Ellen Skrmetti: It’s all going to be okay when you can find the laughter. When you can start to laugh about things, you realize that things are going to be okay. As long as there’s laughter, we’re going to be okay.

Laughter Reminds Us We’re Going to Be Okay: Ellen Skrmetti & Justin Stuart and Andrew Scites (JStu YouTube) – Episode #444

Narrator: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. This week we’re joined by Ellen Skrmetti, a stand-up comedian and author whose journey to the stage was peppered with many moments of overcoming fear and finding humor in unexpected situations. From conquering those fears to redefining what it means to connect with audiences through comedy, Ellen uses her storytelling to bring laughter, healing, and a deeper connection to faith.

Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Justin Stuart and Andrew Scites, the creative minds behind JStu, a YouTube channel bringing laughter and joy to millions through family-friendly adventures, daring challenges, and hilarious pranks. Guided by their motto “Laugh Daily,” Justin and Andrew aim to inspire others with the simple yet profound message that joy is a powerful force for good.

Let’s begin with Ellen’s story.

Ellen Skrmetti: My name is Ellen Skrmetti. I am a stand-up comedian and author.

Humor was very much a part of my life growing up. I was raised in a very funny family and also raised in the church. So a lot of my comedy is church comedy because they tell you to write what you know. I feel like this is the career the Lord wanted me to have. I feel like I’m finally on the path that the Lord has always wanted me to be on. But there was fear that was holding me back. 

A Love for Comedy But a Fear of the Spotlight

I got stage fright the first time I was on stage at Miss Mississippi for my talent competition, and I can remember for the first time feeling so scared. I prayed, “Lord, if you will get me off the stage, I promise I will never get on a stage again.” And I went, I did my talent, it was great. But I lived a life believing that I had made this deal with the Lord, that I had stage fright, He got me off, and I would never get on the stage again. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that the Lord does not make bets with His children, He does not make deals with His children. He’s a way maker, not a deal maker. 

“It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized that the Lord does not make bets with His children, He does not make deals with His children. He’s a way maker, not a deal maker.” – Ellen Skrmetti 

There was a while there as an adult I remember thinking, Okay, Lord, I get it. You just want me to be funny and uplifting in a one-on-one type scenario. I had a sales job and I looked at it as, Okay, my career is in sales and I’m going to help my customers have a better day and I’m going to lighten their load, because I was a mom with very small children working a career, trying to keep everything together. 

What I now realize is that the work that I did then has put so many people in position to help me. I am working with people that I worked with when I was in sales. Now that I look back, it was so necessary because I have grown so much more in my faith. The realization that the Lord never took the bet was a record scratch moment, and I feel like I heard the Lord say, “I didn’t take that bet,” and it was a defining moment for me to realize everything I thought is not true, I’m going to figure out how to get over stage fright, and we’re going to figure out how to make this work. I then just started to work on ways to get my comedy out there and figure out what that even was. 

Overcoming Stage Fright and Refining the Art of Comedy

There was a Thursday night that my local comedy club let me get on stage and I was able to conquer my fear of stage fright. And when that was over, the owner of the club said, “Oh, let’s do this every Thursday.” So I had a spot on stage every Thursday night to work on material. 

One thing that happened is Second City, which is a renowned comedy school, started offering online comedy classes. And it was there that I met amazing comedy teachers. I met other people like me who were on the path towards a dream. The other great thing that happened was Second City truly validated that my stories were enough. There was a time that I thought, Oh, I’ll need to do a persona. I’ll need to do a character. And Second City helped me get confidence in my stories and my storytelling. One day before class started, my teacher said, “We’re having content creators take classes so that way they’re more prepared for the stage.” And that light bulb just went off in my head. Wait a minute, if I can turn my stand up into reels, I can find the middle aged women and the men who love them and they’ll come see me perform. But I knew that they would not necessarily be in a comedy club just looking for me. I would have to do something to help them find me. And so that’s how I turned to reels. It took such faith and such trust because there was a definite way that you became a comedian. You got five minutes on stage and then you got ten and you just gradually got more on stage. And then eventually someone would find you and you would make it big. But this was me saying, “Okay, Lord, if this is how this has to be, I’m going to put my trust in You.” 

