Surly's Soap Box

...and yelled, 'Ouch! That hurt!'

So, what has Surly Dave been up to? Well, as many who read here know, I do a little preaching. I've never bragged about possessing supreme speaking abilities or my ability to captivate my audience. I would not be called 'fiery' or 'charismatic' in the pulpit. But I am passionate.

But that's not the point. The point is that I recognized that I needed to hone my speaking skills. So like anyone else in my position, who doesn't have time or resources to invest in a communications degree, I decided to take a class in stand-up comedy.

I know what most people say when you read that: "Don't you have to be funny to be a stand-up comic?"

Ha ha. I thought I'd give that one to you for free.

Anyway, my instructor says I've got a great 'comedic instinct' and is helping me with writing jokes and such. Believe me, writing for the stage, at least for stand-up isn't as easy as it seems. Writing humor (which I've done a little here on this blog) is different because you have a chance to be clever and you have more opportunity to build your 'bit'. The reader has a chance to re-read something, think about it, or come back to it. With an audience, you have to consider them hostile. You have to convince them, in a short period of time, that your point of view is funny. They come to a comedy club or go see a comedian with the attitude of, "Well: Make me laugh."

Of course, some of the church audiences I've faced could be considered hostile as well...

I'm already enjoying some of the benefits of the class as far as sermon prep and preaching goes. Not that I've done any since starting that class, in fact, I'm taking a 6 month sabbatical from the pulpit, but I've had an 'epiphany' of sorts: A couple weeks ago, I was watching a show on the History Channel called, "The History of the Joke" and in the show, they had an interview with George Carlin. He was asked, "Do you try to make people think in your act?" and he replied, "No: I try to do the thinking for them. I don't want them to think." He then went on to explain he had dropped out of school in the 8th grade, and all his life he has been trying to prove to people that he is 'smart'.

I really related to this. I didn't finish college, and on our pulpit team there are many college grads: A Lawyer, Teacher, Computer Geeks with fancy degrees, a pastoral studies major, a corporate trainer turned home schooler, and Art major...Also, many people in our church are grads from some of the local bible colleges. While I know I have the call to preach, I was often under condemnation for not being 'trained', 'educated', or 'smart' enough. (This condemnation came mostly from myself) As a result of my own insecurity, I was often 'clever' in my preaching, tackling big, heady topics, reading the latest books, using big words, all trying to prove to everyone that 'I am somebody'.

Even the humor I used was 'intelligent', often asides meant to show how 'smart' I am.

What stand-up comedy has taught me is how to form a clear, concise argument and bring it home with an easy to remember point. It's also taught me how to more fully use the natural gifts and point of view God has given me instead of contrived ones.

As far as doing the comedy thing, I will have some opportunities to perform in the near future. I might even make an announcement here as to when and where.

Years ago, I did some stand-up and open-mic nights. I was even encouraged by members of the church to go into Christian comedy, but that was when the Mike Warnke thing blew up, and everyone soured on Christian comedians for a while. Right now, my act is kind of worldly. Not crude or sexual, no profanity, but I make fun of the 'world'. After all, as a child of God, we should see the systems of this world as humorous. Fallen?: Yes. Oppressive? Not when the Kingdom you live in is that of Heaven.

But I'm not going to go there right now.