The Gags, The Game, The Goof, The Gospel - A sideways take on this week

The Gags

So, I had this idea for a routine for the weekend away after some brainstorming last night, I think I may have to use it another time though, as its a bit close to home this time round. John Cleese in an interview once said that comedy is basically a form of light tragedy and on looking back at the likes of Fawlty Towers and his Basil character, most of the humour including some of the slapstick would prove that statement. The usual “I can't believe its going to … oh he has you know”.

When trying to write something for a routine, you can be at a disadvantage compared to comedy shows as you can't fall back on previous character development / catchphrases to get the laugh. This makes for a dilemma, you either have to create a character for your stand up ie Al Murray's Pub Landlord or else it means putting yourself out for a fall in order to get the laugh. Strange as it sounds I prefer the latter, obviously your going to make things up or exaggerate things to build up the anticipation, but I've found that mocking life and the way things turn out can not only be good for a routine but also quite a good way of not getting so stuck up with things.

It's funny how the British sense of humour is very much along this line, with irony, sarcasm and tragic twists. Some of the best comedians use these things, bringing forward some very obvious points that make you say “why didn't I think of that” or “yes . .  I've noticed that”. What I do like however, is some of the more subtle things that many put in, almost as a subtext to the main routine that on first glance (or listen) can be missed. It's almost like an Easter egg within the show or DVD, adding value and making it worth watching a few times (love to get my moneys worth out of things, must be the Yorkshire side of me). Sadly for a first set somewhere / one-off gigs, its hard to include these little gems as its usually only a few that may have heard you before and obviously there's no DVD recording going on for that second or third listen, but hey, its a good practice to have just in case ;-)

The Game
The stage is set its 11pm and we're round Jon's to watch the biggest sporting event in the US calender “Superbowl XLIV” the Indianapolis Colts vs New Orleans Saints. The Colts are the clear favourites (apparently) and its The Saints first ever Superbowl.

American Football has always confused me slightly, on first glance it looks like Rugby for people who can't throw behind them or cope with being tackled and therefore need all this padding. I've also never understood why a game of four quarters of 15 minutes each can take over 4 hours!

What made this different is Jon is married to a girl from Texas and therefore has been over there quite a few times, we means he knows all (or most) of the rules to the game. This came in very handy when the commentary team were dishing out stats like there would be no tomorrow. The game itself once you know the rules can be quite exciting, we were all getting hyped as the first quarter was ending and I even caught myself commenting on tactics the Saints were using (clearly now an expert lol). As the second quarter ended we went to the kitchen, where pancake mix and streaky bacon beckoned us. Baring in mind that it's 1.30 in the morning there somehow wasn't a better thing to do, than to have an American style breakfast and then spin the digibox back so we could watch The Who at half time.

So onto the second half, New Orleans upped their game and after scoring a try oops I mean Touchdown, then they had the choice of kicking for an extra point or going for the line again for 2, they chose the latter and after a video replay were awarded the 2 points. Now the underdogs in the lead, I'm loving it, before the game we all though that the Colts would win by a mile but wanted the Saints to win. After a breakaway touchdown the Saints are steaming away and a huge upset is on the cards and ultimately achieved. More shockingly though, I think I've found a new game to watch.


The Goof
It's been a busy week, hence my late blog but its also been one of a variety of goofing around, Wednesday was the first ever small group at my house which I duly dubbed “Glasshouse Granville”. After bringing the house into “visitor mode” it was time to cook the meal, now anyone who knows me knows that I have this border line vendetta on packet sauces and ready meals, thus meaning that when I cook its all from scratch, the spices are lined up and although it takes a lot longer hopefully it tastes a lot better. Well clearly not knowing how many of the 8 people would turn up I had to ensure there was enough food to go round (decent portions non of this southern stinginess) so it took me the best part of an hour or so to prep, thus meaning that time was getting tight, as it turned out there would be only four of us this week (with two coming a bit later not wanting food). 

I love having friends over and chatting over a meal, its a big thing in the middle-eastern culture that we seem to have lost over here. Its over a meal that people can be relaxed and really talk, not this pretence of “I'm fine” or “works good” but real conversation. Ultimately ending in the hilarity of people mishearing or the getting onto a subject where you end up in the ethers of near insanity. As it turned out we had a great time, and I look forward to the next time we all meet up.

The Gospel

With Valentines on its way (or passed as I'm posting this) I wanted to look at something a bit different and not go down the lovey-dovey route, though the very nature of my faith is a supreme act of love and so this has proved difficult.

I'm not anti-valentines at all, I think its a good thing, its nice to send cards or receive them (if you lucky enough to), but I do feel that showing love shouldn't just be on a special occasion, whether it be within a romantic relationship, family unit or friendship.

I was looking at 1 Corinthians 12, a passage that many of you might be familiar with. It talks about the gifts of the spirit and also the church being “one body”. Now firstly, we all know that God gives out gifts to us all, as he deems fit. We can ask him for a particular gift and if it is his will then he will bless us with it, I'm not one who says everyone can have every gift if they ask, as it clearly states that God is the giver and he gives as he see fit. We are all different (thankfully) and each have a different gift mix.

In the second part of this chapter (verse 12 onwards) it talks about One Body many parts. We all all different and yet we all fit into this thing we call church, not a building but the people of God.

1 Corinthians 12:14-20 (ESV)

“For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them,as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” 

I love what it says about "if all were one [part] then where is the body", I shows that we're meant to be unique, that we all think differently and serve him in whichever way(s) he has inspired us to. One Church, meaning the people of God, whether you are an Anglican, Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal etc. we are all part of ONE church, sometimes people forget that. We all believe that its nothing we do to save ourselfs it's what Jesus has done and through him we are made whole.

One thing that really spoke to me this week was the body metaphor, its easy to think along the lines that we are different parts and therefore we need each other, but I was lead to thinking about how each of us interacts with each other and how the body supports each other. If you cut your leg then the eyes can see it, your brain feels it and the whole body knows that a part of it is in pain.  The arms and hands bandage it up so that it can heal. This is the same way the church should be, so often we don't look out the for other parts of the body, we need to remember to help each other and be there for one another, looking through Jesus' eyes and hurting when others hurt but also being joyful when others are.

So this week, lets make it our goal to remember that we are ONE body and because of that we need to look after each other being there for each other and if need be bandaging each other up.


=Monte Has Spoken =