24 FEATURE
Use the element of surprise
One of my curate‘ Comedy for Clergy’ students stood up and said‘ I’ m here today to talk about God, Jesus, and what’ s the other one?’
People fell about laughing.
The unexpected often causes laughter. In this joke we are lulled down False Sense of Security Avenue, then wham!
When you are writing a sermon, think,‘ Where can I put a surprise? It may be in your choice of vocabulary, subject area, visual aids or an auditory technique( see below). It keeps the listener in a heightened sense of expectancy and at an increased level of concentration.
I witnessed a vicar speak out against the commercialisation of Easter by smashing a large Easter egg with a hammer only to reveal a figure of Jesus inside. Laughter and shrieks of surprise greeted a memorable moment which nobody will ever forget. A lot of comedy is made by creating tension and then exploding it.
Use voices, sounds and faces
A congregation or audience are always looking at the speaker’ s face. Your face, word, body movements, tone, delivery and energy level all have a narrative. All these narratives tell the story.
I often ask priests to deliberately do a funny voice, make a sound or do an accent. Try one this Sunday and see the effect on people’ s faces. It needn’ t be overdone but the laughter of surprise will kick in and an air of engagement will follow. It will keep your sermon alive and engaging. Just one funny face, sound effect or accent that you never normally do will have a great effect!
Use your inner voice
Saying what you are thinking is a classic comedy technique. Creativity is not even required. Using this voice( for example,‘ Wow, you’ ve put on weight this Christmas!’) in a social situation or at work will result in you losing friends and getting sacked. However in a sermon or on a platform it is a different story.
The afterthought exercise is great for revealing funny inner-voice thoughts. Write a list of things you love, then finish the sentence in an unexpected way:
‘ I love my kids … when they’ re asleep.’
‘ I love chatting to my congregation on Sunday … as long as I don’ t bump into them in Tesco.’
I asked one of my participants what he had learnt from an exercise we had just done, and he said‘ That I am funnier than anyone else here.’ Again, people were in hysterics.
Be specific
Details illustrate the point; they put you in the picture. Compare the priest who says‘ Yesterday I bought some trousers’ with the priest who says‘ Yesterday I bought some dark grey, super-skinny denims with turn-ups’. Who is funnier? Again, with this technique no creativity is required – just the detail.
Judge the audience correctly
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. I told him to use cute animals in a story as it’ s a sure-fire winner. He then told them about the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Have a conversation
It’ s worth reminding ourselves that the word sermon comes from the Latin sermonem, meaning conversation. A conversation is a two-way thing, not just a recited text. As comics we forget this at our peril. Preachers could do with remembering that a congregation needs time to process what’ s being said, so‘ slow down’ is a good maxim to preach by. On Sunday mornings our brains are going even more slowly than normal.
In class we do an exercise where we match facial expressions to the message being delivered. We often ask the speaker to feel the words in a sensory way – visually and sonically in their mind. The result? A more congruent, expressive facial reaction and a more lively intonation.
LAUGHTER AND SHRIEKS OF SURPRISE GREETED A MEMORABLE MOMENT WHICH NOBODY WILL EVER FORGET. A LOT OF COMEDY IS MADE BY CREATING TENSION AND THEN EXPLODING IT.