What can a serious preacher leam from stand-up comedy? Drawing on the homiletical theories of narrative preaching, from comedy research, from interviews with comedians, and from a series ofsermons from my own pulpit, I identify multiple ways that the rhetorical strategies ofjokes and the methods of stand-up comedians can be effectively utilized in preaching. By employing insights gleaned from studying comedy, preachers can expose listeners' false assumptions and prompt them to reinterpret information they thought they already knew. I find that the strategies and techniques from stand-up comedy amplify the authenticity, immediacy, effect, and power preachers communicate when presenting the Gospel message.
