As a vicar and a standup comedian, take it from me: the pope is right, laughing at God is OK | Ravi Holy

Uwhat topics, if any, should be off limits for comedians? For Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais, and especially Dave Chappelle, the answer seems to be “nothing.” But for the rest of us (for, though hardly in their league, I am, for my sins, a comedian as well as a vicar) the golden rule is “Hit up, not down.” In other words, it’s fine to make fun of the powerful, but to laugh at any minority group, as old-school comics like Bernard Manning did, is a form of bullying.

By this logic, God, the most powerful being in the universe, is a legitimate target for humor. Pope Francisc he said so himself last week.

in an address to an assembly of comic luminaries (which included Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Gervais’ former writing partner Stephen Merchant), he said that laughing at God is not blasphemy. I wonder what he would do Jim Jeffries’ “God is drunk at a party” routine.? “I think it would be really cool if you could all sing songs for me.”

Personally, I think it’s brilliant, but I suspect many of my parishioners would be horrified by it; even the ones they like Life of Brian.

Of course this was known as blasphemy when it was released in the 1970s, but the Pythons have always been clear that their problem is with the followers of Christ, not the man himself. As Terry Jones saidwe spent 2000 years killing each other because we couldn’t agree with what our leader said about peace and love.

I don’t talk about the Spanish Inquisition in my set (no one would expect that!), but I do poke fun at my own church, which most audiences – the vast majority of whom are happy atheists – seem to enjoy. Punters may never have met a bishop, but we’ve all had a boss who was both pompous and incompetent.

To be clear, I’m not referring to my current Mother in God, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, and although she’s never seen my play, I’m sure she’d approve. Especially the parts where I stand up to racism, homophobia and just the overwhelming middle class of the Church of England.

I’d like to think Jesus would approve too; because “punching” isn’t just good comedic practice, it’s a Christian value. Consider Mary’s famous cry in the Gospel of Luke: “He hath brought down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.”

But surely laughing at God himself (or yourself) is different? Obviously I don’t. Really, I can’t say anything on stage that can represent “behavior unbecoming a minister in holy orders“. Although I’m quite proud of the fact that I manage to get into both Satanism and adult movie actors in a way that doesn’t elicit any complaints – until now.

But I’ve seen other comics do material that would undoubtedly “offend the religious feelings of the faithful,” which the Pope urged his audience to try to avoid. I once had to track down someone whose grand finale was to have sex with Jesus. I didn’t find this particularly funny because, unlike the Jefferies part, it seemed intended to simply shock rather than make any real point. However, it was an absolute gift to me: all I had to do was go on, dressed in my clerical collar and with a confused expression, and the audience was in stitches before I even started.

So what exactly does Francis mean when he says that laughing at God is OK? He likened it to “playing and joking with the people we love” and, as someone who is trying to love God, it is comforting to have this blessing from the highest church authority. But atheist comedians, like the woman I mentioned above, hardly need permission to do what they’ve happily done for years.

And so, in her own, obscene way, the Lady-Sex-Jesus was rising, and the type of Christians who would be most offended by her act were unlikely ever to see it. They probably don’t go to comedy clubs, and if she ever makes it to Live at the Apollo, she’ll almost certainly have to tone it down.

As for God’s own feelings about all this: a central tenet of the Christian faith is that the Son of God gave up the glory of heaven for an ignominious death on a Roman cross. From which he unconditionally pardoned his executioners. So it seems he’s not that worried about being laughed at, even in a mean way.

Meanwhile, I know from my own experience that God has a great sense of humor, because it was he who inspired my stage name—Ravi Holly—and thus my signature quip that if I were a Pentecostal priest, which I almost was, I’d be Pastor Ravioli.