Sez WFMU: "Christian stand-up comedy is a relatively new phenomenon, the start of which can be pinned down to the nineteen seventies. Prior to that point there existed plenty that could have been considered Christian entertainment but none of it was particularly (at least intentionally) funny." Indeed, the article in question states numerous times that Christian comedy itself (stand-up or otherwise) was something new beginning in, um... 1971.
Right. 1971. And what's wrong with 1971 as a starting date for Christian comedy? Well, for starters, Wendy Bagwell's huge C. comedy hit Here Come the Rattlesnakes appeared on an album (This, That and the Other) a year earlier. As did the Cathedrals' Laughing Song (an update of Ticklish Reuben).
But Christian comedy goes back much farther than that. For instance, Billy Sunday's Homer Rodeheaver was entertaining audiences with stand-up-style humor as early as 1922. How do I know? Because Homer was thoughtful enough to document some of his stage shtick for us:
Brighten the Corner Where You Are (Ogdon-Gabriel)--Homer Rodeheaver, 1922. From Rainbow 78.
And we can assume he was standing up when he offered those humorous lines.
Next up: The Substitute Parson, from 1929.
Lee
Monday, February 19, 2007
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2 comments:
When does 'FMU get anything right?
When are they going to start saying that Bagwell is a "trad Christian" and Warnke is an "outlaw Christian" and Ron Carey's album "lounge Christian?"
Perhaps they're babbling about the 70's and after, because of the onward Christian powerhouse record labels such as Word and Myrrh selling Jesus rock right along with the usual hymns. Whatever.
Nice of them to even consider laughing at anyone who doesn't look like Del Close or Percy Dovetonsils.
Some folks truly need 'FMU. Otherwise, how would the pretentious know what to pretend to know?
Ill Folks,
I was thinking the same thing re the Seventies. Funny, isn't it, how FMU equates the first Christian comedy album with the BIRTH of Christian comedy? Nothing exists until it shows up on a long-playing album, I guess. What scholars, those guys.
Yes, someone must need FMU. Enough to allow them get away with research-free research....
Lee
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