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FEATURE
God ’ s overarching story is full of the contrast between his good creation ( people and planet ) and the ways people have contrived to mess up both . Take into account the fact that the 66 books of the Bible , while divinely inspired , are still humanly written , and you will find plenty of the idiosyncrasies of human beings are included .
Time after time in the long and amazing story of God ’ s interaction with the human race , you ’ ll find the preposterous happening . Donkeys talk . The seas part . It rains food . There are plagues of frogs , people are swallowed by whales , a giant warrior is slain by a kid with a sling , and prophets get up to all sorts to communicate God ’ s message .
MADE FOR MIRTH
The Bible tells us God himself laughs ( Psalm 2:4 ), and hardwired into every human being , made in God ’ s image , is this release of joy . As the writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us , there is ‘ a time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance ’
( 3:4 ). So what elements can you find in good comedy and humour , and where do we see these in action in the Bible ?
First let ’ s strip down the comedy engine and see what some of the components are . While how we respond to these will vary , depending on what kind of humour we find funny , these components are common if you ’ re looking for laughter ...
c surprise – the unexpected often makes us laugh
c misunderstanding – when you say one thing and I understand another
c incongruity – something out of place is often funny : deliberately bringing an unusual or unexpected element into a story or scenario has huge comedic value
c juxtaposition – putting two people or elements together that don ’ t normally belong together : the comedy of contrast
c identification – when you recognise a situation , feeling or human response you instinctively identify with
c absurdity – the weirdly surreal , or simply plain daft
So here are types of humour that use these elements :
c surprise – slapstick and clowning , farce , joke-telling
c incongruity / absurdity – surreal humour , satire , joke-telling , commedia dell ’ arte
c juxtaposition / misunderstanding – storytelling , monologues , surreal humour , puns and wordplay , theatre of the absurd , pantomime
c identification – observational humour , themed shows , selfdeprecating comedians