I’m a big fan of Joel Stine, who writes for Time magazine. He’s a journalist, but he’s also very very funny. Think of him as Dave Barry doing actual reporting. Dave Barry is hysterical, but he’s primarily a humor writer. Stine is a reporter.
Stine usually writes the back-page column in Time, but also does other stories. A couple weeks ago, he did a column called “Christian Improv: What’s Funny at Warren’s Church.” He actually called up and got a spot as a member of the improv group at Saddleback Church one week. It’s not a story which sheds much useful light on anything, but it made me laugh. Stine, I should point out, is Jewish.
Here’s how the article began:
There are many things Evangelical Christians are good at, such as bake
sales and talking to me on planes. They’re less adept at other things,
such as comedy and fighting lions. Christians aren’t funny because they
tend to be literal-minded. Also because they’re sad about having had
sex with only one person.
Time is a superb magazine, and I’ve subscribed since the 1980s. But when Joel Stine arrived some years back, it became a must-keep subscription for me.
