people absolutely bought it up.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Give us more of this guy.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Did you find the Rise of Trump changed your audiences?
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Well, if it did, it changed them to be more
emboldened to stand up for what they believe and not
to self censor. When we watched the Corona the Cult
of Corona, what most broke my heart wasn't that a
government system in the CDC and this politicized group of
(18:12):
people who were supposed to be just carrying about human
flourishing and health and abandon it for pharmaceutical profits and
so forth, which I guess we all kind of knew
was happening, but boy did it show up during courls.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
I always smoke who's running the show.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I think what bothered me was not that they stole
my first ammorate rights. Nobody can steal my first memorate rights.
That's mine. That's intrinsic in my nature. I can say
whatever I want. I might have to pay a price,
but nobody can stop me from speaking.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
That's my volition. That's my choice. People chose to give
away their liberty.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
That's a whole different ballgame than it's been stolen from
you at the end of a bayonet. And when I
saw that, I said, how are we going to win
this game? If I can't count on my neighbor to
defend me when I'm going out and speaking boldly about
free speech, If you guys are going to just bail out,
We're gone. This ain't a revolutionary America. This isn't courageous America.
(19:12):
These are people that want safety and convenience instead of freedom.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
It's like, are you crazy? You gonna lose everything.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
So I think that those who are in the whisper,
those who are being deplatformed on YouTube and so forth,
when they would come out, even doctors saying, hey, I'm
a virologist, this isn't the.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Way you handle this stuff. Nah, you can't speak.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
We've realized now in retrospect, not only can I speak,
and I could have spoken, but this is absolutely essential
for freedom, is that all the people choose to unite.
That's the other thing that the right, I think struggled
with was finding a continuity. How do we bring everybody
together so that we have a solid base, and Trump
(19:55):
kind of figured that out, especially this last election, getting
people minorities that would have never voted. He's found a
way to do what has been impossible here for find
a unity amongst people that we just somehow never found before.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So yes, the Trump beings who have always.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Been pretty bold wearing their hat and whatever, but being
much more embold and I think much more earnest about
realizing how important it is to be a truth teller
in your sphere of influence. It can't be compromised anymore.
It's not up for grabs. You have to get all
in or you will not remain free. And we're the
last truth tellers on earth. That here as Europe doesn't
(20:32):
seem like it's going to last long. I mean, you're
in the inside of this stuff more than a guy
like me. But Buddy, I have lost all faith and
politicians guys are so corrupt. I don't know what to
do with it. I don't know who to trust anymore.
I know a lot of people saying a lot of things,
but I don't know what's true. By your fruit, you
will be known. I hear about Epstein lists being given,
(20:54):
but I don't see it I hear about people being convicted,
I don't see it, So I don't see in justice
being served. And that's what I think has made Americans
so frustrated and discontented, is we don't feel like anybody
is finally coming through and there's been a price to
pay for the horror that's been inflicted on us in
(21:14):
the last ten twenty years.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
I mean, I do think that the depth of dishonesty,
and as long as I've been in this business since
a pretty long time, I had no real appreciation of
how sick it had gotten. But I'm curious you did
get an amazing coverage from The New Yorker. Do you
consider yourself a Christian comedian or a comedian who happens
to be Christian?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Well, that's how I normally used to frame it. I
actually would when I started working in churches. I would
finish my show and I'd say, if you've learned anything today,
I want you to learn this.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I'm not a Christian comedian.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I kind of pause, so they'd be like, what have
we been laughing at a Buddhist?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
What if we lost our salvation? What's going on?
Speaker 3 (21:51):
And then I'd say, I'm a Christian that happens to
be comedian, because I felt like what was important and
part of historically Christianity has tried to make a majority
of their witness in their behavior. We're the ones that
started hospitals. We're the ones that started taking care of
the poor. We're the ones that took babies that were
(22:11):
left on the side of the road to exposure and
said we're going to bring them in because they're made
in the image of God. We're the ones that said
that all people are intrinsically valuable because they're made in
the image of God. We're the ones that started universities,
were the ones that started modern science during medieval age,
where we believe that there is a God that has
created a natural order so we can study it and
(22:32):
count on it work and tomorrow, so we make predictions.
Christianity change the world, and Jesus is the most influential
human that sever existed on earth. So in that regard,
I have nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be
embarrassed about. And what I found out was the mainstream
media and that New Yorker and you again, you've been
in this game much longer than me. That's a very
(22:54):
powerful magazine I didn't realize it, but the moment my
article came out the next day, I got two calls
from sixty minutes.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I was on CNN, I was on.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Nightline, got a book deal out of it. Live from
Middle America. You mentioned that, so it was my tonight show.
It was my Johnny Carson, if you want to go
back to those days. But what I realized was I
can't control how they want to define me. That is
another tactic of the left, is that we will speak
(23:24):
pejoratives towards somebody and force them to stay in this
stratosphere over here that we've gone ahead to define them
of and that way they'll just shut up because they
don't want to be thought of as a bigot or whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
We call them.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And we almost self create the illusion that they're actually
this guy because people weren't bold enough to say no.
