If I make one contribution to the field of preaching, I want it to be this revelation: one of the best things a pastor can do to sharpen their communication skills is listen to great comedians. The purpose is not to steal their material. You will not deliver it as well as they will. The purpose is to hear the way they play to an audience, how they deliver phrases, how they set up stories. No communicator can hold the attention of an audience the way a great comedian can.
To that end, I invited two of today's greatest comedians to sit down for an interview: Jim Gaffigan and Mike Birbiglia. Of course, neither returned my calls, even though I was very persistent, calling on their personal lines at all hours of the night.
You can follow both of these guys on twitter, and their stuff will be at least pg-13 clean. Mike is @birbigs and Jim is @jimgaffigan. And funny. Just stinking funny.
Since they wouldn't meet me in person, I sat down for a fake and in no way real interview with these two comedic geniuses over breakfast. The following is a fabricated transcript.
Me: Hey guys. Thanks for meeting me here on such short notice.
Jim: Yeah, sure. You got the goods?
Me: Um yeah....Mike, here's a whole box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And Jim...
Jim: It's BACON!!!
Mike: (mouth full of Cinnamon Toast Crunch) This stuff isn't making it through the interview.
Me: That's fine, we'll go quick. First off let me just say that I am a huge fan of both of you. I listen to you constantly to gain insight.
Jim: That seems like a poor choice.
Me: No it's not so much about the content as the way you deliver it.
Mike: I wear sweatpants and slur my words.
Jim: I just constantly talk about food while being pale and chubby.
Mike: (to Jim) Wow...you really ARE pale! Does eating bacon make you see-through or something?
Me: Guys, no. Look, you are both great communicators. I mean, audiences hang on your every word. How do you do it?
Jim: I find it helps if the things I say are funny.
Mike: True. Laughter is a key part of comedy.
Jim: You probably don't want people laughing at your sermons.
Mike: I think the Jesus dying part is kind of a downer.
Jim: If the Passion of the Christ movie was supposed to be a comedy, I didn't get it at all.
Me: No, I mean, I get that. You need to be funny. But don't you think that your success as stand up comedians goes beyond your ability to come up with humorous content? Doesn't it also have a lot to do with your delivery, your timing?
Mike: You mean comedic timing?
Me: Exactly, but I think it translates easily into other areas of communication besides comedy.
Jim: I'm out of bacon, are we done?
Me: No, you guys have been no help whatsoever yet.
Jim: No worries. I'm packin'. *pulls out a baggy of bacon bits*
Mike: What exactly are we supposed to help you with? I'm really not much of a church guy, though I am brand-loyal to Jesus. And he (Jim) is just a non-practicing Catholic.
Jim: I do occasionally root for Notre Dame.
Me: It's not about the content! I can handle the content part. Its about communicating in an effective way with an audience.
Jim and Mike: *blank stares*
Me: Mike...you are a great story teller. "Sleepwalk with Me" is absolutely brilliant. The way you shape the story and really bring the audience into it. You leave pauses for reflection and raise your voice when things get intense. You almost whisper when things are serious or intimate.
Mike: *strange look on his face* I talk about dreaming of being in the dust buster olympics.
Me: I know! But it's the WAY you talk about it! It's the delivery! The timing! The nuance of your phrasing! How do you do it?
Mike: I try to make sure that the things that I say are funny.
Jim: Hey, what if in your next sermon you talk about Jesus loving to eat bacon? It's funny, because Jesus is a Jew and bacon isn't kosher.
Me: Why is that funny?
Jim: ....I don't know....I'm just always intrigued by forbidden love.
Me: Well, this has been absolutely useless. Here I have been obsessing over how brilliant you two are at communicating to an audience, and you don't even see it yourselves. The whole thing is a sham.
Jim: No Dan, it's not. You're right. Perhaps we can teach each other. There are subtle similarities to both the comedic and theological task. We both aim to inspire a certain feeling and greater understanding in others. Sure, I spend my time on stages in various arenas making a fool of myself for the masses. But I do it to bring a sense of joy to an otherwise depressed and anxiety-filled populace. And so I put passion behind what I say. I want people to TASTE how disgusting a Hot Pocket is. I want to free them from the oppression of their daily lives, if only for a short hour in a smoke-filled comedy club. But you...you my friend...you know the One who has the words of life. Perhaps the best thing any of us can do is put passion behind what we say, to deliver our words with a fervor that is palpable. Your message is of utmost significance. So when you speak, speak as if it matters. Not just in content, but in the way you say things. May people believe that you believe what you are saying. May you speak in such a way that even if I could not understand the language, the thirst of my spirit would be quenched with the sweet message of living water that is evident in your tone and expressions.
Me and Mike: *silence*
Jim: I bet if you put bits of bacon on a strip of bacon, you could travel back in time.
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