Director: David Higby
Starring: Chonda Pierce
More info: IMDb
Plot: Southern Christian comedian, Chonda Pierce, tells jokes on stage, brings the audience down to the bummer basement and throws in some uplifting songs and weak skits along the way.
My rating: 4/10
Will I watch it again? No.
#9 on Stand-up Comedy Month, May 2012
Did you know that there is such a thing called the Christian Comedy Association? I didn't until just now when I was trying to find out anything on Pierce. I'm learning all kinds of stuff these days. I picked up her 3 stand-up DVDs for a buck apiece. I initially passed on them because it looked like she was a religious comic. I'm an atheist so I'm not going to buy into what she's selling but then the part of me that's a HUGE fan of stand-up comedy (when it's good, mind you) that made me go back and get them. Even though I don't believe in all that nonsense maybe, just maybe, she's really funny and can make me laugh. I should have stuck with my initial reaction.
Not only did I not laugh, but I was annoyed. For someone who is a professional comedian, she takes longer to tell a story then she needs to. And this is coming from a guy who can take forever to tell a story. Anyway, the show opens with a song, This Ain't Prettyville. Ugh. You can tell that she REALLY HATES alcohol. She takes a lot of jabs at how damaging it is and without anything funny to say about it. She even points out several times that she's not trying to be self-righteous...but then she'll say shit against booze in a way that makes her just that. I'm confused.
An hour in she brings it wayyyyyyy down by talking about how her older and younger sister died within months of each other and how her pastor father left the ministry. Talk about a buzz kill. Later she talks about going into rehab for depression. Hilarious! Not really. At least with the rehab segment she threw in some jokes. The audience just loved hearing about her family problems without the funny.
But if all of this wasn't enough, the worst part of it was hearing her squeaky, irritating voice for 92 minutes!!! This was a long show and she ended it like she started - with a song, one of those tent revival, hands to jesus songs. And to think I still have two more of these to get through. Ugh. At least she didn't get too religious-y in this one. THE target audience for Chonda Pierce is Southern Christian women. All others need not watch. This was painful. The whole thing was like a Baptist church service with the music and her bummer stories near the end serving as a sermon and then ending with more music. I'm so glad it's over.
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Chonda is a distant relative of mine. I'm adopted. While she is a relative, and I'll take her word that she has a love for Christ, I DO NOT (as a Christian) agree that she should be using the LORD to make a living. I personally do not find her funny, and her voice is annoying. That's not a personal attack on a relative, just my opinion. I also think she preys on the emotions of others by telling her sob story. We all have family members who have died. We all have hang ups, or disorders, if you will. Many of us have had fathers, or mothers, who left what we felt were noble positions in the community, and that our pride was hurt in the process. What many Christians choose NOT to do is capitalize ($$$) on their relationship with the LORD, or their, really ordinary, hardships in life, and Chonda has done just that.
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