So I realized, well, listen, they're calling me a Christian comedian,
whether I like it or not. And it was almost
like I went to God and said, man, I came
out of nightclubs, Buddy, I'm not safe. Denish Jesus is
calling me the most dangerous Christian comedian in the country.
(23:56):
Because I had things to say, and I wasn't going
to puss your foot around. And what I realized, I
feel like God told me you are a Christian, your comedian,
that's what they're going to call you. So accept it
and redefine it. Yeah, I'm a Christian comedian. Get a
load of this. And so when you take an unorthodox
approach to something, when you embrace it and redefine and
(24:20):
literally create the power of the moniker that they use
as a pejorative, and I turned it into leverage and
as a warrior sword, saying yeah, I'm one of these guys,
and I ain't going away now what you're going to do.
I think it just gave me a new perspective that
this is something to not only embrace, but to stand
for because it's under attack. The West is walking away
(24:43):
from its Judeo Christian roots, or it has been. There
seems to be a little bit of a resurgence returning.
But I have to go down believing this is true
and standing for that. That's what it means to be
a christ follower. Either you believe this or you don't.
And if you do, act, and if it costs you everything,
welcome to crucifixion. Welcome to what is expected of those
(25:06):
who stand for truth in the face of tyranny.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
So in that regard, I'm apologize.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
I guess that was kind of a convoluted answer to
a pretty simple question. But yeah, I'm a Christian comedian,
but I'm not like anybody else you've seen out there.
So I think I found a subculture and a niche
that is scratching, a niche that a lot of Americans
have that they didn't know where they could go for
entertainment that was dignifying.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
We've performed in a wide range of venues, in churches, clubs,
political events. How much does your routine change based on
the audience.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
The only thing that I really would change, I think,
like my latest album hasn't quite been released. It it's
called laugh while it's legal, so that should give you
an idea of where I'm coming from. But the only
change I have to make, and it's just more being pragmatic.
If you're hired to go bring laughter to people, that's
kind of the job. Is not necessarily social commentary, though
(26:20):
I do that. It's bringing laughter. So if I were
to go work for a conservative group or where you
and I met May twelfth here in Nashville.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
You know that type of folks.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Yeah, I'm going to be unapologetic, full blown conservative Christians
because I know that's my constituency. This is going to
kill Oh my gosh, I'm with my people. But let's
say you're doing with Illinois Right to Life.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Okay, I'm a.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Pro life guy, but guess what those groups are much
more ecumenical. They'll bring in Democrats who happen to be
pro life. They bring that, and so I have to
think to myself, Okay, these guys need money to save
children's lives.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
We're going to be aborted, and these guys are going
to help pay for it.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
So I do want to be sensitive to not being
too dogmatic about my point of view because there's a
bigger goal at play here, and it is to fundraise
for a particular cause. So I will alter, I'll never compromise,
but I'll strategize how to best effectively.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Work this room.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Now, most people, and most people that bring me in
and hire me churches, conservative groups, political groups. I work
with Rick Green, who created Patriot Academy. We do the
comedy and Constitution show. So he's trying to raise up
in the next generation of Conservatives and Christians and knowing
our heritage and our Christian heritage as Americans.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
So those guys, all bets are off. I go in
full board.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
But yes, if I felt like there is a mixture here,
I will be sensitive to not trying to make them
feel that they're not welcome or that they don't have
a placed at the table, which, by the way, is
the antithesis of what the left does to people like us.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
You started in comedy before social media became pervasive. How
has social media changed the world of comedy?
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Oh, my goodness, the question is probably not robust enough.
Social media has changed the world. When I started out
in comedy, you needed a record label to get a record.
When I started in comedy, Jim McCauley over at the
Tonight Show has to book you, and he has to
watch you, and he has to make sure that Johnny
is going to like now that I'm giving my age away.
(28:34):
Johnny retired in ninety two. But that was the big
brass ring. When I just go around, I was getting
on the Johnny carsonoe. So there was a time when
the dissemination of information was controlled by a very specific
myopy group of folks, and there are three major networks.
There wasn't even the depth of all the different channels
(28:56):
that have come on since then, So you kind of
were stuck a keepers that if you couldn't break into them,
you probably weren't going to do so well. All of
a sudden, YouTube is your own television program, it's your
own network. I can say whatever I want, I can
put out whatever I want. I can do from my
point of view. I mean, I guess they could censor you,
(29:18):
and they have, and they can shadow ban you, and
they have. Is at least when it comes to monetization.
But for the most part, your content is going to play.
