So yesterday was Valentine’s Day, and it’s quickly becoming a tradition that my mom in law Carole is my dinner date. The holiday was kind of sad last year, because Josh was still in California, but as y’all know he lives here in Georgia now, he was just working the evening shift. So it was definitely more of a party! Carole and I went to our church’s first ever Gong Show – it was a fundraiser dinner for the girls ministry, and we had a total blasty. I’m excited to share the funny videos I caught during the evening!

Don’t let that little boy’s face fool you – he was having a great time.

Promise.

The show opened up with introducing the judges – we had Cee Lo Green, J Lo, and Blake Shelton on hand to make sure any sub par acts were gonged off the stage. (And just in case anyone refused to go quietly, they did have one of those old timey hooks to drag em off with, too.)

First up, Richard Simmons took the stage with his backup dancers, sweatin’ to the oldies with Donna Summer’s “I Will Survive”. I was busy wrangling Phil for our act, so I didn’t actually get to see this until I was showing Josh the videos this morning, but we were dying laughing at the gals sharing burgers and box drinks while they’re supposed to be exercising.

P.S. I forgot to mention… I was in the Gong Show. When the pastor’s wife Missy asked me to come up with something… I was kind of at a loss. I’m really good with the online jackrearery, but I’m not really a plan something funny to do in front of a bunch of people kind of person…

Unless you count karaoke.

Or the weekly web show I’m on.

Ok maybe I am good at coming up with funny stuff… But for this I was stumped. Then I remembered how much Phil loves telling knock knock jokes, and I figured that was pure comedy gold right there. Sometimes when kids get up on stage, it gets a little long winded, a little ehhhhhhhhh are we done yet. But Phil inherited his dad’s charisma and a big ol’ dash of ridiculousness from the both of us… and he was genuinely funny. And I’m not just saying that because I’m his mom:

After that, Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias performed “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” – I’m totally bummed I didn’t get video of it, but here’s a good pic for ya. Just take that as incentive to make it to the next one of these events, because if you didn’t see it, you missed out!

The Burkhalters were hands down Phil’s favorite act of the night with their rendition of “What Does the Fox Say” – like the entire time they were dancing, he had this HUGE smile on his face. And then every time Richard comes out in his fox costume, he started dying laughing. Mission accomplished, guys!

And then… Linda Burke. Oooooo wheeeee Linda Burke. It was hilarious, it was scary. It was a lesson in taking care of your teeth! At the end of this clip, imagine Linda chasing the pastor with a fake taser. Sorry I didn’t get that on the video, folks. I’ll be quicker on the draw next time.

The evening started coming to a close with the Mandrell sisters singing “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool”, joined just in time by George Jones… Keep your eye on the guitarist as she runs off to the left – I didn’t catch it on camera, but Lisa was taking a moment to give her phone number to a gentleman in the audience.

Thankfully, that gentleman was her husband. Otherwise…. Awwwwwwkwarddddddd.

And then, as Missy came out to thank everyone for coming – she was abruptly cut off by an announcement that a major musical act was there to perform. The Five Preachers graced us with their presence (and their snacking) as they sang “These Guys are Some Hungry Guys”. I apologize for the super shakiness of the camera… I was holding it steady on a chair in front of me, and I couldn’t stop laughing. Next time, tripod. But seriously, keep your eye on the two guys on the left. I lose it every time I watch this when they bring out those bags of ham. And then when they just start guzzling squeezy cheese at the end.

So basically, next time one of these happens, you best be there. Because I didn’t even catch all the hilarity, so you still missed out! Love the sense of humor everyone at this church has, and if you’re in the Effingham county area you should definitely consider joining us anytime.

Hope y’all had as much fun on Valentine’s day as we did!