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
Pope Francis urges war-torn world to walk through ‘door of peace’ on Christmas
Gerard O’Connell
2
Embracing the simplicity of Jesus’ birth: A Christmas Eve homily inspired by Henri Nouwen
Preach
3
A Christmas prayer for (nearly) everyone
James Martin, S.J.
4
Why G.K. Chesterton and his wife loved Christmas so much
Maria Wiering - OSV News
5
Pope Francis at Christmas Mass: ‘Hope is alive’ as Jubilee Year begins
Pope Francis

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

Unsung Scriptures – An Online Course
Spiritual Resources
President of Catholic Theological Union
Jobs
Canisius High School
Education, High Schools
Maggie’s Place
Volunteer / Vocation
Take Home Fifty Writers, Thinkers, and Firebrands!
Books
See all Classifieds

The latest from america

The Jubilee year: Its history and what’s planned for 2025
In this episode of Inside the Vatican, Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss the 2025 Jubilee Year, beginning on Christmas Eve 2024 and ending in January 2026.
Inside the VaticanDecember 26, 2024
Pope Francis gives his Christmas blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 25, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Pope Francis urges war-torn world to walk through ‘door of peace’ on Christmas
Pope Francis prayed that the Jubilee Year may become “a season of hope” and reconciliation in a world at war and suffering humanitarian crises as he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.
Gerard O’ConnellDecember 25, 2024
Pope Francis, after opening the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, gives his homily during the Christmas Mass at Night Dec. 24, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Pope Francis at Christmas Mass: ‘Hope is alive’ as Jubilee Year begins
‘If God can visit us, even when our hearts seem like a lowly manger, we can truly say: Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever!’
Pope FrancisDecember 24, 2024
Embracing the simplicity of Jesus’ birth: A Christmas Eve homily inspired by Henri Nouwen
Inspired by his friend and mentor Henri Nouwen, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, leader of Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S., invites listeners in his Christmas Eve homily to approach the manger with renewed awe and openness.
PreachDecember 23, 2024