Christian Philosophy of Comedy: Sketch Comedy

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In our search for comedic genres to use to glorify God, we now come across "sketch comedy." Sketch comedy "refers to short comedic scenes or vignettes... usually between 1 to 10 minutes long" [1]. This definition is partially circular, so, to slightly reword it, sketch comedy consists of scenes and vignettes designed to make their viewers laugh. 

So, how can Christians use sketch comedy to glorify God? As with the other kinds of comedy we've covered in this series, the answer largely lies in the definition itself. Christian sketch comedians glorify God by creating scenes that cause viewers to laugh in such a way where they recognize truth about God.

As for an example of how this can look in practice, let's go to an often-used part of Scripture when it comes to considering the humor of Christ: Matthew 7:3-5. Here, Jesus gives His famous illustration of a man with a beam in his eye trying to get a mote out of his brother's eye. As the immediate context makes clear, this is an illustration of someone with a greater sin, without dealing with his own sin first, trying to help his brother deal with his lesser sin. Imagine that a Christian sketch comedian turned this illustration into a sketch! It would be a perfect illustration of the foolishness of trying to help others kill their sin while ignoring your own, especially (though definitely not only) when your sin is greater than that of the one you are trying to help. And this is just one possible way Christian sketch comedy could work!

[1] https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-sketch-comedy-definition/