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Preaching Punchlines: The Ten Commandments of Comedy
"I have created what I call the 'Ten Commandments of Comedy' to demonstrate how tools from stand-up comedy can transform our preaching and help us better honor this message of “good news.” Each chapter addresses a commandment or collection of lessons that I’ve learned as a professional comedian and explains its practical application to a pulpit."
- GenresHumor
Paperback
Published June 1, 2019
10 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Susan Sparks
5 books21 followersAs a trial lawyer turned standup comedian and Baptist minister, Susan Sparks is America’s only female comedian with a pulpit. A North Carolina native, Susan received her B.A. at the University of North Carolina and a law degree from Wake Forest University.
After ten years as a lawyer moonlighting as a standup, she left her practice and spent two years on a solo trip around the world, including working with Mother Teresa’s mission in Calcutta, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and driving her Jeep Wrangler solo from NYC to Alaska. Upon returning home, she entered Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she earned a Master of Divinity and wrote an honors thesis on humor and religion.
In May 2007 Susan was installed as the 15th Senior Minister of the historic Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City. She was the first woman pastor in its 170-year history and she remains there to this day. (Y'all come visit!)
A TEDx speaker, Susan's work with humor, healing, and spirituality has been featured in O (The Oprah) Magazine, the New York Times, and on such networks as ABC, CNN, CBS, and the History Channel.
A professional comedian, Susan tours nationally with a stand-up Rabbi and a Muslim comic in the Laugh in Peace Tour. In addition to her speaking and preaching, Susan writes an award-winning nationally syndicated column through GateHouse Media distributed to over 600 newspapers reaching over 21 million people in 36 states. She is the author of Laugh Your Way to Grace: Reclaiming the Spiritual Power of Humor and her newest book, Preaching Punchlines: The Ten Commandments of Comedy.
Susan is the 20th recipient of the John L. Haber Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts given by the University of North Carolina (and comedian/alum Lewis Black), as well as a recipient of the Intersections International Award for interfaith work to promote justice and reconciliation among diverse communities.
Most importantly, Susan and her husband Toby love to fly-fish, ride their Harleys, eat good BBQ, and root for North Carolina Basketball and the Green Bay Packers.
After ten years as a lawyer moonlighting as a standup, she left her practice and spent two years on a solo trip around the world, including working with Mother Teresa’s mission in Calcutta, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and driving her Jeep Wrangler solo from NYC to Alaska. Upon returning home, she entered Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she earned a Master of Divinity and wrote an honors thesis on humor and religion.
In May 2007 Susan was installed as the 15th Senior Minister of the historic Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City. She was the first woman pastor in its 170-year history and she remains there to this day. (Y'all come visit!)
A TEDx speaker, Susan's work with humor, healing, and spirituality has been featured in O (The Oprah) Magazine, the New York Times, and on such networks as ABC, CNN, CBS, and the History Channel.
A professional comedian, Susan tours nationally with a stand-up Rabbi and a Muslim comic in the Laugh in Peace Tour. In addition to her speaking and preaching, Susan writes an award-winning nationally syndicated column through GateHouse Media distributed to over 600 newspapers reaching over 21 million people in 36 states. She is the author of Laugh Your Way to Grace: Reclaiming the Spiritual Power of Humor and her newest book, Preaching Punchlines: The Ten Commandments of Comedy.
Susan is the 20th recipient of the John L. Haber Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts given by the University of North Carolina (and comedian/alum Lewis Black), as well as a recipient of the Intersections International Award for interfaith work to promote justice and reconciliation among diverse communities.
Most importantly, Susan and her husband Toby love to fly-fish, ride their Harleys, eat good BBQ, and root for North Carolina Basketball and the Green Bay Packers.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 1, 2019
Last year, at a St. Andrews banquet, I was seated next to an attorney for Atlanta. Across from me was a Lutheran pastor. With two pastors at this table, the attorney began to tell me of a former attorney he’d hire right after her graduation from law school. He was sad when she left the South to work in New York, and amazed that she became a pastor and a stand-up comedian. Maybe he was hoping we’d tell some jokes, but instead, I asked, “Susan Sparks?” “Yes,” he said, “how did you know?” Five or so years ago, I’d read her book, Laugh Your Way to Grace. A year later, when in New York on a Sunday, I worshipped at Madison Avenue Baptist Church, where she serves as the pastor. Ever since, I have read her newsletters and homilies and enjoy her fresh approach to scripture and preaching. So when this book was published, I picked up a copy.
Predictably, the book consists of ten chapters, each with a commandment pertaining mostly to preaching, but also to comedy. Spark’s goal wasn’t to write a book on how to do stand-up comedy in the pulpit. But she does make the case that sermons should be joyful, after all we’re proclaiming the good news. She provides many tips from the stand-up comedy world which could benefit the preacher. Ideas such as quickly getting to the point, to preach with variation, to draw on the humor around us (and in the Biblical text), not to steal material from others, and Sunday morning as a party (and not an exhausting one) with plenty of laughter. This book is packed with great ideas, although her ninth commandment, “Thou Shalt Achieve World Peace through Humor,” fulfills one of the aspects of the law by showing us how we must depend on grace. But, as she says, even if we don’t achieve world peace, we could create a ripple that will help change people and eventually, with enough changes, can help make the world better.
This is a short book that I quickly read. I found myself wanting more, but then, I think that’s also a rule of comedy. You quit while people are still a bit hungry instead of waiting till they’re stuffed and tired of you. I recommend this book for preachers.
Predictably, the book consists of ten chapters, each with a commandment pertaining mostly to preaching, but also to comedy. Spark’s goal wasn’t to write a book on how to do stand-up comedy in the pulpit. But she does make the case that sermons should be joyful, after all we’re proclaiming the good news. She provides many tips from the stand-up comedy world which could benefit the preacher. Ideas such as quickly getting to the point, to preach with variation, to draw on the humor around us (and in the Biblical text), not to steal material from others, and Sunday morning as a party (and not an exhausting one) with plenty of laughter. This book is packed with great ideas, although her ninth commandment, “Thou Shalt Achieve World Peace through Humor,” fulfills one of the aspects of the law by showing us how we must depend on grace. But, as she says, even if we don’t achieve world peace, we could create a ripple that will help change people and eventually, with enough changes, can help make the world better.
This is a short book that I quickly read. I found myself wanting more, but then, I think that’s also a rule of comedy. You quit while people are still a bit hungry instead of waiting till they’re stuffed and tired of you. I recommend this book for preachers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review