February 24, 2003

DYNAMIC DUO:
The Skit Guys talk about God
___By Leann Callaway
___Special to the Standard
___Eddie James and Tommy Woodard might be called a wrecking crew for the gospel.
___"Humor breaks down the walls for the truth to enter," explained James, one-half of the duo known to youth across Texas as The Skit Guys.
___James and Woodard are two best friends who use humor to make a serious point about salvation through performance comedy.
___"When you see us perform, you are truly seeing two best friends laughing and playing on this great playground God has given us," James said. "We don't take it for granted, and we know The Skit

EDDIE JAMES and Tommy Woodard are The Skit Guys, known to youth groups across Texas as wacky witnesses to the gospel.

Guys has somewhat of a shelf life. We want to do the best we can for God with this time allotted."
___Woodard describes their ministry as "a unique blend of comedy, drama and improvisation that is both real and non-compromised."
___"Most important, we feel our ultimate purpose is to encourage others to develop a vital love relationship with Jesus Christ," he explained. "Whether adults, high school or college students, our brand of humor seems to communicate effectively with all ages."
___The duo met in high school in Edmond, Okla.
___"When I first met Tommy, I was amazed at his talents and how he could do anything," James said. "We called him a 'triple threat.' He could sing, dance and act. I could only act, so I was in awe of his talent. He's truly one of the funniest guys I know. Over the years, I've come to know and love this guy with all his strengths and weaknesses. He's smart, compassionate, and a servant to the end."
___That's not exactly how Woodard remembers their beginning.
___"I met Eddie in 1984. It just so happened that I started dating the girl who just broke up with him. So we weren't the best of buddies right off the bat," Woodard explained. "However, God had a much bigger plan for us.
___"We became great friends once we got over the girlfriend situation. Our mutual love for making each other laugh helped to mold our friendship and eventually our ministry."
___That happened, however, only after a Baptist youth minister offered a guiding hand.
___"Throughout high school, we were in plays, musicals and dramas, but we weren't so interested in God's plans," Woodard said. "All that changed in 1987, when my youth minister helped me get things back in order with God, and Eddie accepted Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.
___"We started performing skits for our youth group at First Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla. Our youth minister would tell his friends about us, and we started going to different churches around Oklahoma and Texas."
___James and Woodard have been performing in Texas since 1996. They used a variety of names at first, but people always seemed to refer to them as "those skit guys." So they adopted the name as their own.
___They describe their collaborative process as less than neat and tidy.
___"Creating a skit for us is like a car wreck," Woodard said. "We'll be traveling down the road of life and boom!--it will hit one of us. Most of the time, it hits Eddie since he's the writer of the group. Sometimes, it will be something we hear a speaker say, or we'll read something, or just be spending time with God and an idea will pop into one of our heads.
___"Then, we collaborate on the idea. We enjoy taking everyday stories or passages of Scripture and turning them into scripts. We also love it when people share their testimonies with us. Life is just filled with great stories, but there is nothing better than to hear how people came to know Christ."
___Although all their world is a stage, The Skit Guys know they're not the ones ultimately writing the script. Their success, they contend, is due to God's plan.
___"There's nothing good about either one of us, except Christ," Woodard said. "So I can't say that it is anything from us. I do think people who see The Skit Guys know that Eddie and I are for real. They see our love for Christ, our joy for life and our friendship.
___"People enjoy seeing two high school buddies having the time of their life while sharing the truth of God's word without any compromising."
___

Get printer-friendly version of this story


Send this story to a friend



News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook