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Note: I do these programs for the love of
the Lord and Christian comedy. I'm not with a publicity
or booking company, talent agency, or any organization
that represents any of the artists. I just want to bring
those that do clean Christian comedy together with those
that enjoy it. That's the purpose of the program and the
original Sheep Laughs site. If you enjoy a comedian, go
to their site and let them know and buy their products.
And
now, a little about me, in the obligatory third-person...
Fred Passmore
With a face like
this, comedy was a natural direction.
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The
host and producer of the program, Fred Passmore,
has been involved in both Christian radio and
Christian comedy for over 20 years. That
combination of experience is brought to focus on
the production of the Sheep Laughs Comedy Show,
lifting it above the level of amatuer podcast and
placing it in the arena of professional
broadcasting. |
Way back in 1983, Fred launched a 15
minute weekly comedy radio program called
"Lift-off!" which aired on a local Christian
station (WJLS-WBKW) where he lived in Beckley, WV. The
program's production values caught the attention of the
station management (although listening back to tapes of
it now, Fred says he "wouldn't let a dog hear
it"), and in 1984 he was hired part time for his
first radio job as evening announcer. Within a week he
was working full-time as Production Director for both the
AM and FM stations, writing and producing all the spots
for both (although Fred contributes that more to the
situation than any great talent on his part). During his
six year stint there, he also served as afternoon
drive-time host and promotions director, gaining
experience that would make an impact on his future
efforts. During this time the comedy program found
continued life through various incarnations, filling a
slot in the weekend youth programming.
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In 1991,
he was hired for a position at Coral Ridge
Ministries in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, as editor and
engineer of the national radio program
"Truths That Transform" by Dr. D. James
Kennedy. He stayed there four years, also working
at the church's radio station (WAFG-FM), and even
filling in as Interim Manager for a period. During that time he
produced a three-hour long weekly program called
"HeartFlight," which featured
contemporary Christian music, and incorporated
five-minute comedy segments every hour. The trail
of radio comedy breadcrumbs continued to be laid.
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| While
there, he and long-time friend Jon Lawhon formed the
Christian Comedy team
"Prime Example," and during the ten
years of the team's existence (1993 to 2003) they
traveled on the weekends to over a dozen
different states to perform in hundreds of
concerts, and recorded two albums, from which a
number of songs were released to gospel radio.
Several of the songs showed up on the national
Southern Gospel charts, (one rising into the Top
80 of the Singing News chart) and still get
airplay today. |
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In
February of 1996 he was offered a position with
"The Sower" at the Guido
Evangelistic Association in Metter, GA,
editing all of Dr. Guido's national radio
programs, and is where he is currently employed,
functioning as radio program producer, website
manager, official photographer, DVD engineer and
occasionally filming and producing special video
projects. |
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In March
of 2000, Fred opened the Sheep Laughs site, devoted to
Christian humor, and helping people more easily
find Christian comedians. It is one of the most
long-lived and most-visited Christian humor sites
on the web, featuring clean jokes, funny photos,
a comedian list of links, and much more. In 2002 Fred
established the Sheep Laughs Records independent label,
which he initially created for the publication of
the Prime Example comedy CD projects.
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| In 2002
he officially opened the site Christian
Skit Scripts, to supply skits and
soundtracks for churches and drama teams. The
soundtracks are recorded in his home studio and
released on the Sheep Laughs Records label. Since then
he has written about 37 new scripts to add to the
handful of ones adapted from the previous albums.
The site is currently getting over 400 visitors a
day, and over 10,000 visitors a month. During the
holiday season, the visitor count exceeds 17,000
hits a month. Many hundreds of churches have used
his scripts, in every state of the union and many
foreign countries. |
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In the spring of 2006, the hunger to
do a comedy radio program hit him again, and he satisfied
it by cooking up the first 15-minute weekly Christian
Comedy podcast, calling it the Sheep Laughs Comedy Show.
The program gives the listener a chance to actually hear
the comedians listed on the Sheep Laughs site. The trail
of crumbs has led him here, perfecting the program form
he started over 20 years ago, proving it to be a
long-term interest. He has plans to syndicate it to
national radio after he has enough programs stockpiled.