So instead of just posting reels every day and every night, I would say a prayer. And the prayer was, “Lord, do something so big it could only be You.” And I prayed not just for the number of followers that would come to my page, I would pray for the people coming to my page to laugh. 

“The prayer was, ‘Lord, do something so big it could only be You.’” – Ellen Skrmetti

I felt comfortable being myself on stage. I was not comfortable being myself on Instagram. So I had a character called Kitty Potter, who wanted to be a newscaster. And this coworker, Kevin, kept messing her up. And so on a random day, I did a, “Hey Jesus, it’s me,” and asked Him if it was too bold of a prayer or not bold enough to ask for my coworker to get a tapeworm. And then I called Him back and I said, “Well, okay, I can’t pray for him to have a tapeworm, but could I pray for me to accidentally get one and lose weight?” And that reel made people laugh. And I am someone who believes in talking to Jesus about everything, just having an open line of communication. And it hit me, Wait a minute, what if I kept doing these and it helped people see that they could talk to Jesus about anything, not just the big tragedies, but they could laugh and cry with the Lord? 

Seeking God In The Good Times, As Well As The Bad

I have a tendency to say, “Oh, thank you, Lord, for getting me through that. I can take it from here.” And thinking, Oh, yeah, I see what you’re doing. If you’ve ever had someone try to teach you a math problem and you see where you’ve messed up and you go, “Okay, I see where I messed up, I can do the rest of the math problem.”

I have been reading Jesus Calling for over twelve years. One thing I noticed that I would do, especially in my early days of doing this daily time with the Lord, I would get so consistent when things were so tough. But as things got easier, I would just wake up and get ready and go on about my day. And then three or four months would pass, things would again be so hard. And I don’t know how many cycles of taking everything to the Lord, doing my daily Bible reading, “Okay, I can take it from here.” “Oh, wait. Hi, it’s me again. I need you.” I don’t know how many cycles I had to go through until it finally hit me, Wait a minute, how much easier is life going to be if we stop these cycles? Why don’t we come to Jesus in the good times and the happy times and the celebration so you’re better equipped when it’s bad? And so that has been my goal for the past two to three years, to truly come to the Lord and make talking to the Lord and reading my Bible and doing readings as natural as brushing my teeth and as natural as making sure that I drink water and making sure that I’m fed. 

What I have had to diligently learn is to never take back the pencil and never say, “Oh, thank you, I can take it from here.” We need Him with us every step of the way. 

As I write now and as I think of new writing projects, it’s the faith of someone who knows how beautifully the Lord can send the words and how beautifully things work when you stop trying to do everything yourself and you truly give your passion and give your talents over to the Lord. Because truly, He’s the person who gave us the talent.

“What I have had to diligently learn is to never take back the pencil and never say, ‘Oh, thank you, I can take it from here.’ We need Him with us every step of the way.” – Ellen Skrmetti 

Narrator: To learn more about Ellen Skrmetti, visit www.ellenskrmetti.com, and be sure to check out her new book, Hey, Jesus, It’s Me: I Have Questions, Comments, and Concerns, at your favorite retailer.

Stay tuned to Justin Stuart and Andrew Scites’ story after a brief message.

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Jesus Listens 

If your days feel overwhelming, or life has you anxious and stressed, you can find peace and hope with Jesus Listens. Written by bestselling author Sarah Young, Jesus Listens contains 365 heartfelt prayers based on scripture. Whether it serves as your only prayer for the day or simply to jumpstart your own prayers, Jesus Listens empowers you to connect daily with God. It’s such a blessing to know that Jesus hears every one of our prayers.

Gift Jesus Listens to anyone struggling to feel God’s presence, or use it to establish your own consistent prayer practice. Let Sarah’s words and her Bible verse references enrich your life and your relationship with God. To learn more about Jesus Listens and download a free sample, please visit www.jesuscalling.com/jesuslistens. 

