Five Comedians and One Saint: A Comedy of Eternal Stakes

Today on Press Play, Madeleine Brand interviewed Lorraine Ali about her book No Lessons Learned: The Making of Curb Your Enthusiasm as Told by Larry David and the Cast and Crew. As I listened, I realized how strange it is that Larry David belongs to a small circle of people I’ve felt connected to for decades. When I made the mental list—David, Richard Lewis, Fran Lebowitz, Don Rickles, Rodney Dangerfield—it was obvious they were all Jewish, secular, and uncompromisingly themselves. They taught me to laugh at the absurdity of existence, and to find humor in the bruised places most people hide. 

That realization sent me down a darker corridor: Paul the Apostle and Christianity, both of which have shadowed me with sermons about sin, salvation, and the terror of eternity. The comedians insist life is a spectacle of flaws; Paul insists life is a judgment. 

I sometimes imagine the five humorists sitting with Paul on Andy Cohen’s set, trading insults, jokes, and aphorisms while Paul urges repentance. Would he recognize their brilliance or just try to convert them? I don’t know. I only know that part of my soul reaches for laughter and part of me reaches for salvation, and the tension between them has left me unsettled and heavy-hearted.