Simple Is Funny Too.

Last night I over-heard and later watched, a little of a top Rating Comedy Show on TV here in Melbourne. Although it has absolutely nothing to do with God or Religion, it is called “Thank God you are Here” and the Concept has been sold to around 16 countries in the world including Holland Israel and the US.

Anyway the basic concept is to get a Comedian, TV Personality or sometimes an actor, and dress them in a costume suitable for their upcoming skit and push them unrehearsed and without a clue of what they are about to do into or onto an appropriate Set. This Set is already staged and the Crew knows what it is about and then the guest has to work out appropriate responses to the script. To me it was a bit Like” Whose Line Is It Anyway" but with better props and a different crew each week.

Anyhow, no matter what it is like, it is doing big business and as I sad the concept sold widely. Last night, I heard some “stooge” going through her paces and her responses were rather long and contrived, and most unlikely to have happened. However I did admire her quickness and inventiveness to come up with these responses so quickly and easily. The next guest/stooge was a top Victorian Stand up Comedian. (Although I had never heard of him, but my son had and says he is really good in Stand up too.)

Well this guy was pushed into a scene of stranded Desert explorers and his replies to the various questions asked of him, were of the most basic and logical to such questions but done in a dead pan or even quizzical look as to why are you asking such a dumb question when the answer is so obvious. Anyway, he was really good in both his answers and physical responses and I was amazed at how funny “simple” really was when done properly.

This led me to wonder whether It might not pay us all sometimes to keep things a little more natural and simple rather than always going for the fancy and often convoluted.

This is particularly relevant to me as a Preacher; for in the next couple of sermons I am working on have words like Colligate, antithesis and Catena in them!

But what about you now? Are there some things in your life that you are making more complicated and maybe confusing than they need to be? Even if like me you decide to keep some of these things, will you not at least evaluate their worth and maybe even consider modifying them, even if only a little to make them more simpler and understandable? Over to you again: Walter