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The
program vocals are recorded digitally onto
Mini-Disc, using an industry standard Electro-Voice RE 20
microphone in a soundproof
isolation booth,
then mixed with all the program elements using
the Sonic Foundry SoundForge production
suite. The professional sound is achieved with a
large library of production music and sound
effects. |
| Now, Sheep Laughs Records serves as the
umbrella under which numerous projects are
produced, including the Sheep Laughs Comedy Show.
There are nearly 20 CDs in the catalog, including
the Prime Example CDs, performance Skit Trax, client Gary Claxton's comedy projects, "A
Christmas Carol" old-time radio
program CDs, and more on the way. Below is Fred
at his home office desk with his little buddy
Dusty in his usual position. (Which means he
doesn't mind letting a dog hear his work now.) 
And that,
as Paul Harvey says, is "the rest of the
story." But it's not the end. What will the
future reveal of Fred's plans? Time will tell,
but you can bet they will be fun and upifting.
And they will include you.
For a more
personal bio (this one centered around the comedy
production) go to the one on the Christian
Skit Scripts site.
An article about the
making of the program by Fred, from an online post about the
show:
My name is Fred
Passmore. Radio is my background and my job. But
for the fun of it I produce a weekly program
called the Sheep Laughs Comedy Show. I do it out
of my home studio, which is a great blessing to
have. A few years ago I would have had to go to a
radio station or production studio to do it. But,
the technology has progressed to such a point
that it's affordable and accessable to the
average person (like me) to do at home. I
recently completed a project to turn a storage
closet into a soundproof microphone booth. It's
snug, but works great.
One thing I try to do is make the program, from
the very first one, something that could play in
any medium and not only online. I see podcasting
as a means to an end, not an end in itself. To
me, it's another avenue to use to get the program
out, not the only one.
I also try to feature talent that may not be
heard on a wide scale, not just the big names.
The biggest problem I face is getting new
material to use on a regular basis. I'd like to
bring a new artist to the program every time, but
there aren't that many out there. I still keep
trying, though, and I network as many places
online as I can in an effort to get them to send
me their CDs.
It takes about 5 hours to produce a 15 minute
program. I spend a couple of hours one night
choosing the material and writing the script. I
email the copy for Jeremiah's lines to my friend
and voice talent Jon Lawhon, which he records in
his home studio and emails back in MP3 format.
The second night I spend about 3 hours recording,
editing, mixing and uploading. The work spent is
an investment in the long-term usage and life of
the program, since all the archived episodes are
available on the site. And, whenever a station
begins using the show, they start at the first
and go through all of the archives. So every one
is as important as the other, and care is taken
to make them enjoyable for repeated listening.
A little bit about my personal
philosophy that defines what the show is:
Because I have done it myself for many years, I
have high standards when it comes to clean
Christian comedy. I listen for material that I
enjoy and find humorous and interesting. This
means that not just anything gets played to fill
the timeslot. I have to like and enjoy it myself
before I present it to the listener. This means
you are getting the best material that I can
find. It might also mean that all you will ever
hear from a comedian's CD project is what I feel
is good enough to be replayed on my program. In
some cases this is very little, and others a
great deal. I know, it's a personal judgement
call, but somebody has to do it.
Secondly, I
believe that the very term "Christian
Comedy" carries with it the inherent
expectation that the material not only be clean,
but expressly Christian. This does not
mean every track played must have a deep meaning
or "churchy" setting, or include a
sermon or invitation to salvation. It does
mean that the humor derives from a Christian
standpoint or outlook, and at the very least is
uplifting or insightful into the human
condition... of which there is always room for
improvement, Christian or not. I believe those
that call themselves "Christian
comedians" should reflect that in their
material, and those that do, get used much more
on the program than those that do not. Otherwise,
the program would be merely "clean"
comedy, and of what lasting value is that? Empty
chuckles are quickly forgotten. And now, I'll
come down from the soapbox, before the tomatoes
start flying. (This is a hot-button topic in
Christian comedy circles.)
I hope to see the Sheep Laughs Comedy Show reach
the place where it's on radio stations across the
nation someday. (It has already been picked up by
four radio stations, and a number of internet
stations.) In the meantime, I keep doing it and
building an listener base. Even if you only reach
a few to start off with, those few will
appreciate your efforts and spread the word. A
long-time committment will pay off in time.
Well, that's my story. Hope you listen to the
program and enjoy it also!
-Fred Passmore,
Sheep Laughs Records
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