November 26, 2012 by jrob1

the chris burch

TheChrisBurch. Who is that? I’m glad you asked, I’d love to tell you. Chris Burch is a man of many talents, one of those being his knack for comedy. In short, he’s funny, that’s what I’m trying to say. If you’ll let me finish, I’ll tell you how I was able to convince him to be in some of my videos. The first time I knew of his existence was through a video that my friend Chris Brank made, “What Are You Doing?” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vEcmNNEBIU) Before the video played, Brank told me that this kid was funny and boy was he right. After watching the video, I knew I had to meet this dude. With mutual friends such as Chris Brank and Ryan Hendrick, our divine introduction followed and it was love at first laugh. If I made a graph to show you how much laughter was had by us 4 during any given hang out session, the graph would be off the charts. (Pun intended.)

Our friendship blossomed like a butterfly going through puberty. I expressed my desire to cast him in some of my videos and he welcomed it with open arms. My heart for filmmaking is definitely on the dramatic side but I do love writing comedy sketches in between serious projects. I’ve heard it said that directing is 80% casting and if that’s so I’ll keep casting Chris. One of my favorite things about writing and directing is that I get the opportunity to share people’s talents through film. Jamie Costa was one of the first, key ingredients to the recipe of sharing. To see Mr. Costa in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdpvqAkt048. With Chris, I’m like the dad with a super athletic son who dominates in sports and I just watch and cheer. I wrote a very random sketch in one of my classes during my spring 2012 semester and after I gave the script a bath, I brought it before him and and my friend Addi Musen (Addi is the funniest girl I know.) I write scripts a lot but I trash more of them than I use but once I heard them read the lines, I was ready to rock. That sketch came to life in the form of “Date Night” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DynRq-NsMlw

Apart from being in videos and just all around comedy, Chris has an awesome heart for God and for people. One of the ways he shows love for people is lightening their load with laughter. He has a huge heart to serve, leaving his bias and agenda behind. THAT’S VERY RARE ON A FILM SET. Some people have things happen in their lives to where it makes them grow up in a drastic amount of time, Burch is one of those people. I know God has blessed Chris with the gift of a Will Ferrell like feel for comedy. I mean he could literally walk around a funeral home and make people die of laughter. I’m not a comedy sketch writing genius by any means and I know I have a million things to learn but I sometimes have the ability to spot bad ideas. I’ve been apart of a few unplanned pitch sessions in my day BUT Chris has actually cooked up some above average ideas. One of those being the last sketch we did “halftime” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Wn6hN7T_s

We made a few sketches over the summer and after he finished his 2-year degree from Spartanburg Methodist College, he then wanted to pursue a degree from North Greenville University. Since his commute to work and school would be so drastic, he needed a place to stay. I always try to be very intentional with my friends in how I can be the best friend I can be and I vividly remember God telling me, “This is how you can be the Gospel to him”. Apart from my brother Jordan, I’ve never had a roommate because I’ve always commuted to school. Living with the Chris Burch has been one of the funniest things ever. I’m sure you can imagine.

I write all of this because I wanted to share The Chris Burch with the world. He’s been a huge encouragement to me, not only with filmmaking, but in my pursuit trying to be the man God has called me to be. Here’s some videos of where you can watch him in action. Be sure to stalk him on Twitter, Instagram, and Halo – thechrisburch

“date night”