The Reverend Billy C. Wirtz is a true force of nature, as any true believer of the First House of Polyester Worship (over which he presides) will tell you. From the moment this comic genius and American musicologist sits down at the piano, the tongue-in-cheek "reverend" has his audience rolling in the aisles while he spreads the gospel like nobody's business. In the words of one Washington Post critic, "Wirtz's throwaway gags would be show-stopping punch lines in anyone else's act, but Wirtz glides right over them like a revved-up Robin Williams at a Steinway." With puns flying as fast as his fingers, the Reverend plays masterly Southern old-time gospel, blues, boogie-woogie, and barrelhouse riffs while holding forth on subjects as diverse as the potential for mayhem at a Mennonite surf party, the perennial question, W.W.E.D.? (What Would Elvis Do?), and the secret to achieving a soulful blues intonation -- a mouthful of Wonder Bread.

The Reverend's latest CD, Sermon from Bethlehem (Blind Pig), features live versions of enduring classics like "Sleeper Hold on Satan" and "Grannie Vs. the Crusher," but there's clearly no substitute for experiencing that exalted state known as "being in the presence."