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Once again, this week’s show comes from the stage of the Carnival Dream Cruise Ship!
When I was younger, I didn’t date much… even though I thought I would. You see, when I was a little boy, women would constantly tell me, “You are so cute! You’re going to have to beat the ladies away with a stick, Mister!”
And I believed them.
Then came puberty.
They say it’s an awkward stage… but it just made me permanently awkward.
But, that didn’t stop me from asking out the lovely Sue! She was so beautiful. It didn’t matter how smooth I tried to come across, she turned me down flat. “I just don’t think this is going to work out. You’re too nice.”
So, I spilled my soda all over her shoes. She didn’t think I was too nice anymore & I picked her up at 7:00!
Next, my friend John Branyan calls into the show to talk about how he dreamed up the idea of a “Clean Comedy Cruise”!
He says he was able to convince the right people to come along and more or less lucked into being a genius! I don’t know if the jokes were that great, or if it was simply the rocking of the boat that lulled the audience into complacency.
The most difficult part of the whole experience was coming home and telling our kids that the “Unlimited Ice Cream Machine” isn’t available anymore.
I love cruising. It’s all about eating, relaxing, being entertained and seeing the world. All the worries of the world exist off the boat.
Between all the laughs, all the food and all the fun, I can’t wait til next year!!
And finally, I’m joined by Michael O’Brien. Michael has performed on over 20 cruises, including our Comedy Cruise. Michael is actually a very successful Christian singer/songwriter. He has written and recorded several number one songs on the Christian music charts. But what makes Michael so compelling is that he can not only sing and write, but he has a real story to tell.
After all, there aren’t that many Christian recording artists who have a past of being a bar manager and singing from one beer hall to another for seven years. When Michael was 18, he started waiting tables and tending bar in Lafayette, LA. He actually learned how to juggle and entertain from the backside of a bar while mixing drinks… and got very good at it. So much so that he wound up tossing bottles and making drinks in a Miami night club. Now, he started dabbling in drugs and booze back in Lafayette. So, Miami brought on a schmorgesborg of vices! Everything went downhill from there.
But, after a couple “close calls”, he had the life scared out of him and he ran to church!
His story gave him the credibility that many Prison Ministries look for. He did the things that many of the prisoners did, but realized that it was sucking the life out of him before he ever got caught.
But, for some amazing reason, Michael’s stories from going from seeking out cocaine dealers to seeking after God gives the inmates he speaks to hope.
There was one guy in particular who stands out for Michael. He was in solitary confinement and had asked for Michael specifically. He had heard one of Michael’s songs on the radio and was extremely moved by it. He had even artistically written out the lyrics in calligraphy. God spoke through Michael’s music to speak to the heart of this hardened criminal! For Michael, it was nothing short of extremely humbling.
But none of it is Michael’s to take pride in.
When he writes, Michael used to write “from the outside in”, meaning that he would look around at what was going on around him and write based on what he observed and what he thought the people he was writing for would want to say. But, after a while, he realized he didn’t want this anymore. He no longer wanted the pressure of sitting in a room and try to get inside the heads of other singers and write about things he or they might be noticing around them.
Today, Michael writes from the inside out, meaning he asks God what He wants him to write about and follows God’s lead. When he brings God into the equation, it’s going to be right. When he doesn’t, he may end up with a song… but not one anyone will ever want to hear.