The Comedian Next Door

Hi, Neighbor! When you're hanging out at the Comedian's house, we affectionately call you "Pkarlgh." So welcome, Pkarlgh. We're just getting back from the Fight Laugh Feast Conference, literally minutes before recording, and John is sporting some stylish new Ear Gear. How comfortable are his new headphones?... Well... the Peaches gives the best description she can muster. Hard consonants are funny...

We don't know what we're talking about today, Neighbor Pkarlghl! But that never stops us from filling 45 minutes with meandering conversation... Emmi (5-years-old) treats us to a very quiet recitation of "The Elephant." Then we get ready to open the mailbag. (But first--a quick plug for the Fight Laugh Feast Conference. John says we'll be recording the next episode live at the conference, and hope...

We are laaaaaate, Neighbor Pkarlgh! It has been a busy weekend at Vacay with Comics. (And, also, our microphones weren't turned up…but that may have been a smaller percentage of the problem.) Vacay was a success, despite Luke and Joe trying to ruin our reputation with alcohol. Completely unplanned, both John and The Peaches are talking about Parents With Problems. First, a father of two kids is "N...

Welcome to the kitchen table, Neighbor Pkarlgh! Our houseguests are physically in the house with us, for once. Normally, when Juan and Melodee are in town, we selfishly keep them all to ourselves, and we talk and play games without recording anything. But, today, we're sharing a portion of our conversation about speaking TRUTH without lacking LOVE. (This is one of Juan's favorite topics.) "I've gi...

Welcome to the kitchen table of The Comedian Next Door! John is sporting some stylish new tech equipment that you'll just have to imagine. We have three, separate pieces of mail to read--the most important of which declares THE PEACHES WAS RIGHT about something. But, also, John's comedy could cure generations of insomnia, according to a certain critic. If you think you can do a better job insultin...

Hi, Neighbor Pkarlgh! As you probably don't know, John has a Dry Bar special which periodically goes viral on social media and doesn't impact his career in the least. Be careful if you think you want tons of followers on social media! Trust us when we say, climbing to the "next level" of internet popularity isn't what it's cracked up to be. This leads to a possible opportunity for the Peaches to b...

The Peaches is pretty distracted, as it's almost lunchtime and the whole family is gathering after church. John reads some mail from a Neighbor who regrets learning how comedy is made... Sometimes accepting the truth requires a full grief cycle. Next, John shares a quote from a preacher asking for help engaging the young families who have started coming to his church. (Specifically, the preacher w...

Today, we're talking all things "education" with Jesse Sumpter! Parents have a responsibility to educate their children--but too many of us are abdicating our roles to the nearest government school building and hoping a Christian disciple emerges in 12 years. We are so excited to pick Jesse's brain about how to inspire fellow Christians to band together and build a school that impacts the Kingdom....

Tabby is at the table today. She's John's OTHER daughter (and the Peaches' sister). Good luck figuring out which voice belongs to which sister. We kick off the conversation with an email letting John know there was a sliiiiiiight problem with his 3-minute devotionals this week. (Oops.) Then--the Peaches shares an excerpt from a self-help book about how nothing is okay and everything sucks. Somehow...

John reads some mail at the beginning of this episode. (Send your questions and comments to nextdoor@johnbranyan.com) One listeners calls us out for our use of the word "rhetoric" as if it's always bad, even though rhetoric CAN be used for good purposes. That's a fair complaint, Neighbor! You should always feel free to push back when we don't treat a topic fairly... Then we jump into the Peaches I...

We have a Houseguest at the table today: Nathan Hunter! He is an avid reader, a fair-minded conversationalist, and a student of the history of Critical Race Theory. All of this makes him smarter than approximatley 99% of the people he meets on the internet. If he wants to engage people on social media, he's going to need to dumb things down A LOT! Nathan explains he wants to help people think on a...

Hey, Neighbor Pkarlgh! We're kicking off with John's favorite kind of mail: the kind which says he's under-rated! (Email nextdoor@johnbranyan.com to send us your glowing reviews.) On today's "Good Grief" segment, the Peaches shares a sad/funny story about her Grandma with Alzheimer's. Laughter and pain are inextricably connected! Can we hold both of those feelings at the same time? Next--the Peach...