You can go find places that normally would never have
given you a platform and create your own. It's true
entrepreneurship and a creativity access that has never existed in
human history. I mean, to me, the greatest miracle, no,
(29:43):
I can't say greatest, but one of the most astounding
miracles in the last few years was when the richest
man in the world decides to join our side for
a second, say I'm buying Twitter and I'm going to
let people talk and do. If we didn't have the
(30:04):
richest man in the world that could write a check
for forty five billion dollars and not sweat it. I
don't know what this country would have been. Seriously, I
don't know if we would have survived. Everybody saw this
last election with Kamala as this is it. If we
lose this one, we will never vote again. Now, I
(30:25):
don't know if that's being over dramatic, but buddy, it
is tenuous. And by the way, Trump winning isn't something
to gloat over. It's a reprieve. Now, we got to
get busy. We got a midterms that we have to control,
and we have to keep this idea of what it
means to be conservative. And you know what it is,
(30:46):
and you could probably answer this better than me, buddy.
There used to be a time when the greatest thing
you could be was to be a citizen of the
United States. That's what people would die to come see you. Well,
I've just learned something in the last few years. There's
a different between being a citizen.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Now and being an American.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Anybody can be a citizen, really, you just apply and
if they give it to you, or you're born here,
you're in. That used to be holy. I was like
being a Roman citizen. It was a power that nobody
else had. It was something that you grasp for and
held with great dignity. But you know what, you can
be a citizen and not be an American. Because an
American believes in this nation, in its sovereignty and its
(31:25):
ability to control its borders, in its language, and its heritage,
in its history. If we don't have a foundation of
what started this nation, what made us great, we can't survive.
A house divided falls And so we have to decide
going forward, are you going to be an American or not?
Because that's what's expected of you. You want to bring
(31:46):
your own culture, You want to bring the best of
what the world has to offer. Bring it in. We'll
gladly embrace it. But you will become one of us,
or you don't belong here. You need to go somewhere else.
Because this is what we expect of you. It's going
to be a sacrifice, not of who you were. You
have a dignity in your ethnicity and your history. Be
(32:07):
grateful for it, but you are sacrificing that to become
one of us, an American. And if you can't do that,
I'm sorry. You don't deserve to be in this country.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
Well, I couldn't agree with you more. Is there a
dream venue or a dream gig you always wanted to perform?
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Well, I mean, like I've mentioned it before, I guess
that Tonight show it with Johnny Carson that's long gone.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
That was something that everybody wanted to be able to do.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
But I think if there was one thing that I
tried years ago was a sitcom where I got to
be a conservative. We pitched this by the way to Hollywood,
where you know, my wife would be maybe. I think
the way we put it was she was a teacher
in Boulder, Colorado, at a college, so she was more
left leaning and my daughter was going sideways and I
(32:51):
was the one conservative. And this was back in two
thousand and four and again after the New Yorker where
they said, let's go see what this guy has offered,
because apparently he's a.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Big fan base.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
And we made this pitch to this young lady and
she's like, well, you certainly have a point of view,
don't you. And I realized, oh, and what she's saying
is neda and rs. I realized that these guys that
control Hollywood in that they ain't going to give people
like me a shot.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
Now.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Tim Allen ended up kind of doing a show like that,
and so it has existed. I don't know if you
know this. I was up for a show at CNN.
This is another one. Two thousand and four after New Yorker.
They brought me into New York CNN to do a pilot,
and I sat in the desk of the presidents who said,
we're trying to.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Bring back viewers. We lost to Fox NW.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
This is two thousand and four, twenty five years ago
or whatever, so they knew they had a problem twenty
something years ago. And they ended up giving this show
to Glenn Beck because he had two million people on
his radio show.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So I understand.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
But those were some things that I kind of thought
would be fun if I could have a chance.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
I've been in twenty five films. I'm an actor.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
I thought it'd be fun to have a said to
be fun to maybe host a show and meet interesting
guests and talk to people from my point of view
and show that Christians and Conservatives can be funny and
interesting and we also embrace one of the lost arts
of civility, and that is to agree to disagree agreeably,
(34:20):
and that needs to be returned to America if we
have a chance of not completely splintering.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
You have a fascinating point of view and I think
you're a very important part of our culture. I'm so
glad that we had a chance to chat in Nashville,
and Brad, I want to thank you for joining me.
I want to let our listeners know they can find
out more about your work by visiting your website at
Bradstein dot com. And thank you so much for sharing
with us.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Well, brother, it's been my pleasure. It's been an honor
meeting with you. I appreciate all the hard work and
just keep up the good work.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Brother. We need true conservatives in places of power.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Thank you to my gu brad Stein. You can learn
more about his comedy on our show page at Newtsworld
dot com. Newsworld is produced by Gingriish three sixty and iHeartMedia.
Our executive producer is Guarnsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson.
The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley.
Special thanks to the team at ginglishtree sixty. If you've
(35:20):
been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast
and both rate us with five stars and give us
a review so others can learn what it's all about.
Right now, listeners of Newtsworld can sign up for my
three freeweekly columns at ginglishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter.
I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Newtsworld
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