
Photo Via jeffallencomedy.com
Jeff Allen
It could be said that one of Jeff Allen's goals with his comedy is to medicate his audiences. “Laughter releases endorphins. Endorphins are the body's natural painkiller. And basically,” Allen boasts, “I hope the audience gets stoned out of their mind on laughter.”
He will apply his endorphin-generating, biographical schtick at The Improv in Brookfield for one show on Thursday January 31 at 7:30 p.m. The title of Allen's spate of dates, “The Human Condition Tour (We're Still Not There Yet!)” works in conjunction with his latest book, Are We There Yet?: My Journey from a Messed-Up to a Meaningful Life.
Allen's path to meaning for his life is Christianity. But, just as might be expected of a comic for whom life's ironies and non-sequiturs feed his routine, Allen came to faith via the book of the Bible many might consider its most despairing: Ecclesiastes.
Life’s Vanities
“My life was imploding all around me,” recalls Allen of happening upon Solomon's treatise on life's vanities. “And when I read 'Meaningless, meaningless, all in life is meaningless,' that basically summed up what I had become my conclusions.
“You don't become a nihilist all in one day, he goes on to observe, “but it just builds over time. And I had just given up hope on that there anything of this, this life had meaning and purpose, and to read those words And Solomon did mean that life on Earth was necessarily meaning less, you know, as I began to study the book, this life is a vapor, and nothing that this life offers will give you eternal joy and eternal life. So, I found that if that truth in which I knew to be true at my core was that this life was meaningless was in the Bible, then there must be other things in the book that are true. And that just set me off on a voracious appetite to soak up what was in that book.”
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Dose of Endorphins
Comedy lovers needn't fret that they will be entering a revival meeting when they seek for a dose of endorphins.
“I'm not naive. I don't honestly believe that socially, culturally, anybody really cares what my opinions are on a whole lot of stuff,” Allen admits. When he's on stage and commiserating after shows, job number one is generating laughs, often at his own expense, with memorable material that sounds fresh even to patrons who see him every time he's nearby.
“One of my mantras to myself,” Allen confides, “is, 'If I if I feel like I'm as good as I'm going to get, I should quit.' I've always tried to be better each time I come through. When I'm taking pictures with fans, they'll say,' I've seen this the second or third time I've seen you, I sure. And I say, 'I hope you heard some new stuff.' And the biggest compliment I can get is 'It seemed all new to me.'”
Like many comedians whose work often centers on domesticity, Allen also exploits his relationship with his wife for chuckles. And that's fine by her.
“I used to get that, especially with the church. 'Is your wife, aware the way you talk about her?'” Allen reflects. “And I go, 'No, she thinks I'm a bricklayer.” Yes, she's, she's cool with it. There's no malice there. I don't think for a second my wife, would be on board with me if I'm malicious, and rightfully so. And you know, the joke is this: when they asked [Allen's wife] Tammy, you know, are you okay with what he says, all she says is, 'As long as the check clears, I'm okay with it.' So, yeah, believe me, she if she was not okay with it, I wouldn't do it. I love her too much.”
And not only because it may increase the size of those checks his spouse wants to clear, Allen would like comedy aficionados to see him in his element, which isn't on video. “Videos never capture the energy, the vibe of a live show.”
No, it's not like seeing Allen live but here, at Provo's Dry Bar Comedy club, he tells of the peril of lying to his bride, getting in self-deprecating digs at a couple of his own health conditions, too...