I’m not quite in my right mind today, thanks to some cold medicine I took this morning. So this might be the perfect time to revisit The Good News Bible Hour #14.
The always-amazing Eric Spears (nee White) just excavated this video from his personal collection a few days ago, digitized it and posted it online. I believe this was produced in 1993, and I probably haven’t seen it for at least fifteen years.
Got a few minutes? Let’s watch this together.
I suppose it pretty much speaks for itself, but I can’t resist adding a few editorial comments.
The video consists entirely of an improvised performance by yours truly. However, Eric ran the camera and edited the program; he can also be heard lending a voice off-camera. Xy makes a brief appearance here in her “Mary Perkins” character.
Perceptive viewers will note that I borrow a few lines from Flip Wilson via Uptown Saturday Night.
The program aired on CATS (nee BCAT) and supposedly has garnered more complaints than any other video. I suspect that’s because people might think it’s a real televangelist sermon at first, though after watching for a few seconds it’s rapidly apparent that this is satire. That might make a viewer angry enough to call the station.
Of course, it’s also possible that some viewers simply couldn’t view this satire as anything other than an attack on Christianity itself. I can’t speculate on my frame of mind 18 years ago, but as I view this now I see it as a mockery of fundamentalism, which of course is a tendency that can emerge in any religion. I don’t see it as a mockery of Christianity or even religion in general.
Your mileage may vary.
By the way, you should definitely check out Eric’s Daisybrain blog.
I’m currently at a place where I don’t have any audio, but after 4 I’m checkin’ this out!!!
This is hilarious coming on the heels of a review of Kevin Smith’s Red State I just read.
Hams-R-Us.
I laughed! You played it straight, too, which made it funnier.
What was that dialect? “Be not trustful of him whose rhoticity cometh and goeth, even though he preacheth the Word.” Who said that? It’ll come to me.
Mary Perkins’ dialogue over the final credits was great. Also, Xy totally rocked the cat-eye glasses.
A kick. Thanks.
Rev Fred Lane would be proud.
I just watched the whole thing, and I’m impressed.
When I saw how long it was, I thought it might get tired. But I was wrong. It just built and built.
I really love how you stay completely in character throughout. The only hint of self-awareness or that you might slip was when you belched loudly and started to crack a smile. The video always struck me as evidence of your own familiarity with Church & sermons – that you can hold your own in a bible debate. It still cracks me up – you were on a great roll.
Thanks for the mention of my blog,
Eric