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Our next guests are Justin Stuart and Andrew Scites, the creative minds behind the popular YouTube channel JStu, which has over ten million subscribers and over three billion total views. Justin and Andrew’s content runs the gamut from overnight challenges, to adventures, to building awesome things. Their goal is to make content for all ages and bring laughter to their viewers, in the hopes that they can be a force for good in the world.  

Justin Stuart: My name is Justin Stuart and I run the YouTube channels JStu and JStu Studios with my friend Andrew here. I have a wife and three kids. I’ve been married for ten years and I have a six year old, a four year old, and a five month old, so I’ve got my hands full.

Andrew Scites: I’m Andrew Scites and I’ve been married to my wife for nine years and we also have three kids, a six year old, five year old, and a one and a half year old. 

I was born and raised in Colorado, but as a kid, I just always enjoyed grabbing the video camera, filming random skits and movies and whatever else was just funny in my mind. And thankfully, Justin was my next door neighbor growing up.  

Justin: Yeah, I was really glad that my parents moved next door to Andrew’s family. We’ve been friends for a very long time. We both had video  cameras back in the day when you’d put the little cassettes in there, basically.

Andrew: Like mini tapes. 

Justin: Yeah. So we would make these home movies all the time, making each other laugh, and just have had a passion for being in front of the camera, making movies, ever since we were little kids. 

Andrew: But we always had this kind of vision of, We want to make movies, we want to make content. So we went to film school in Denver for college. And that’s really where [we got] the idea of like, Man, we could really turn making YouTube videos into a career. But we didn’t really ever plan on it being toilet paper forts, per se.  

Justin: No, definitely not. We’re just like, “This is a fun idea.”

Andrew: “Here are the strategic reasons why you should build a toilet paper fort.”

Justin: Yeah, but that was one of the videos that kind of took our channel to the next level. 

Donut Houses, Homemade Rollercoasters, and Other Adventures with JStu YouTube

Andrew: So we started making content and it was just sort of a reflection of who we were, and we were just naturally goofy. We’ve been on so many overnight adventures…

Justin: …and built so many things. 

Andrew: Like even just last year, we flew to Iceland and we took this exclusive helicopter all the way out to the ocean and stayed on this lighthouse that was so small that only this particular pilot can fly there. 

Justin: And it’s very dangerous and scary.  

Andrew: It was very nerve-wracking. 

Justin: We’ve stayed at really dangerous locations like that or a hotel in the middle of the ocean. It’s just basically an abandoned oil rig. We slept on the side of a cliff. We’ve built things that are super cool, like a giant donut house that we spent the night in in our backyard, a homemade roller coaster.  

Andrew: I think one of the best overnight adventures we’ve done was we went to another lighthouse, but this was in the middle of Lake Michigan. It took like a two hour boat ride and we got there and the thing was covered in ice. And it was all so intense and it was so fun at the same time. We stayed overnight there, and we woke up in the morning, and the whole lake was fogged over.

Justin: Yeah, it was a crazy experience, very intense, because the boat driver dropped us off and went back home. So we were literally in the middle of the lake by ourselves with no one to help if anything were to go wrong.

Andrew: We’re currently building a micro castle in the backyard with a working drawbridge and a moat. 

Justin: A lot of our content has pushed me to my limits because naturally, I don’t want to put myself in danger. But going to Iceland and doing a lighthouse, skydiving, staying the night on the side of a cliff, I’m having to face my fear of heights or anxiety. And I feel like that’s been good for me because, I mean, just in general, facing a fear, doing something you’re uncomfortable with, has its benefits. And it’s made me more comfortable as a person.  

We’re not just doing stuff that’s like crazy builds or staying in locations. We’ve been making videos for thirteen years and so we’ve interacted with a lot of people, and that’s uncomfortable, especially when you’re doing pranks and you’re doing things that kind of feel awkward. But I feel like those moments of all the interactions I’ve had with random people have made me more comfortable speaking in front of people, going up to people and introducing myself, creating new friendships. So I think all of the things we have done have had their layers of benefit.  

