Accompanying Paul Savage on his quest to find every joke in the Bible is an enjoyable way to spend an hour. There isn’t anything particularly revolutionary in his set, but there is a steady stream of laughs and Savage held my, and the audience’s, attention for the full hour.
He deals with the audience’s reticence well, swiftly segueing into the next joke.
Savage knows his audience as well as he knows his Bible: perfectly pitching his jokes within the bounds of what will be found acceptable, always with a wry self-awareness. There are a few sharp observations and amusing new takes on the material and Savage’s obvious nostalgia for his childhood makes for an enjoyably light-hearted journey through some of the grislier parts of the Old Testament.
Unfortunately, Savage’s attempts to get the audience to participate often fall flat, indicating perhaps that he has not quite succeeded in creating an engaging atmosphere in the room. Having said this, he deals with the audience’s reticence well, swiftly segueing into the next joke.
In all, I enjoyed Paul Savage’s comedic take on Biblical scholarship. His treatment of the material is affectionate and gently comedic. This isn’t an angry Richard Dawkins style rant at the absurdities of religion, nor is an attempt at conversion. Rather, it is an engaging and affable labour of love by a man determined to find comedy in the most unlikely of places.