We tackle three distinct questions in this episode: What's funny about pastors getting arrested? Can you be bald and have sin in your heart? And...what have you MADE to make the planet better? (Don't say "my kids," Pkarlgh! Apparently that's the wrong answer.) First up, we teach you how to spell your own name, Pkarlgh, in case we haven't explained that already... Next, John explains that laughing...

John's car broke down, but at least he was able to drive 3/4 of a mile first! Our friend, Nathan, made a great comment about people using rhetoric to say what they DON'T REALLY MEAN, and the Peaches decided to make it the theme of this episode. John's sister ("Aunt Bonnie") once found an injured bird in a parking lot, and it became a favorite family story about crazy emotions. Can you EVER trust y...

Why does Amanda ("Peaches") have a reputation for being The Salty One, when sis-in-law, Marla, says offensive things, too? (John has an answer the Peaches doesn't like.) Then we go to the Mail Bag... Our neighbor doesn't know any Christians who are able to laugh at themselves! NONE! How can we move beyond the "safe" topics like slipping on banana peels and learn to laugh at ourselves? Sign up for...

John just came back from a SURPRISE show... which isn't really as great as it may sound. This reminds Amanda ("Peaches") about the special event happening in the children's department at the local library, in honor of Pride Month. Which, actually, ALSO is less great than it was meant to sound. Then, we hit the mail bag, because one of our Neighbors wants to push back on the idea that it's okay to...

Comedy material is EVERYWHERE. Here John gives just a few examples... Learn how to discover more humorous situations in your own life; buy John's book, Life is Hardy Har Hard, available on Amazon. Come on vacation with John and his funny family! (Details about Vacay with Comics at johnbranyan.com) Follow John on Gab, MeWe, and YouTube.

Welcome to the kitchen table of the Comedian Next Door--a cozy household where there's laundry being washed in the background, and we didn't realize our mics were picking it up for the first ten minutes! (As always, we're very high tech around here.) We're going on a picnic, and you can't come unless you figure out the rule and bring along the right item! This is a game we play with 10-year-old Ca...

It's time for another "Branyan Bit." Has anyone else ever had an animal in the house that doesn't belong there?...besides a cat? John isn't a very outdoorsy person, but the Outdoors keep coming IN. Take seven minutes and laugh with the Comedian Next Door. Follow John on MeWe and Gab. (He also has a Facebook account, until he gets banned from there.) You can watch John LIVE on the Starving Comics Q...

We get to play the Cliche Game with 5-year-old Emmi and laugh heartily at her responses. (If you have a Kindergartener in your life, Neighbor, then ask him/her to fill in the blank with popular sayings, and send us the results.) Next--we need to accept criticism when it's true, even when it comes from really awful people... And, speaking of awful people, we bring up the unwashed miscreants on Gab....

From time to time, it is appropriate for comedians to put something funny on their podcast, so the following is completely appropriate... John tells you the name of the only town he might consider moving to. What should you do when you see a distracted driver? How can we be sure God has a sense of humor? What's the Universal punchline?... All this and more in today's Branyan Bit. We can't be funny...

We're recording on a Sunday, and the Comedian's house is FULL of family. (Listen to the chatter in the background...) Amanda, aka The Peaches, has been wrangling approximately 4,127 children this week. So she's a little impatient with John's slow reading of emails. A listener wants to know where to find The Peaches' blog posts, and--whoops--we never actually answer that question. (Here, Neighbor!...

Mark and Deanna Gungor are in the house today...on our computer screen. Doorbells are ringing, kids are laughing in the background, and we're talking about how Mark upset some people on social media. Topics include: Separating from abusive spouses, the problems with marriage counseling, asking questions, and "Women be crazy." (But don't say that last part on Facebook!) "I promise you guys, this Su...

We start the episode playing a game with 10-year-old Cami and 7-year-old Collin you can try with your family in the car or waiting areas... Then John/Dad/Grandpa reads a study that concludes women are "healthier" in churches with female leaders. He has some advice for people who want to laugh about that. Later, the Peaches brings up "Husbands are the heads, but wives are the necks." She shares the...

From time to time, we have house guests come to visit! When that happens, we throw all structure and professionalism out the window and simply go with the flow. In today's special episode, we share the table with author and editor at Staseos, CARMEN SCHOBER. Topics include Christian fiction, getting cancelled, gender roles, and whether it's appropriate for women to beat the crap out of each other....