Andrew: Totally. And even when we talk about the crazy builds, the pushing the limits there I think pushes our creativity limits because there’s so many ideas we have, like, “Is that even possible?” And then we just start building things and we have a whole team of builders who help. I feel like if it was just us building stuff, we would not accomplish half of these builds. But with other people and their expertise, the limits have been increasing, like, “What is possible to build?” 

Justin: Yeah. It’s very important to expand your limits. You always want to grow.

“It’s very important to expand your limits. You always want to grow.” – Justin Stuart 

Laugh Daily: Inspiring Joyful Hearts

Andrew and I were raised in Christian households, so our parents instilled good morals in us. And so naturally, we wanted to be a channel that could be different where it’s like, “Hey, we’re doing pranks, but we’re doing pranks anybody can watch.” And they have a lighthearted, funny spirit to it that anybody can enjoy. 

Andrew: Yeah. For example, eating loudly in the library, even though technically we might be breaking a rule of no snacks, but still. 

Justin: Yeah. We had a unique sense of humor that a lot of people appreciated. I think it goes without saying that the current climate, whether it’s on TV, commercials, YouTube—a lot of it is very inappropriate and not good for kids or anybody in general. And so looking around on YouTube, we knew that there was a gap that needed to be filled. 

We had a passion for making others laugh, it seemed like that’s a missing piece that was needed in people’s lives—clean humor that can provide laughter. And so God made a way for us to be able to make content, and obviously has had His hand on every part of our business ever since the start of it. I’m really thankful for that. 

“God made a way for us to be able to make content, and obviously has had His hand on every part of our business ever since the start of it. I’m really thankful for that.” – Justin Stuart 

Andrew: We created this motto called “Laugh Daily,” which comes from Proverbs 17:22 that says, “A joyful heart is good medicine.”

Justin: Yeah. The back half of Proverbs 17:22 also says, “A crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Because the Bible is truth, there’s truth in both those things, that joy is medicine. Think about how many people in our current culture—whether that is a lot of people in middle school, whatever age—have crushed spirits. And so we have the opportunity—anybody has the opportunity—to be able to provide joy. 

“Anybody has the opportunity to be able to provide joy.” – Justin Stuart 

We’ve lost track of how many times people have sent us a message or come up to us in person and told us how our content has helped them during difficult times in their lives, whether it’s depression or bullying. And so just hearing stories like that has kind of really pushed us to keep going. 

And so if we can make content that can influence people and provide them an opportunity to laugh, then I think we’re doing a job well. I think my mentality has been shaped a lot by our motto, “Laugh Daily,” because it has forced me to be like, Am I living that life on and off camera? Am I seeking joy and laughter? 

It’s really fun for me to sit down with my kids, my family, and watch our videos and to see what makes them laugh because they laugh at the littlest things that I probably wouldn’t even think is funny. But it makes me think about, Okay, how am I thinking about laughter? Can I do more? 

It could be easier for some people and harder for others. Some people wake up and naturally are filled with more joy. But other people also wake up and they have a harder time finding joy. It takes effort and work to seek joy and to seek laughter. And so if we can make it easier for other people—and we’ve seen the benefit in our own lives of laughing more and seeking joy—then that’s extremely important.  

Simple Ways to Be a Force For Good

I’ve learned that God works in mysterious ways. He works in obvious ways. He works in not-so-obvious ways. 

And I look back at some of these videos we’ve made and in the moment, there was no message, there wasn’t something I could take away from it. But then as I think about it, I’m like, Man, God was involved in this and God is involved in every detail of our lives. And if we just look for it, we can see how He’s impacting our lives, showing us things, whatever it may be.  

“God is involved in every detail of our lives. If we just look for it, we can see how He’s impacting our lives.” – Justin Stuart

I think there are so many simple ways you can be a force for good in our world. You don’t have to go out there and make YouTube videos, build crazy things, stay overnight in insane locations, to make an impact. You can make an impact right where you are by being a difference to those around you, by adding value to those who are around you. And for us, we’ve seen that providing laughter is what really brings us to life. A simple thing you can do is just look for ways to add some humor to somebody around you, to do something kind for somebody around you. 

