We were lucky to catch up with Dave Ebert recently and have shared our conversation below.
Dave, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?
For the last 10 years, I’ve run an improv troupe in the Chicagoland area. Well Versed Comedy is a group of Christian comedians and performers that do comedy to bring people together. We’ve raised over $10K for charities through our shows.
Performing for others and making them laugh has been a major part of who I am for all my life. As a two-year-old, I remember being at the city pool with my parents and their friends. At the same time, there was some sort of bodybuilding contest going on. I wasn’t going to be shown up, so I started “flexing” and showing off for the adults. I loved to make people laugh. Even earlier, at about 1, I thought it’d be hilarious to pour a Coke on my Dad’s head in front of his family and friends at a cookout. It was hilarious to 99% of the people there…the 1% being my Dad.
For many years, I battled depression using comedy to hide how I felt, but also to try to prevent others from feeling the darkness and pain I was going through. So, my desire for laughs went from something pure out of the joy of it to something less pure. For many years, I battled the thought of suicide. I would justify my existence by being able to make someone laugh. If I could make someone laugh, I was offering value to the world. By offering value, I could justify not taking my life.
In 2013, after over 16 years of this fight, I was finally warming up to the idea that it was time to fully pursue a relationship with the Lord. I was still battling with suicidal thoughts, but also thinking about God. It was this spiritual mountain top, I could go left and take my life, or go right and give my life. I chose the right.
From there, I started pursuing God through His Word and trying to figure our my purpose in the world. Through prayer and reading Purpose Driven Life, I found that comedy, what I was doing already, was the “what.” God wanted to change the “why.” I summarize it this way, “I used to use comedy to hide who I was, but now I use it to reveal who He Is.”
With the help of my sister, who offered a place to stay, I moved from southern West Virginia to the Chicago suburbs to pursue using performance and comedy to minister to others. We formed what is now Well Versed Comedy in the summer of 2013. We’ve done fundraisers, youth nights, community nights, date nights, and more, all about bringing people together and, ultimately, pointing them back to the love of God.
In doing this, one of my biggest blessings has been serving at Salt and Light Coalition in Chicago. For the last 4 years, I’ve been teaching improv workshops for women who have survived sex trafficking. Using the fundamentals of improv, I’ve been helping the ladies rediscover their voice, their confidence, and their ability to laugh freely. Additionally, I, as a man, have been entrusted to be a safe man for them to be around, which is so important since they’ve been through hell because of men.
In November 2022, the new chapter started. I got laid off from my job on the same day I was teaching an improv/public speaking workshop. God moved in a powerful way and two of the ladies in the workshop shared their stories for the first time ever in a public setting. It became clear, that God was saying this is the new direction for me. It was time to pursue full-time ministry. That began a process of applying to become a US Missionary to use improv and comedy to help minister to and heal survivors of extreme trauma, like trafficking. All things are on track for my wife and I to be appointed as full-time US Missionaries in September.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I use comedy to bring people together, to heal, and to find joy. The ultimate purpose is to show people the love of God and the gift of laughter is from Him. Through Well Versed Comedy, (@wellversedcmdy), we perform improv shows for outreach events, date nights, community events, and fundraisers. Through Gifts for Glory Ministries, we produce a podcast, teach improv for ministry and healing. Well Versed Comedy is available throughout Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa for your next fundraiser, marriage and date night, youth event, or other community event. Contact me through [email protected]. Through Gifts for Glory Ministries, I am available to come lead an improv workshop for your ministry, your church, your small group, or your office. Reach out to me directly at [email protected].
Additionally, if anyone is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, and want someone to talk to, please reach out to me. I know, at least for me, it would have been easier to share with someone I didn’t know as opposed to sharing my struggles with someone who I was close to. If that’s you, email me anytime at [email protected].
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is to help as many people as possible find the joy and healing power of laughter. God gave us laughter to overcome the challenges of life, to find levity, and to find that there’s hope beyond the immediate. My goal is to find people who need those reminders.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
In terms of performing comedy, for me, hearing a group of strangers come together and laugh together is the most rewarding thing. No matter the backstory, when you get a room of 100 strangers laughing together, none of them feel alone. Suddenly, there’s a bond, even if for mere moments, that forms among those people. In that crowd, when they’re laughing together, I am, again, offering value to the world, and helping them realize there’s more to life than what we see.
In terms of teaching improv like I do with Salt and Light, with women who have survived sex trafficking, the most rewarding aspect is seeing the burdens these women carry break and fall off. There is one lady, and I’ll call her B, who came in with the telltale signs of ready to go off. She was waiting for someone to say or do the right thing to give her reason to blow up on them. Part of the program is the have to participate. Within 5 minutes of silly improv warm up games, you could literally see the weight she was carrying break and fall off…literally see her crack up. It was beautiful. It was seeing a complete transformation. Maybe it lasted only 60 minutes, but it happened. She knew there was more to life than the immediate. And that moment blesses me even to this day.
Contact Info:
- Website: gifts4glory.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/gifts4glory
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/gifts4glory
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/gifts4glory
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@gifts4glory
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/well-versed-comedy-chicago-2?osq=well+versed+comedy
- Other: www.youtube.com/@wellversedcmdy www.wellversedcomedy.com www.facebook.com/wellversedcmdy