The Doug and Dave Show is bringing ‘Mass Confusion’ to Plainfield church

People of all ages are invited to a mission that explores the Catholic faith through sketches, original music and humor.

St. Mary Immaculate Parish in Plainfield will host The Doug and Dave Show’s “Mass Confusion” at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday at 15629 South Route 59. The event is free. For information visit, smip.org/parish-mission.

Then at 7 p.m. Wednesday, St. Thomas The Apostle Catholic Church, 1500 Brookdale Road in Naperville, will host a one-day version of “Mass Confusion.” For information, visit stapostle.org/mass-confusion.

The Doug and Dave Show is a performance based on the premise of a fictitious radio station and attendees at the event become a fictitious studio audience.

Performers are Doug Brummel and Dave Wilson, both from Colorado. “Mass Confusion” is just one of Brummel and Wilson’s presentation of their “Doug and Dave Show,” which is “a lot of fun, a lot of faith and a lot of interaction,” Brummel said.

“I think it’s the most fun people will ever have learning about their faith,” Brummel said.

The duo writes and performs the music in the show and have recorded two albums in Tennessee. Brummel and Wilson have partnered with Unbound, a nonprofit that “helps the poor all over the world,” Brummel said.

“It’s all about faith in action,” Brummel said.

So what exactly is “Mass Confusion?”

Without wanting to “give too much away,” Brummel said, “Mass Confusion” is intended to foster the audience’s faith. The presentation is engaging and informative without feeling “like a classroom,” and that humor “is a powerful tool,” Brummel said.

‘We get warmed up with some songs, and then we dive right into the programming,” Wilson said.

The audience learns while the duo entertains them and weaves through the elements of the Catholic Mass, Brummel said.

“We explain the Mass – why we do what we do,” Brummel said. “Hopefully, they’ll have a greater understanding so they can participate more in the future.”

No two performances are identical in script or length.

“Sometimes I don’t show up, so Dave has to lead the show,” Brummel said. “And then sometimes an unexpected guest or two shows up.”

And then Wilson added, “He does a few characters that come in and out while I hold down the fort to the ‘radio show.’”

Wilson said 90 minutes is the average time for a show. But since the St. Mary event extends over two nights – the second night is part two of the show, not a repeat event – the duo can add “a little bit more prayer, a little more catechesis.”

Both Brummel and Wilson already were using their talents in different arenas when they decided to combine them for a new ministry.

Brummel grew up in Plana as the youngest of seven children, earning his master’s degree in theology from St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology and working in youth ministry, according to the Doug and Dave website.

He developed his characters in the context of his work as a faith and family comedian and storyteller, traveling across the U.S. entertaining and evangelizing, according to the Doug Brummel website.

Wilson said he spent two decades writing and playing country music and touring with bands. In 2015, Wilson and Brummel wound up belonging to the same church in Colorado. Wilson was invited to play at Mass, which he did, although Wilson said he had never “thought about using my gifts and talents in that way.”

Eventually Wilson and Brummel discussed ways they could merge their talents. Once they had written “six or seven songs” that they considered to be “good songs,” they decided to put a show together they could take across the U.S., Wilson said.

So they did. That was in 2018.

“God called us, and here we are,” Brummel said.

For information, visit douganddaveshow.com and dougbrummel.com.