9 Years Ago Mom Told Son To “Sober Up” And Make His Own Christmas Cards, Son Doesn’t Disappoint Every Year

When comedian John Cessna was away for school during the 2008 holiday season, his mom called to inform him that John would be missing their family’s Christmas photo. “She jokingly suggested I ‘sober up’ and send out my own Christmas cards,” he said. Like an obedient son, Cessna followed his mother’s instructions and has been creating his own Christmas cards ever since. However, it’s probably safe to say that it turned out to be not what his mom had in mind.

Everything began with a few bottles, but lately John has been focusing more on absurdity and insidiousness. “The subject matter has since matured with me.” From brutal spiritual sacrifices to the infamous glory hole – Cessna is probably at the bottom of Santa’s “Good Boy” list.

“At first [my] mom wasn’t a huge fan and kind of shrugged it off, but she’s come around and now thinks they’re ‘ok, sort of funny,'” Cessna told Bored Panda. “This year she even asked if she could make sandwiches for the cast and crew.”

John keeps running a list of ideas all year. “Typically they start with some sort of visual or the punchline to a joke, then around October I’ll start pitching them to my long time collaborators: Dan Skubal, Will Cabral, Chris Voelz, and Wes Cummins.”

“We take a few weeks to settle on an idea, then about a month putting together logistics. We’ll be on location anywhere from 6-12 hours shooting, then there’s about a week of color correction. All told probably 40+ hours and anywhere from $500 to $1500 to produce an image.”

John said he has already mailed his Christmas cards to about 10 countries. “2015 was such a funny joke and strong image that it’s one of my favorites.” Anyone who enjoys Cessna’s cards can follow the comedian on Twitter and Instagram for a year-round taste of the funny and weird stuff he makes.

More info: johncessnacomedy.com | Twitter | Instagram

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Author, BoredPanda staff

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 235 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.