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 .