Standup Sermons? What Preachers Can Learn About Communication from Comedians

Introduction: No, I Don’t Mean “Add More Jokes”

If you’re a preacher, you might have seen the title and assumed, “This guy is making a connection between comedy and the craft of preaching. He’s obviously just going to implore us to ‘be more funny’ in our sermons.” But no, that’s not my point. For what it’s worth, I am a fan of humor being integrated into the pulpit, but with one critical caveat: To integrate humor effectively, it needs to be funny. Not “kind of humorous.” Not “quirky in an intellectual sort of way.” Preachers need to be inarguably funny amidst the pews if they expect to be funny in the pulpit.

But again, this article is not about humor. The goal here is to humbly encourage us preachers to learn a thing or two about communication from some of the finest communicators of popular culture today: comedians.

Now, if you’re new to the burdens and the joys of preaching, please don’t start here. There are far more important things for us to consider before we look to the world’s artists for communication skills! Preachers of course need to know and love the Bible, know and love their listeners and fellow believers, have a Jesus-centric end-goal in mind for their sermons being applied, etc. If you feel solid and comfortable with the role that these have in your preaching but you also realize your communication skills could use some fine-tuning, then I think you might find this article helpful.

A Comedian for Every Preacher

First let me say this: Like the varied styles of preaching and preachers that exist, there is a whole slew of comedians and styles that are successful and popular in our day. I am confident that no matter what kind of preacher you are, there is a corresponding comedian that will resonate with your preferred and natural style.

For instance, if you are an intensely personal preacher, you may benefit the most from those comedians who utilize their own life experiences as their main source of material. If you are predominantly a storyteller, you will find there are some comedians who are not only abundantly funny but also masters of weaving tales with emotional variety and depth. If you find yourself using an excessive number of visual aids as illustrations, you might find some communication insights from prop comedy (but speaking personally, I’d probably recommend dialing back on the excessive visual-aide use). Whether you are methodical, spontaneous, or a combination of the two, there is a humorist that would line up with your gifting and preferences.

Don’t give up on learning from comedians if the first one you come across isn’t your cup of tea; you just might not have found your niche yet. By the way, throughout this article, I’ll be mentioning some stand-up comedians who model some helpful communication skills; please understand that mentioning them doesn’t mean I’m endorsing everything they say or the language with which they say it.

“I am confident that no matter what kind of preacher you are, there is a corresponding comedian that will resonate with your preferred and natural style.”

In my own work as a preacher, albeit a fairly fresh-faced one, I’ve always leaned toward methodical wordsmithing. The stand-ups I have learned the most from here would have to be John Mulaney and Demetri Martin. I’ve been listening to Martin for years and he has always had a verbal precision that is almost mathematical. That being said, that precision of wording is never stiff and always elevates his material. Mulaney is well known for one of the more elegant sentence structures employed in the field. If you can relate to me in that love of words and their razor-sharp usage, I’d recommend a perusal of Martin’s and Mulaney’s comedy and an analysis of how well-crafted their bits really are.

The Power of the Right Word

One of the most potent lessons I think every sermonizer can take away from the art of stand-up comedy is the power of the right word. I myself am a committed every-word-manuscripted preacher who is very comfortable with the process of ruminating on the more minute details of a homily. Still, even preachers who use the scantest of outlines should know the power of words and the significance of intentionality in our speech. There is a whole world of difference that occurs when a shift is made from the commonplace term to the vibrant descriptor. There are subtle but palpable changes of wording that can bring the stories of Scripture to life for the listeners and prick their intelligence to lean in closer.

I need to cover my bases and remind the already-fertile wordsmiths reading here that this is not an excuse to flex vocabulary, “enhance” a sermon with impressive theological jargon, or simply replace short words for longer ones. Sometimes the short, sweet, and simple words are the exact ingredients needed to perfect a piece of a sermon.

For instance, Norm McDonald has a great bit that begins with “A moth goes into a podiatrist’s office…” Norm always pauses after he opens the joke with that because he knows that “podiatrist” is inherently funny because it’s confusingly specific and slightly awkward in the mouth. His entire monologue ends up spinning off that one word. I won’t ruin the joke for you, but it’s well worth the listen.

“Sometimes the short, sweet, and simple words are the exact ingredients needed to perfect a piece of a sermon.”

Another favorite example of mine is from Demetri Martin. He has a quick punchy line, the kind he is known for, where he says, “I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I’m good at everything.” The word trophies is essential to the bit because anything less specific than that weakens it. Trophies are awards, so we might think that the words are synonyms. However, trophies are the awards most easily associated with sports accomplishments, which only increases the picture he is painting with three tiny sentences.

We are not merely communicators, but preachers. Our chief objective is to clearly communicate a move of transformation—not stimulate the mind with more information. And yet, though we differ in intention and content, there are more similarities between preachers and comedians than we might initially recognize, such as making a living and even changing the world—both with our words.

