Jeff Allen gets paid to be funny, but even he isn’t immune to the struggles of life, including the ongoing tests and trials associated with the coronavirus pandemic. With many of his shows either canceled or postponed, the 64-year-old admits the past few months haven’t been easy, but he is leaning strongly on his faith — and keeping his sense of humor — through it all.
“Actually, the only thing that’s changed is my work,” Jeff told Everything Nash. “I play golf three days a week, have dinner with my wife. The work is what’s strange. For the first time in 40 years, I don’t know my calendar six months out, a year out. The goal posts keep getting moved. We all know that. It started with ‘Flatten the curve. Six weeks.’ Everybody said, ‘Oh, we can it make six weeks.’ Now we’re six months into it.
“I gotta think masks are here to stay,” he continued. “Nobody’s going to shake hands again. That’s probably two things that are going to change. I told my wife, ‘We’re all germaphobes.’ And I tried being a germaphobe about five years ago. It’s a lot of work, believe me. I have decided that I’m going to build my immune system.
“I did stop licking door knobs,” he added with a laugh. “That’s one good thing to come out of it. That was a bad habit of mine.”
Jeff, who lives with his wife Tami outside of Nashville, acknowledges that the hardest part for him, like plenty of other people, is not knowing when or how the restrictions surrounding COVID-19 will change.
“It’s not good,” Jeff admitted. “I have this ebb and flow with my depression. If I start projecting, projecting is bad. Every one of us, whether you’re on a golf course, projecting two or three holes ahead, not good, or you’re just sitting at home projecting three, four, five, six months down the line what your life is going to be like. Those are bad days for me. My wife is in tune to that. She’ll go, ‘What are you thinking about?’ ‘November.’ So we were lucky enough and blessed enough the last nine months before COVID was probably the busiest I’ve been in 40 year.
“We were able to store up a lot, so financially, we’re fine,” he remarked. “I didn’t realize how important work was to me, as far as my esteem as a husband and a father. I’ve worked since I was 18 years old, and all of a sudden I’m non-essential.”
Even in conversation, the Illinois native manages to sneak in a couple humorous moments, especially when he talks about the various options floating around to bring a quick end to the pandemic struggles.
“I was a 2.0 GPA,” Jeff quipped. “We’re not responsible for any problems in the world. No 2.0 is ever hired to fix anything. We just kind of show up, we do our job, we pay our taxes and then we die. That’s 2.0. But I said the 4.0, they’re the ones that are pushing socialism. I don’t know socialism — I’m not that bright All I know is when COVID hit, we were out of toilet paper in three weeks, and that’s the first thing to go.”
Jeff might admit this season of life is a challenge, but in the midst of it all, he is holding on to his Christian faith, in many ways like he never has before.
“We have a microcosm view,” Jeff shared. “He has the big picture. When Tami was going through cancer, one of her friends, an atheist, said, ‘How can you believe in a God who would allow this?’ She said, ‘I don’t know how I’d get through it without Him.’ I can’t control His universe. That’s usually when I find myself the most miserable. There’s something that I’m trying to change, that I have absolutely no way of changing.
“I’m deeper into my prayer life,” he concluded. “And all I ask is, ‘What do you want me to do? What can I do?’ Family has become so important. Friends. You really lean on them … We’re meant to be in community. Find your friends, find your family, find whoever. Get through it together. I have deep faith. I don’t know how I’d get through it without my faith. That firm belief that there’s a bigger picture. God uses all things for good.”
Keep track of all of Jeff’s upcoming shows by visiting his website.
