This guy did a whole (7-8 minute?) set completely on the topic of Jesus and the Bible. Here's what's amazing about it: there was no blaspheme, there was no hostility, no secret this-is-junk jabs that so many professors will slip in because they can, it was ALL hilarious and accurate and mostly riveting... and at the end, I kid you not, out of the whole show he was the only one who got a standing ovation. (Tim Allen came out after him and got a comparatively very weak response and certainly no staning Os when he left. It WAS a tough act to follow!)
Wow... part way through I started to notice that he meant no malice and even when he said, "Some of the things Jesus said made no sense..." he wasn't trying to tear down some theological pillars, he was just making light. "'Love others as you love yourselves'? [staggered laughs]..... What if I've got a really bad self esteem problem?" I think he really gets it. I think he's a for serious believer and I LOVE to see this what I might call a fresh approach. I would assume that if you were a Jesus follower and wanted to get into stand-up that your jokes would be pretty weak because honestly, audiences want to hear the most vulgar - yet creative! - messed-up stuff you can come up with. Serious. How do you think dead baby jokes actually came to be? Nothing shocks us anymore! Well.. that's another story for another day. This guy's set wasn't lame. He didn't need to declare himself as more than a religious church-attender, something you'd likely infer but certainly not hold against him, but he didn't need to take cheap shots at Big G to win their approval, either. It was cool. Come to think of it, you've got some prime material there, considering how familiar most people in Canada (and yes, even Quebec, mostly) are with church, Bible stuff, the nativity & Easter stories, etc. etc. and comedy needs reference points. It's like... good comedy is all inside jokes and, the bigger the inside, the more laughs you'll extract. Made sense to me...
The guy comes out onto stage saying that people complain how "commercial" Christmas has become these days. He exaggerates it (this guy one of those mics that comes up the back of your ear and its little bud extends off your cheek, sitting an inch away from your mouth - I don't know the right term for it - so he could gallivant about the stage unfettered: it was intense), yelling, waving about, etc. etc. and the audience is laughing along because of his bizarreness. Then he disagrees: "Christmas has always been commercial! Even at the very first Christmas. The three wise men burst into the stable [he mimicks running, stopping short and then thrusting his hands forward], 'Look what I got you!!' [laughter] I know it's your birthday and Christmas but I think you'll like it..."
man that guy was good
I approve
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2 comments:
Guess I'm rather impressed by this person.
Can you clarify -- he's a "professor"?
nope, he wasna. That's bad writing on my part. I knew that paragraphle looked funny. I was just trying to give an example of people who claim to be talking about religion (or spirituality) in an impartial way but let their own biases (generally a sharp distaste) leak through with snde comments or sarcastic gaps or whatever. Professors are the WORST at this, I think, because it's a manipulation of power that allows them to get away with it. Many people do it but not so many are forced to talk about church and God like professors are, esp when they profess ENglish, Music and Philosophy... probably History, too. Dig?
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