Aiding the Audience in Feeling

Preachers integrating emotion into their sermons is not a novel notion in the slightest, but it still may be underappreciated or underdeveloped in some of our pulpits. For many homileticians, the emotion they had when they first learned to preach, both in range and depth, is what they have to this day.

In this area, the comedian may on the surface have an easier job than the preacher. After all, they just want to elicit one emotion from their audiences, don’t they? Well, maybe the old school comedians like Rodney Dangerfield and Bob Newhart did that. But as the art form has progressed, modern comedians have become storytellers that walk their listeners from anger to sadness to fear and finally to that supremely valued laughter.

As preachers, we too engage the range of our congregation’s emotions, as the Bible speaks messages of sadness, joy, frustration, gratitude, awe, and even humor. Of course, we are also charged to inform, challenge, disciple, pastor, navigate the culture, and accurately exegete a book from thousands of years ago while applying it to the modern context. Yet in accurately communicating biblical narratives and biblical truths, we can’t leave emotion behind. Engaging the congregation’s emotions can play a big role in the job at hand.

“Yet in accurately communicating biblical narratives and biblical truths, we can’t leave emotion behind.”

Again, I’ve found some of the best evocators of emotions to the modern individual are stand-up comedians. Just as an example, in one of his more recent Netflix Specials, The Old Man & The Pool, Mike Birbiglia cultivates the feelings of his audience in a uniquely preacher-friendly way. Birbiglia ends up using the word picture of a “pool” as a metaphor to walk his audience through the more emotionally reflective parts of the stories he tells. In fact, the entire backdrop of the one-man show he is performing is reminiscent of what it might look like at the bottom of a pool (perhaps a lesson in stage design/digital media linked with our teaching and preaching). Consistently throughout his performance, at the heaviest moments, the pool is incorporated into the conversation. Having a recurring item be a clue to the audience of what emotion is anticipated is an application of this concept that is quickly applicable for a preacher.

In the later stages of my own sermon preparation, right before manuscripting, I create an outline of the content I hope to communicate so that I can ensure it flows naturally and logically. Now, due to my study of stand-up, I also create an emotional outline that works in tandem with that content outline. Of course, I can’t make anyone feel anything. Yet, this small step of intention has dramatically aided the emotional diversity of my sermons and the cohesion of my content with the emotions I am evoking.

“This small step of intention has dramatically aided the emotional diversity of my sermons and the cohesion of my content with the emotions I am evoking.”

Here are some suggested comedians for learning about emotional elicitation. Again, this is not an endorsement of content, merely a recognition of skill and ability to learn from: Mike Birbiglia (the chief example—a true masterclass in emotive communication and vulnerability, and relatively clean in comparison to some of the others on the list), Dave Chappelle, James Acaster, Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Patton Oswalt, Tig Notaro, Bo Burnham, Neal Brennan, and Taylor Tomlinson.

Conclusion: Diversify, Discern, and Deliver

Again, my goal in writing this is not to get you to be a funnier preacher, unless that’s an untapped skill in your repertoire. My goal is to push you toward listening to stand-up with the ears of a sermonizer. With that challenge come a few helpful rules that I try to follow in my own viewing of stand-up comedy, as it can tend toward moral ambiguity at times.

First, diversify. To learn not only from podcasts and our fellow-preachers’ sermons, but to diversify our realms of stylistic influence to one of the fastest-growing long-form communications in today’s culture. Our churches, our message, and our Messiah deserve the very best, including from what the world of communication has to offer.

Second, discern. Like anything, there are things we have to throw away, and things we might want to tuck away for future use. In some cases, the comedian is simply too raunchy or rough around the edges when set up against our Christian convictions. Perhaps there is simply too much to be ignored or sifted through to learn from them in a purely stylistic way. I don’t advise anyone to consume or watch what their conscience or the Holy Spirit tugs at them not to. I don’t think every lesson we could learn from a comedian is the one we should apply. However, if we use our God-given discernment, I think we learn from the best and throw away the rest.

“If we use our God-given discernment, I think we learn from the best and throw away the rest.”

Lastly, deliver. We know from the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:17, that it is not a new strategy, source of inspiration, or fanciful rhetorical skill that gives power. Only the cross of Christ Jesus has that power. It’s safe to say that many of us reading this would also share in the apostle’s conviction from 1 Corinthians 2 not to preach with the goal of fascinating people with “lofty speech” or wowing them with contemporary “wisdom,” but to simply “preach Christ, and Him crucified.” So that is my final encouragement to you. Don’t forget your role and your goal as the one who writes sermons, not stand-up. Happy laboring and happy laughing, preacher.

In service of Christ and His church,
Elijah O’Dell