“You can make an impact right where you are by being a difference to those around you, by adding value to those who are around you.” – Justin Stuart 

Andrew: Definitely. I think a lot of people in today’s world want to be YouTubers, but they also want to have a lot of followers. They [say], “If I had a million followers on Instagram, I would be an influencer.” But the truth is, everybody is an influencer to someone. And that might be maybe just your younger brother, but everybody’s being influenced by someone. So for everybody watching, you are an influencer. I think you can shift your mentality a little bit in that regard.

Justin: Yeah.

Andrew: And just put some thought into like, What am I saying? What am I doing? You are influencing people. Being a force for good doesn’t have to be a million people on Instagram. It could just be one person.  

“Being a force for good doesn’t have to be a million people on Instagram. It could just be one person.” – Andrew Scites  

Justin: Right. I think naturally we as humans like to complicate and overthink things. So when it comes to making a difference in your world and in the world, don’t overthink it. Just treat others how you want to be treated, love others how you want to be loved. Go out of your way and do something for somebody and watch how it impacts yourself. 

Andrew: I think as Christians, we tend to stay in areas that are comfortable to us. I think the biggest areas for growth are those areas that feel uncomfortable. So when you push into those areas, I think that’s where a lot of growth happens. 

Justin: I think it comes down to where is your faith in God? And understanding that God can work in any way. At the end of the day, He doesn’t need us to do anything. He can do anything with or without us. And so not limiting God to being in this box, how He operates [the way] we think—because He operates on a completely different level. His ways are higher than our ways. And so I think when we submit to Him and His plan, even when we don’t know His plan, it allows Him to do things through us, in us, for us, that we couldn’t just manufacture ourselves.

I think when you fully know and understand that God is sovereign and in control, you can let go of fears or things that are holding you back and put your trust in Him. I know God has a plan for us and has given us a platform to be able to provide experiences for people to watch through their screen. And so I get to step into moments and trust that God is going to use my fear, my experience, to impact somebody else if I trust Him and rely on the Holy Spirit moment by moment.  

“I get to step into moments and trust that God is going to use my fear, my experience, to impact somebody else if I trust Him and rely on the Holy Spirit moment by moment.” – Justin Stuart  

This is Jesus Listens, May 31st:

Splendid Savior, 

Your Word tells me: If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. This sounds easy, but putting it into practice is really hard for me. 

I’ve seen how countercultural it is to focus on admirable things. People who work in the media almost always shine their spotlights on negative news. They rarely bother to report good things that are happening—especially the many good things Your people are doing. 

Andrew:

I admit that having a positive focus is not only countercultural but counter to my fallen nature. When Adam and Eve rebelled against You, everything was damaged by the Fall—including my mind. As a result, focusing on excellent, admirable things is not at all natural to me. It requires persistent effort, trying to make the right choice over and over again. Lord, please help me choose to look for what is good—daily, moment by moment. 

In spite of the massive problems in this world, there is much that is worthy of praise. I rejoice that You, the One who is the most praiseworthy, are continually with me—closer than my thoughts! 

In Your excellent, admirable Name, Jesus, 

Amen

Narrator: To keep up with Justin and Andrew, be sure to follow them on YouTube, and check out their new book, The JStu Survival Guide: 100 Days to Conquer Your Fears, Shatter Your Limits, and Build Your Faith, available at your favorite retailer.  

If you’d like to hear more stories about infusing humor into our everyday lives, check out our interview with Chonda Pierce.

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Next week: Susan Binkley

Next time on the Jesus Calling Podcast, we’ll hear from Susan Binkley, founder and president of Blue Monarch, a residential recovery program for women and their children. Susan believes that one of the keys to finding healing is when we invest in a daily relationship with God, helping us find the peace in life we’re looking for. 

Susan Binkley: For you to really live the abundance of what God has in store for you, then it requires more of an investment on a daily basis. I love the fact that God makes Himself available to you, that you can have an ongoing conversation with Him.