Award-winning freelance writer and columnist Joanne Brokaw covers entertainment for The Christian Examiner newspapers, The Minnesota Christian Chronicle, and The Ozarks Christian News.
Her other writing credits include Breakaway and Brio Magazines, OnCourse Magazine, ChristianMusicPlanet.com, BuddyHollywood.com and AGreaterFreedom.com. Her humor column, A Big Slice of Life, appears monthly in the Christian Voice Magazine and she pens a regular humor column on The Writing Life for ByLine Magazine.
Joanne lives in Western New York with her darling husband David, their Border collie Scout and their cat Murphy. Their almost adult daughter Cassie drops by often. Find out more about Joanne at
JoanneBrokaw.com.
What? I am glad I did not what that dumb show.
i love their warm up exercises. hee hee ... it's not quite flight of the conchords, but pretty funny none-the-less. now i have a reason to watch the show!
I have seen them. All they do is mock Christianity. They are insulting to Christians and make fun of what we believe in. I find it insulting that they are being called a "Christian" group.
You people need to relax. They aren't mocking Christianity, they are making fun of the people who would actually get offended by them... YOU. I grew up going to every cheesy and irrelevant youth "concert" or evangelism event offered (Power Team anyone?) and I can tell you, these guys have fully captured the ridiculousness of this sub-culture without even having to add hyperbole. My wife and I laugh and laugh because we know what they are making fun of, plus we know so many uptight sectarian fundamentalist Pharisees who would really be offended... And we love offending them.
I loved them! They really caught the right tone, had the right twist on the message and were right on the edge, where good comedians should be - for heaven's sake - lighten up and smile! God loves you! :) ;)
For heaven's sake -lighten up! They were funny and had an edgy twist that all good comedians have - not quite naughty. Smile, God loves you! ;) :)
I wanted to know more about them and checked their website. I am having a hard time finding information regarding the college they supposedly met at..I personally do not believe they are Christian, it is part of their act.. funny sorta..it will be interesting to watch them evolve..possibly into a more diversity oriented offering as noted in their website..
Interesting contrast between these guys and honest-to-goodness Christian comic Taylor Mason, who tried out in Nashville and was on LCS a couple weeks ago. Hey, have you guys heard his story? Read about it here, at New Christian Voices.
LOVE LOVE LOVE these guys! They are soooo much like my youth pastor was! God uses people like this to keep people like me who were born in a pew. If my YP had't lightened things up with material like this, I definately would have hated church...as it was, I looked foreword to each Sunday, and Wednesday to see what "Dave" would come up with next it was always entertaining, and informative.
I've been doing some research. Apparently the duo, whose real names are Wilson Hall and Krister Johnson, graduated in '95 from Swarthmore College.
I, too, wonder if they're really "Christians." Then again, so much of America considers themselves Christian, but not Jesus followers. So the word has kind of lost it's meaning.
Joanne
My guess would be no on their being fundamentalist or evangelical Christian. Do you not notice the rainbow guitar strap? They might be Christian, but not the conservative sort, I'm guessing. I read them as satirizing and seeking to expose evangelical Christianity as absurd and ignorant of the realities of the modern life that people face.
If you go on iTunes and do a power search, you'll find most of their material has an "explicit" warning tagged to it. Probably not Christian.
Evangelicals believe that life is not pointless and that there is meaning to life. So if they seek to expose evangelicals as absurd, they are misusing their obvious ability to character act to parody those who are certain, not absurd.
I believe their type of comedy is satirical and think it is wrong.
The rainbow strap is part of the satire - that is what makes it funny. The rainbow is a symbol from the Bible, making it a completely legitimate part of their act. However, they also have stereotypical homosexual tendencies and are "naive" about it as far as the "act" goes (it is obvious that everything they do is VERY intentional). So, the rainbow strap fits there, as well, in a sub-conscious sort of way. It's really a stroke of genius to include it in the act because of its double-meaning.
We are living in a time when Christians are almost always presented in a negative stereotypical way. There was a time in Hollywood that black persons were portrayed by white people with black paint on. These portrayals were over the top with the bug eyed scared look and the such. Al Jolson made his living this way. There were also African Americans playing the same type of roles. Both portrayals were wrong!
