FEATURE
23
I’LL NEVER FORGET THIS CLASSIC MISJUDGEMENT. ONE
‘COMEDY FOR CLERGY’ PARTICIPANT CAME TO ME AND ASKED
ME HOW TO APPROACH A CHILDREN’S TALK FOR A SCHOOL ON
THE BIBLE AND CHRISTIANITY.
C
omedy is a language: a language
that lightens the atmosphere,
creates rapport, reduces tension,
drives home points, and infuses
the communicative process with joy,
happiness and satisfaction. Laughter
can move you physically and mentally.
It’s memorable, uplifting and healing.
Humour is also a spiritual tool. Apart
from that it’s useless. It’s my belief that
the message of Christ is too important
not to use humour.
Having grown up in the household
of a priest, I have met every type of
vicar you can imagine. Humour was
so evident in these people’s lives when
they came to dinner and social events
but generally their funny muscles were
not flexed at all in their pulpit.
I always wondered why. Christianity
seemed to cause them to don a cloak of
seriousness on Sunday morning.
A sizeable percentage of the average
Sunday congregation in any church
would have spent the previous
Saturday evening in front of comedy
shows on TV, being enthralled, moved
and relaxed by Lee Mack, Michael
McIntyre and the like. Even after the
service friends might gather and ask,
‘Did you see Live at The Apollo last
night?’ It’s still in their minds; they are
buzzing and still wanting to share the
experience.
We love comedy, it works. It leaves us
with indelible impressions. Laughter
is a physical reaction – a subconscious
reaction – in a world of programmed
responses. I think preachers should
plug in more to the media zeitgeist to at
least acknowledge comedy’s power in
communication.
I would love preachers to use more of
the techniques that comedians use to
move our very souls to a more spiritual
strength and vibrancy. I’m not talking
cheesy one-liners or trying to turn a
minister into Ken Dodd. I’m suggesting
preachers use some of the techniques
stand-ups use to make their message
more clear, relevant and consumable
by a younger audience.
Just by participating in a comedy
workshop I have seen many priests’
demeanours change from being dry
and stilted to looser and more joyful. I
have seen motionless preachers turn
into lively, animated communicators.
All they needed was a licence to be
themselves.
How much humour and laughter
must the disciples have created to
bond as they did? How much laughter
must Jesus himself have caused when
carrying out his miracles? Lest we
forget, ‘The joy of the Lord is your
strength!’ (Nehemiah 8:10). So here are
my seven tips:
Remember that
the truth is
often funny
‘I had a very normal upbringing. My
dad had a good job and a good house.
Then he married my sister. He was a
vicar – he did the ceremony for her.’
Cue the audience: ‘Ohhhhh!’
This is totally true fact and I often
use it at gigs. Every person has been
through sad, happy, confusing,
perplexing, joyous and downright
depressing events. Any true story
rebounds and resonates in the
listener’s heart. If it’s from the heart
it will hit the heart. From the smallest
true detail to a generic truth, the
listener will identify, trust the speaker,
like the speaker and want to hear
more. The laughter of recognition
will happen. Some have said that
Michael McIntyre doesn’t write jokes,
he just uses truthful observations and
performs them well. Richard Prior is
well known for saying ‘just be truthful
and the funny will come’.
An alchemy occurs when a painful
story is told in which healing takes
place and the funny angle can be
found or at least sensed. That’s where
the delivery comes in.