There are many comedians that are active today, but how many actually spread southern charm throughout the country? Ellen Skrmetti, a graduate from Southern Miss, came to Starkville on Oct. 18. Skrmetti was born in Ripley, Mississippi, but now resides in Birmingham, Alabama, where she does comedy shows.

One might know her from her social media, where she has amassed 300,000 followers on Instagram alone. The nature of her visit to L.A. Green in Starkville was her new book, “Hey Jesus, It’s Me.” She signed copies of her books to her many fans who visited to the store to get a copy.

Skrmetti greatly appreciates her following and expressed how amazed she is that people know who she is. She can see how her style makes people happy when she does live shows.

“It feels great to spread the southern charm, the crazy thing about having a large Instagram following is that I never get to hear anyone laugh with me. It is different than going out into a crowd,” Skrmetti said. “While I know I have a large following, it doesn’t feel like I have a large following. I get surprised when people know who I am.”

Famous comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld were mentioned as inspirations for material. Both were perplexed that their show, “Seinfeld,” was deemed to be a show about nothing when they saw it as a show about comedians getting their material. Skrmetti jumped on this.

“I get the most inspiration from how I grew up, and everyday life. There was a time when I believed I had to have a character or persona. When I started to take classes through second city, they gave me the confidence that my stories were enough,” Skrmetti said. “How I grew up was enough. The most important thing to me was that I live my life authentically, so I get new material.”

Skrmetti also spoke on her faith, and how this helped her when she was writing the book and getting it published. She said it was her faith in God that helped her publish this book because she put her faith in him.

Her writing style has also changed throughout the years since she does stand-up, social media posts and book writing. When juggling all these different types of writing, it can be hard to see how one’s writing changes as time goes on.

“Well, I think that writing is a skill, and I think the more you do it the better you get. There are things that I wrote for the book proposal that when it was time to turn in the pages, I scrapped that writing because I said who is she? Writing is a muscle. It gets better the more you do it,” Skrmetti said. “The more you do it the better you get at it.”

Skrmetti also shared advice she has for up-and-coming comedians who are just starting out.

“I would say the toughest part of comedy is to have the mental toughness to not give up,” Skrmetti said. “Before the Queen Died in the South was my first viral video. Before that one hit, I remember telling my husband that before I die, if people do not know that I am funny, then put on my tombstone that she died trying. I would tell any comedian trying to make it that you must follow the Lord with your life. You can never give up.”

Ellen Skrmetti’s book “Hey Jesus, it’s Me” is on sale now. One can also catch her at her many stand-up shows.