I find no humor in this. Christians always think there making fun of someone else, so it's OK. Whatever your status, cool or not, you are part of the family. When will we wake up and realize the world hates us as it hated Him. Please lets not act so high-minded and culturally aware that we fail to see we are the target of ridicule.
From their pre-LCS days:
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A22075
It's a ruse. You'd think they'd at least give a figurative "wink" on their website, but maybe it went over my head. I think they're content to make money from both the good Christian souls who've bought the act (and so-called "ministry") and from the seculars who don't get the Gospel. I tend to agree with Brian... we should not give them any further ink or bandwidth.
If you want the real thing, a Christian duet with sometimes silly lyrics and antics but really are on fire for the Lord (for like, decades) and don't take themselves too seriously, google "Lost and Found" and take your kids to one of their shows. I hope that "Pottery" didn't use them for inspiration.
From their pre-LCS days:
www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A22075
It's a ruse. You'd think they'd at least give a figurative "wink" on their website, but maybe it went over my head. I think they're content to make money from both the good Christian souls who've bought the act (and so-called "ministry") and from the seculars who don't get the Gospel. I tend to agree with Brian... we should not give them any further ink or bandwidth.
If you want the real thing, a Christian duet with sometimes silly lyrics and antics but really are on fire for the Lord (for like, decades) and don't take themselves too seriously, google "Lost and Found" and take your kids to one of their shows. I hope that "Pottery" didn't use them for inspiration.
I laughed. I dug up some actual sincere interview comments with these guys (real names - Krister Johnson and Wilson Hall, formerly of the Upright Citizen's Brigade comedy troupe out of NYC) where they're not in character (from a British paper) and they say that one of their goals is to NOT put down Christians and churches. It's sheerly a good-natured spoof from what I'm seeing.
Christina said:
"My guess would be no on their being fundamentalist or evangelical Christian. Do you not notice the rainbow guitar strap? They might be Christian, but not the conservative sort, I'm guessing. I read them as satirizing and seeking to expose evangelical Christianity as absurd and ignorant of the realities of the modern life that people face."
Yes, because we all know that those who wear a rainbow will ultimately catch that most dreaded of all diseases: "TEH GHEY!"
For goodness sake, grow up!
Yeah, so i'm not sure if any of you people have actually paid attention to these guys or not.
There are a few guarantees that I can offer you:
1. They are NOT followers of Christ (Matthew 7:16)
2. They have NO INTENTION of shedding a positive light on the true Gospel
3. They are not even the slightest bit funny (that's not an opinion, but fact)
4. Joanne Brokaw and this entire site has just threw every bit of it's credibility out of the window
Matthew 7:22
By the way, if it's christian comedy that you're looking for (which i doubt) I highly recommend Ken Kington and the Ultimate Comedy Theatre.
And one more thing, (I'm asking God to help me tame my tongue, but sometimes I just can't help it.)
Mr. Kevin Hendrix, I do believe that if you were to actually read scripture you would find that Christ himself might fall under some of your clever little titles. You're totally caught up in your own world of "I'm a better Christian than you"...that, my friend, is NOT the God I serve.
Just thought you might want to know.
They're not followers of Christ, therefore they can't be funny. They be ebil! As opposed to (ahem) John Hagee, who wants to obliterate 1 billion people in a nuclear holocaust to bring about the 2nd coming, Benny Hinn and his plastic hairdo that is only concerned about stealing from the sick, while lying, the bigoted James Dobson, Pat Robertson and others like them. Yeah, now those guys are TRUE Christians! Yep, they really spread God's love.
If you are a Fundie, you deserve all the mocking you get. I think even Jesus would mock you and laugh at you. Oh wait... no He would have some really nice words to say... something about white washed tombs, clean on the outside, but filthy on the inside, and, oh, something about being a brood of vipers.
But everyone else will just keep laughing at you.
I was disappointed when they were voted off last week on "Last Comic Standing." I know it's a gimmick, but the more they show featured them in their "daily life" the funnier they were.
I wasn't surprised that their time was up on the show, though. I think their format has limited run on a show for stand ups, where each segment is like 3 minutes. I'll bet they'd be really amusing on their own sitcom. I'm sure we'll see more of them, either on the comedy circuit or on TV.
