Says the BBC website:
"Religion has emerged as the main theme at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including two shows featuring Jesus as a stand-up comedian."
Looking down the list, God's favourite bits of the Fringe will be:
- We Don't Know Shi'ite, a play about Islam;
- According to Jesus, features Jesus Christ as a comedian;
- Jesus: The Guantanamo Years which does the same;
- Bible Babel Live!, which is the Bible read from start to finish in 80 hours;
- Petrol Jesus Nightmare, a thriller;
- Breaking the Pope, which seems to borrow the theme of The Magdalene Sisters.
And of course Stewart Lee is there. He gained fame with Jerry Springer The Opera and is therefore God's favourite comedy writer.
All this cultural bosh doesn't answer my burning question though. If Jesus did do stand-up comedy, would he crack the best joke ever?
2 comments:
Jesus' humour is perhaps not often appreciated from the gospel narratives as we modern readers approach the text with so much solemnity.
One can detect the sardonic humour of Jesus in his encounter with the rich young man (Mark 10:17ff). The rich chap has the audacity and pomposity to claim that he has faithfully kept the Mosaic Law. Jesus loved this guy but also took the mickey out of him -- "go seel what you own, give the proceeds to the poor and follow me." There is both a serious side and a hilarious side to this exchange.
The serious side is that Jesus points to having your godly priorities sorted out. The funny side is he lampoons this guy right at his point of pomposity and his place of self-appointed excellence. He is a pompous oaf -- he seriously thought he had kept the law all his life! He was also wealthy. Jesus reframed the situation -- well if he has so perfectly observed the law then the next step will be easy "give up all you own".
Michael Frost in his first book Jesus the Fool (Albatross 1994) drew attention Jesus' comedic genius.
Rats Fats! I so wanted to post this story... But I suspect your version is funnier than mine would have been. :-D
Post a Comment