Once a month our married couples’ small group tries to do an activity together. It is a great way to build biblical community and deepen our relationships with one another. Yesterday, we decided to go to a comedy show. Christina and I have always wanted to go to a live comedy show; therefore it was a treat for us.
The Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase had a special night of “open mic” where people, who wanted to make it into comedy would have about 5 minutes to showcase their talent.
Some of the comedians were funny, but others better plan on having a Plan B in terms of their career pursuits.
But I learned something from our experience.
First of all, there was a consistent theme throughout most of the comedians – the 3 S’s of Sex, Swearing, and Stereotypes. It helped me to remember the mindset of pre-Christians. One person referenced some of his jokes to experiences he had in the church (all negative of course), but people were laughing which showed that people had the same mindset. I couldn’t help but to think if our church would be able to reach out to someone like him.
Secondly, I realized that it takes some guts to stand in front of people and try to do your routine when the reception is not that warm. Honestly speaking, some of the jokes were pretty bad and some were a bit over-the-top that caused more snickering than anything else. You can tell that many of the comedians took offense at the fact that the people were not laughing at their joke. But I was thinking, “Hey dude, try to be more witty then maybe people will laugh!” It reminded me how important it is to connect with the audience if you are going to speak to their heart. I couldn’t help but to think, many times our sermons do not connect with the people and they zone us out.
Thirdly, I was thinking that it would be great to raise up some comedians who do not have to speak in vulgarity in order to make people laugh and ultimately share the Gospel. Humor has a way of opening the hearts of people. What a great way to draw people towards deeper topics of life once their hearts are open. I think one of the hardest ways to do comedy is to keep it PG-rated and use mostly personal stories to make people laugh. But if someone can do it well, then they will have a great future.