Paul Kerensa on what churches can learn from comedy clubs (and vice versa) ...

Churches and comedy clubs: both have someone (normally a bloke) addressing a crowd with a mix of humour and a message, both wanting bums on seats but mainly wanting to guide those listening to a life of joy. So what can they learn from each other?

 5 THINGS CHURCHES CAN LEARN FROM COMEDY CLUBS:

1. Have an online presence. Generally, when I do a comedy show to a full church, it’s a church that tweets, and probably has a Facebook page. But they take work. A parish secretary can sign up to TwitBook and feel all smug because Rick Warren’s following them back (it’s nothing special, he’ll follow anyone). But you need to be active. Go tweet it on the mountain, blog it from the rooftops, let he who is without sin podcast the first stone.
2. Vary the pace. A good comedy club has a warm host, a solid tone-setting opening, maybe some newer acts, then a powerhouse headliner. A church service isn’t for us of course – it’s for God – but monotonous meetings do not leave us enthused. Better to have a curate to welcome, a youth leader with notices and a taste of what the young uns are up to, a dynamic worship leader, then the preacher can knock us for six with a storming sermon. We go home energised, and God is reflected in all the shapes and sizes of the service. 
3. PA. Comedy clubs have wired microphones. Churches go wireless. Wireless mics may look great, but the batteries always run out just when you least expect.
4. Gags. Many sermons start with a gag, but my old vicar David Bracewell – a first-class orator who had the skills of Obama with the voice of Alan Titchmarsh – had a knack of saving the funnies for later in the sermon. Stephen Gaukroger is another who senses the perfect moment to refocus the room with an amusing bon mot, normally just before the big final punch of the sermon’s message. Knowing where to place your funnies – not just as an ice-breaker – is a real skill.
5. Say the unsayable. Comedians see themselves as the last bastion of free speech, but preachers can tell it like it is too. Just as comedy with a message stands out, so too do we long for a speaker who goes beyond the simplistic. Some sermons are aimed at the kiddies of course, and weddings, baptisms and Christmas often have more accessible inclusive words of wisdom. But sometimes us grown-ups like to be challenged. We need it.

5 THINGS COMEDY CLUBS CAN LEARN FROM CHURCHES:

1. Loyalty. The last church show I did had a front row with an average age in the mid-nineties. They come to all the events at the church, they told me: flower-arranging, comedy show, nu-punk Battle of the Bands put on by the Pathfinders youth group... Doris, Mabel and Juney are all there up front, for the best view and the nearest support for the punk singer’s stage-dive.
2. A sense of community. One way to foster loyalty is to have a sense of community. Certain TV channels repeat endless stand-up comedy and panel shows, to the point that comedy-goers don’t go – they stay home and watch more famous comedians on their tellybox for free. It’s the Dave effect. Yet the joy of communal laughing is immense. The existence of Songs of Praise and the GOD Channel haven’t replaced church, and never could. Christians know the value and purpose of gathering: it’s not the same to do it at home.
3. Clean up your act. The stereotype of the comedy circuit is that it’s wall-to-wall filth. I’ve been at those shows, and the gasps of “I can’t believe he said that” from the stag parties mask the sound of couples’ footsteps leaving. “We didn’t come here for this,” I’ve heard it said, while hedonistic anecdotes of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll are boasted to the room. Some acts can do edgy with verve and wit. Some are just out to shock. And more often than not, punters just want a laugh – at themselves and their lives, not at proud tales of wacky deviancy.
4. Look out for the individual. A good church knows its members; there are prayer teams and welcomers, making sure no one’s left out. My vicar has a great knack of giving us communion by name. Comedy clubs by contrast have walk-outs, and people being picked on. So what I guess I’m saying is: comedy clubs – get a prayer team.
5. Hymns. Alright, now I’m clutching at straws.

Paul Kerensa is author of So a Comedian Walks into a Church: Confessions of a Kneel-down Stand-up, published by DLT this year.  His next book Genesis: A Bibluffers Guide is out in March 2014.