We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mike Hickman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Becoming a creative involves risk, as does many jobs, hobbies and interest that require us to put ourselves out there. We have to be willing to be vulnerable, criticized, praised but not allow it to inflate our ego and become prideful. Questions come up in our minds such as “Am I good enough?”, “Will they like me?”, “Can I make a living at this?” And other questions, but I’ve learned through the wisdom of someone before me that we must not seek applause for ourselves but simply present what we do as a gift to others. How it is received is not up to us. I have hopefully done my job as best I can at that point and can be content and joyful. If I seek applause for myself, I will be disappointed or desire more. Answers to our questions as we take these risks come along the journey and if we mess up or seemingly fail along the journey, we can move forward knowing that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. But I praise God and I am certainly thankful for the successes.

Mike, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a child I was drawn to the arts. Particularly comedy and music at that time. From my earliest memory I enjoyed performing for may family and friends. I was about five years old when I remember listening to music artists on television and recording them through my little cheap tape recorder then going to my room, memorizing the songs and then putting on a show for my parents and sister. When we had company, especially my sister’s friends and my friends, I would do my best to try to make them laugh. My sister woulds rush me out of her room but I would say “see, you need me for laughs”. Perhaps it was a a prideful thing that fed my inner security but it gave me a sense of purpose and set forth something creative in motion for years to come. Fast forward to middle school and high school where I dove deep into music and enjoyed as many comedians as i could watch and learn from. Later in high school I found another form of the arts that I had not previously had much experience with-Drama! From there I was a music major in college and enjoyed musical theatre. I honed my drama chops in college and, in addition to being a youth and music pastor, directed drama teams at church. As time passed I had bands and a solo music career while working other jobs as well. As time passed, as well as several various jobs, I was always pulled back into the arts. About 11 years ago I went full force into performing comedy, mostly in churches and also for fundraisers, community events and some corporate work and this became a ministry I enjoyed very much as I would also speak at the end of my shows from what God has shown me, brought me and my wife and family through and offered encouragement to the audience to help them through difficult times. A ministry I still enjoy. I eventually also began work in TV and movies as a background extra which led to some featured acting work and then leads and principal work in TV and film as well as industrial acting work. My wife and I also still enjoy performing music together. As a creative, I enjoy being immersed in the arts, comedy, acting and music. It has it;’s challenges but I believe everything we are involved in has purpose and is a platform to something…greater. For me that is pointing people to God and helping people know love and be encouraged while walking through this life.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Absolutely! If I were to sum my goal and mission up in one word it would be…GOD. What I mean is, I believe we are a part of HIS story. We were created by God for purpose. In fact there are scriptures that support this and the Word of God does not lie. A couple of those scriptures are: Philippians 2:13 “For it is God Who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Another is Ephesians 2:10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them”. There are certainly others. What I do in the arts may look one way on the outside but has an overall purpose to make God known and to help people know Him and find their purpose, joy, help, restoration, healing, renewal and salvation. If I am performing comedy, people may laugh and enjoy it at face value, which is refreshing in itself but when I have the chance to also tell them what God has done for me and my family through so much, I find people are looking for an answer and I give them the answer…Jesus! When I am acting, whether it be in a commercial, film, TV or industrial project, I am surrounded by a cast and crew that I work with closely. I try to become an encourager to each of them for the limited time I have and as my social reach grows, meaning the audience that see these projects, I have a platform to give encouragement, love and help as best I can. And if I am performing music, the audience can enjoy that at face value as well, but it’s also in little, purposeful and encouraging things spoken from the stage and even afterward or during breaks that can make an impact and difference in someone’s life. I have stories from people that would blow your mind about how they are going to reconcile with their family, or now feel they can continue on after they have lost a child or a loved one and many other stories that I am told after a comedy show.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2014 the morning after our son’s 17th birthday, we woke up and began our day as normal. I was watering the yard and news came to us that something may have happened to our son. To make a long story very short, a parent’s worst fear became very real. Our son had been killed during the night while at a friend’s house. How does life even happen at that point. Is this real? It was. How do we even live. It was through the love and mercy of God and the love of family and close friends that we could even get out of bed. We now had to believe and walk in what we have always said we believe about God. We found that it is true. He is our healer and restorer and He loves us. He did not take our son but our son was a gift FROM Him for 17 years. The tragedy would have been to never have our son. He belongs to God and though we miss him so much, we will see Him again in a little while. As time passed further, how would I work…especially as a comedian, one who helps people laugh and enjoy life better. Well, I had my first comedy show back weeks later and I was worried what would happen when I took the stage. As I was introduced, it was like God put a robe of mercy on me and He took over. It was an outside show in Texas in Summer but I didn’t even feel hot. The crowd laughed and enjoyed and it was one of the best shows ever. There is so much more to this part of the story I can share but for this article I’ll keep it short. What God showed me when I left the stage was that it is HIM Who works through us. It is not MY power but God working HIS will THROUGH me. He took over and it changed me. I realized that as my family and I are hurting, there are people listening to me that are hurting as well and they need to hear the purpose that God has set me on a stage for- to help people and make Him known. He is a life GIVER, not a life TAKER and what He has done for us in restoring and renewing, He will do for all of the precious ones He has created including the ones reading this article right now. He is worthy of our love and trust. I left that venue with a renewed sense of purpose and when I asked myself the question before, “How can I do this?” I was now asking, “How can I NOT?” I must! It is my purpose.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mikehickmancomedy.com
• Instagram: mikehickmanofficial
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• Twitter: hickmancomedy
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