Rich Paytor
By Suzanne O'Keeffe, 700 Club Interactive
CBN.com – Rich Praytor was born into a Catholic family but never really paid attention to God or faith. While in junior high school he attended a youth group retreat and something clicked during a preaching and it began to make sense; Rich became a Christian. He described himself as the "class clown" and as he listened to comedian Mike Warnke and saw the way he could make people laugh, Rich decided that was something he would like to do.
When Rich graduated from the University of Texas he moved to Los Angeles and started making his way in the world of comedy by way of nightclubs. Two months passed and soon Rich realized in that circuit, the typical routine of fellow comedians was filled with "disgusting humor, foul jokes and washed up actors." Rich chose to re-think his venue saying, "I didn't want to end up that way." Over the course of time, persevering and praying for God's leading, Rich began to connect with other comedians whose goal was to make people laugh. Theirs came from a heart of faith and not polluted with coarse or lewd gesturing.
Doors began to open for Rich to perform at comedy clubs such as The Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, the Hollywood Improv, and others. As he stayed true to the Lord and himself as a Christian, word soon spread there was a Christian comedian appearing in the local clubs AND he was funny even though he was clean and "family friendly." It is not unheard of for people to approach him with thanks for "staying clean."
Today Rich performs mainly in churches.
In the audience of a show he performed six years ago, was a thirteen year old autistic boy who had never shown any emotion or laughed. Rich was one of three comedians that evening and by the end of the show the young boy was laughing out loud. His mother is occasionally in contact with Rich and recently told him here son still loves to laugh!
Rich summarized that the lonely, the broken, those away from their family, single or just living a life of struggle-all need to laugh. He said that his show provides a way of escape and he loves to take them on a journey that results in them being refreshed. Rich said above all, he wants people to walk away with hope and understanding they will not always be alone.
Currently Rich lives with his wife and three children in Colorado Springs, Co while traveling the country performing and making people laugh.