Joanne
"They're not followers of Christ, therefore they can't be funny." - Michael
Well Michael, I'm not sure that's exactly true. Certainly they can be funny (you seem to have a very nice sense of humor) but there will be many funny people in hell. And that, my friend, is no laughing matter.
Chris Keen -- are you for real?? use your energy to go against more worthy adversaries. God's Pottery and their supporters (including my Christian self) are not at the top of the list. relaaax. Your posts alone stress me out.
p.s. what makes your opinion on whats funny FACT?
Ashley's Hott
I havnt quite figured out if these guys are for real or not but they are hilarious. christians need to lighten up and be more relevant. the best comics wether they be black,asian,latino, or any other nationality make there funiest sketches on making fun of there own people( dave chapelle, dat phan, gorge lopez.) why cant christians do the same? the reasonm i do think that they are christians is because they know the bible obvisouly and they know how to be hilarious while still being clean and in todays comedy world you never see that. either way they are hilarious and weather its their goal or not i think they are giving christians a better name in the sense that we have a sense of humor and we know that we can be rediculous. and by the way if you have ever met any one in the hinn family you would not feel that way. i am great friends with his brother sams family and his kids, and his son josh is also one of my dearest friends. everyones human and just because god has blessed him doesnt mean he has to give every cent to the poor. i know i wouldnt and im pretty sure you wouldnt either
Hey there Ashley,
I don't mean to stress you out, sorry about that :)
However, I certainly see this as a very worthy cause. You see, it's things like this that are defining Christianity in todays culture. It's no longer Christ and His authority, it's whatever seems to "fit" and "work".
My concern is legitimized by this quote from landen angeline:
" the reasonm i do think that they are christians is because they know the bible obvisouly and they know how to be hilarious while still being clean and in todays comedy world you never see that."
We honestly live in a culture that is SO ignorant of the Word of God, that this is how we judge salvation.
If they seem like "good people" then they are saved, and we will see them one day in heaven. This goes against everything that scripture teaches. Remember that satan knew Jesus better than most of His closest friends.
So that's my only point. I'm not trying to be difficult, just trying to believe God. And by the way, I'm a huge fan of comedy.
This is the word of your god.
"For six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death."
Exodus 35:2
Transitions from the Old Testament to the New is just another adaptation of doctrine. You either take this at face value or you let it go. I don't suppose you're running around slaying all those who are toiling on your sacred holiday. The new testament is an attempt to make something fit and work. Judaism -> Catholicism -> Christianity.
So my point is you can agree with the premise that the doctrine must change to become relevant, or you don't believe in it period.
Kenny posted:
>"For six days shall work be done, but on
>the seventh day you shall have a holy
>sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord;
>whoever does any work on it shall be put to death."
>
>Exodus 35:2
>
>Transitions from the Old Testament to the
>New is just another adaptation of doctrine.
>You either take this at face value or you
>let it go. I don't suppose you're running
>around slaying all those who are toiling
>on your sacred holiday. The new testament
>is an attempt to make something fit and work.
>Judaism -> Catholicism -> Christianity.
>
>So my point is you can agree with the premise
>that the doctrine must change to become relevant,
>or you don't believe in it period.
The real difference between the old and new testament is grace. Jesus, as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, freed us from the law of the old testament, which you quoted. Romans 7 covers all of that. It's as clear as black and white. Jesus is the only way to heaven. There are differences in gray issues, but the basic foundation of Christianity (i.e., Jesus) has never changed with the times. Even when people thought the earth was flat, and when people could legally own each other, and rainbows and doves of peace were considered Christian icons, the doctrine that Jesus died for our sins has never changed.
wow i never said for once that they were christians. i understand how what i said could have been misunderstood, but what i simple met is at least there saying something posative. and where your coming from is what makes me so mad about christians today. we jump to conclusions, we judge and i dont think its right. the bible says dont push your morals onto any one else and even though i may not have every verse memorized in the bible by where it is, i assure you i do know scripture. also, i agree with you that we must have a personal relationship with jese christ to enter the gates of heaven. there are no "good peopl" we all have sinned and come short of the glory of god and every sin no matter how little is worthy of hell. please dont judge anothers beleifs off of false knowledge
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.