WATCH ABOVE: An Edmonton pastor is offering a whole lot more than guidance and support to his congregation. Shallima Maharaj explains.
EDMONTON – An Edmonton pastor leads what some might call a double life.
He spends his days delivering sermons, and serving as a pillar of support for his parishioners at the Disciples Church in northeast Edmonton. But by night, he takes to a different stage.
Pastor Dan Taylor is a stand-up comic. In fact, he was chosen as Edmonton’s top comic, and is now one of eight finalists vying for SiriusXM Canada’s fifth annual Top Comic prize.
Just last week, he opened for funny man Russell Peters on the Edmonton-leg of his international ‘Almost Famous’ tour — something that was a huge honour for the local pastor.
“When they said ‘opening,’ I was like, ‘obviously you want me to go around and open all the doors like a WalMart greeter.’ But then they convinced me that ‘no, you’re actually going to be on the stage,'” he said.
“It already happened and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
The father-of-three has been juggling his two passions for the past three years, while also mentoring other young comics in the city.
“Comedy is an amazing world because no matter where you come from or what you do or what background you have, the only currency is, ‘can you make people laugh?’
“So no matter where you come from — even if you’re some weird Evangelical church pastor, if you can make people laugh, then that’s the currency that matters.”
He says he tries to keep his stand-up material consistent with his religious views. Since he’s “not a superstar in the Christian world, by any stretch of the imagination,” Taylor says this has been an “interesting ride” that he feels blessed to be on.
“I believe the way that I honour God best is by being really good at the craft that I’m doing, which in this case is just making people laugh.”
And his parishioners might just be his biggest fans.
“He’s the best pastor we’ve ever had, that’s for sure,” said long-time congregation member Judy Nuthack. “It may not be for some people, but I think he’s right for both things.”
With files from Shallima Maharaj, Global News
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