Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Arts & CultureJesuitical

What comedians and Catholics have in common: They need to tell the truth.

JesuiticalDecember 18, 2020
(iStock)

We all need a laugh. 2020 has been an absolutely awful year (no citation needed). But is it O.K. for us to take a step back and laugh at it all? We bring on professional funny man and former professional Catholic, Greg Iwinksi, to discuss. Greg is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer and performer, and he currently writes for “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” He’s previously written for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and worked with The Second City and iO theaters.

We talk to Greg about the pandemic, the difference between “church” funny and “actual” funny and Trump Jokes. Greg also reminds us that comedy is serious business, and, above all, about telling the truth.

In Signs of the Times, we discuss the Vatican’s controversial Nativity and deliver a Jesuitical SOT-P.S.A. about the newly F.D.A.-approved Covid-19 vaccines.

This is our last regular episode of 2020, but there is still time for you to help with our special Christmas edition of Jesuitical. Email a 60-second-or-less voice memo to jesuitical@americamedia.org describing a consolation from 2020. Get your consolation in by Monday, Dec. 21!

What’s on tap?

Hot Toddy

Links from the show:

Jesuitical

A podcast from the young, hip and lay editors of America Media. Hosted by Ashley McKinless and Zac Davis.

Provide feedback on this article

We don’t have comments turned on everywhere anymore. We have recently relaunched the commenting experience at America and are aiming for a more focused commenting experience with better moderation by opening comments on a select number of articles each day.

But we still want your feedback. You can join the conversation about this article with us in social media on Twitter or Facebook, or in one of our Facebook discussion groups for various topics.

Or send us feedback on this article with one of the options below:

We welcome and read all letters to the editor but, due to the volume received, cannot guarantee a response.

In order to be considered for publication, letters should be brief (around 200 words or less) and include the author’s name and geographic location. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

We open comments only on select articles so that we can provide a focused and well-moderated discussion on interesting topics. If you think this article provides the opportunity for such a discussion, please let us know what you'd like to talk about, or what interesting question you think readers might want to respond to.

If we decide to open comments on this article, we will email you to let you know.

If you have a message for the author, we will do our best to pass it along. Note that if the article is from a wire service such as Catholic News Service, Religion News Service, or the Associated Press, we will not have direct contact information for the author. We cannot guarantee a response from any author.

We welcome any information that will help us improve the factual accuracy of this piece. Thank you.

Please consult our Contact Us page for other options to reach us.

City and state/province, or if outside Canada or the U.S., city and country. 
When you click submit, this article page will reload. You should see a message at the top of the reloaded page confirming that your feedback has been received.

Most popular

1
What Catholic social teaching says about Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico
Grace Lenahan
2
Pope Francis had two acute breathing crises Monday
Gerard O’Connell
3
Trump administration terminates US bishops’ refugee resettlement contract
Gina Christian - OSV News
4
Pope Francis denounces deregulation, neoliberalism and the breakdown of global cooperation in new letter
Gerard O’Connell
5
What the death of my dog taught me about Ash Wednesday
Maggi Van Dorn

Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more.

Signs of Hope: Finding Jubilee in a Fractured World – May 1-2
Activities, Conferences, Events
St. Joseph’s Seminary, the major seminary of the Archdiocese of New York
Seminaries & Theology Studies
Specialized Formation
Education, Seminaries & Theology Studies
University of Scranton – seeks Executive Director of the Jesuit Center
Jobs, Retreats, Seminars, Shrines, Spiritual Resources
The Church: People of God on a Mission – An Online Course
Spiritual Resources
See all Classifieds

The latest from america

What the death of my dog taught me about Ash Wednesday
Caring for my senior dog was a masterclass in that Lenten refrain: “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” It was my soul that she was training.
Maggi Van DornMarch 03, 2025
What Catholic social teaching says about Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico
Economist and Jesuit priest Stephen Pitts, S.J., weighs in on President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.
Grace LenahanMarch 03, 2025
Pope Francis had two acute breathing crises Monday
Pope Francis experienced another setback today with “two episodes of acute respiratory insufficiency” caused by “a significant accumulation of mucus in the lungs.”
Gerard O’ConnellMarch 03, 2025
Pope Francis’ hospitalization is a reminder of the care we all deserve, archbishop says
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, shared that, “The pope is reminding every one of us, all people, starting with us elderly, that we are all frail and therefore we must take care of each other.”
Carol Glatz - Catholic News Service March 03, 2025