Owensboro native and on-air radio personality JJ Jasper will return home this weekend for a special stand-up comedy event at 7 p.m. Saturday at Living Hope Community Church.
Jasper, a comedian and motivational speaker, hosts a national morning show on American Family Radio. The radio personality is also a best-selling author of three books and is known for using humor to bring joy to his audiences.
With decades of experience as a radio host, Jasper’s morning show is broadcasted on 200 stations across 36 states. He has used the tragedy of personal loss to inspire others to find hope as they grieve.
His best-selling book Losing Cooper: Finding Hope to Grieve Well has been endorsed by authors like Max Lucado and has been given away more than 400,000 times.
According to his website, “The book chronicles their journey through darkness, but offers real hope to anyone experiencing trouble, trials, or tragedy. It shows how a strong Christian family deals with shock, loss, and grief from a Biblical perspective.”
After losing their 5-year-old son in a tragic accident, the Jasper family used the tragedy to create a mission of bringing hope to others in the face of loss and grief. The stand up comedian takes a serious topic and brings humor to the table, calling laughter the best medicine.
“When people laugh, their walls come down,” Jasper said. “This will be good for people that have not laughed out loud in a while. I guarantee you will laugh out loud — big belly laughs.”
Jasper is excited to return home to Owensboro for a visit and thinks this event is the perfect way to wind down after a long week.
“I don’t get to visit Owensboro very often. I‘d love to see old friends,” Jasper said. “I enjoy stand up comedy. I love to travel, and I love to make people laugh.”
After moving to Mississippi in 1985, he still remembers the early influence this community had on his career in broadcasting.
“All my coworkers went to broadcasting school. I grew up listening to WOMI and WBIO. When I first got started, I remember trying to channel my inner Kirk Kirkpatrick,” Jasper said.
The stand up comedian is especially excited that the event is being offered to the community free of charge.
“A lot of things I do are ticketed events, so I think it’s especially cool that it’s a free event. I’m excited to be at Living Hope. They love the community and they try to do a lot of outreaches. This will be a night of laughter and inspiration,” Jasper said.
In addition to the event Saturday night, Jasper will be returning on Sunday morning to share more of his personal story during the service that starts at 10:30 a.m.
“I will be sharing about the storms of life — from high prices of food and gas, to turmoil politically and racially, to people trying to raise a family and pay bills. I plan to outline practical and biblical ways to navigate the storms of life,” Jasper said.
For more information on Jasper, visit jjjasper.com.
