I love stand-up comedy. And I’ve grown to love it even more as I’ve gotten older. I’ve watched every Jim Gaffigan special. I’ve watched the Kevin James special on Netflix, more times than I can count and still I laughed so hard I have to pause the show. I enjoy Jerry Seinfeld—the show, his standup, and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. I watch Nick Barzgate and Dana Carvey and Johnny W and Brian Regan. Not only do I enjoy comedy; I enjoy hearing comedians talk about their craft.
The comedy that makes me laugh out loud is always, always the kind that sort of riffs on the oddities of everyday life. I think the best comedians work clean and don’t have to rely on the crutches of foul language and sexuality to get a cheap laugh.
When I was younger I used to feel bad about watching or listening to comedy. It seemed so frivolous when I could be doing something much more serious, like writing another article or reading another book chapter. But I began to realize how much comedy is essential for my creative process. It helps me in two ways.
First, comedy stirs creative impulses in me because, in my view, humor is the hardest thing to pull off creatively. Think about it. Public speaking is difficult. But stand-up comedy is the ultimate risk. There’s a chance nobody laughs.
If you hear comedians talk to each other, what keeps them going year after year after year is the feeling of getting in a room and making that laugh happen. And think about this in your own life. The people you laugh with are often the people you love most. And when a friendship has lost its ability to laugh, it has probably lost its ability to love. To make someone laugh takes work. That’s why I respect comedy writers. It’s the hardest writing in the world. Someone like Dave Barry, the iconic humor writer for the Miami Herald, whose end-of-year column makes me laugh year after year, may be one of the most talented writers on the planet. The word placement. The timing. The cadence. It all has to be near-perfect to land. You can learn a lot from observing comedians.
The second reason I like comedy is that it is kind of like a detox for the soul. The Bible says that a “merry heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 22:7 - I prefer the old KJV “merry” versus “cheerful” or the other renderings). I have found comedy to be good medicine for me, after a stressful week, after a long stretch of uninterrupted deep work, or after a disappointing week. Laughing cleanses the emotional and intellectual palate in a way that few other things can.
I believe Christians should take the gospel seriously but we will get brittle and crack if we take ourselves too seriously.
Who makes you laugh?
P.S. Don’t forget to check out my book, The Characters of Easter as you prepare your hearts this Lenten season.