NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Church doesn't have to be boring, and two local comedians prove it with a traveling sketch show, complete with a choir, that is quickly becoming a hit with congregations all over the area.
After their first show on New Year's Eve at Fellowship of Champions Church International in Conway, "the calls never stopped," said Nathaniel Williams, one half of the comedy duo.
Williams plays Rev. Due Know Wrong, "a semi-senile, offering hustling, tithes stealing pastor that knows everything but the right thing," who presides over the fictional New St. Believers congregation.
His sidekick, played by Frederick Buffington, is missionary Lola Bell McCrary. She's an overzealous church mother who would forsake her own family to follow the Rev. Due Know Wrong.
The idea for comedy that revolves around the church was born out of a joke Williams told at the end of a lackluster night of stand-up.
He could sense the crowd was growing weary of the negative jokes told by him and the other comedians performing that night. He ended with a joke centering on a church reverend and the crowd went crazy.
He and Buffington, who met on the set of a play in July 2008 and tried their hand at a few more stage productions, fleshed out the characters of Due Know Wrong and McCrary and took the show on the road.
The two comedians were booking three or four shows a month, but Williams felt something was missing from the "church" feel of the sketch and decided the show needed a choir.
He thought at the time, "If we were going to get a choir, we have to get the best choir possible."
So, he sought out the pastor of the Gloryland Baptist Church in North Little Rock to see if he and Buffington could incorportate the Glorlyand Pastor's Choir into the show. The choir, filled with children ages 3 to 18 has opened for Kirk Franklin and even appeared on BET.
"With the choir on stage, it was not a skit anymore but an awesome show," Williams said.
The show, which can be seen Saturday night at the Gloryland church, typically starts out with Lola Bell making a few church announcements. Then Rev. Due Know Wrong gives a short sermon. For Saturday's show, the choir will sing and a few comedians will warm up the crowd before Williams and Buffington appear.
Show starts at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
DVDs of the show are available at Greek 4 Life in North Little Rock.