Blog 4 – Stand Up Comedy and Church
Its fascinating to me that the bible often claims laughter
to be foolish and wasteful. There must be more to that interpretation, or I
hope that there is. Church services remind me a lot of standup comedy. You
gather in chairs with a lot of people to have a person talk at you about life. Then
you leave and go about your life. Just like church services, the comedians that
stick with you are relatable, engaging, and can make you see things in a new
perspective. People have different styles that they enjoy too. Some like a more
traditional service similar to the way that some people prefer a clean-cut
comedian.
If the comedian was enjoyable, the audience continues to
talk about it and laugh after the show. This is just like the way people talk
about sermons after church. Typically, the person talking has a much different
life than the people sitting in the chairs, yet they have to create a message
and make it to those people. A priest, who cannot be married or have
children must write homilies for children and parents who live much different
lives. Comedians, are often famous and eccentric, their typical day is not spending
nine-to-five in the office.
I’m not sure where God truly stands on comedy,
but its ironic that stand-up is so similar to church, hopefully He has a sense
of humor about that.
This post caught me eye with the title that I just had to give it a read. I've never thought about it in this light, by the homily is similar to a stand up routine...just minus a few punchlines. But the ones for me that I remember the most are the priests that work in a little bit of comedy into their monologue. It makes it way more memorable than a run of the mill homily that is totally dry. Loved your perspective on this.
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