Comedy Night Live Message- Listen & Grow

WHAT?

QUESTION | Who's the funniest person you know?

We're so excited for what you have prepared for you! Before we get going, here's something to think about — who is the funniest person you know?

INSTRUCTIONS: Allow a few students and leaders to share their answers.

We all love funny people. We all love comedy. Comedy is fun. Comedy makes us laugh. When we're in an uncomfortable situation, we'll often resort to comedy.

Laughter is one of the ways we learn to connect with each other and build up our relationships. But even though comedy often seems like a random combination of thoughts and ideas, behind the scenes there’s usually a lot more going on than we'd expect.

A lot of the comedy we consume is based on improvisation—movies, sketch shows, even cartoons are often kicked off with some improv techniques. And even if they're not strictly improvised, they incorporate the principles of improvisation as they are being made.

Improvisation is a style of creating that lends itself to always being open to new ideas. This can seem random when the final product is delivered, but there is plenty of preparation and training that goes into it. With improvisation, ideas can flow, snowball into something huge, or completely change at any moment.

ACTIVITY | Yes, and . . .

To help us understand what can happen in an improvised scene, we're going to try out a little technique.

INSTRUCTIONS: Select two volunteers. The goal of this activity is to carry on a moving conversation for 30 seconds for each of the two rounds. In the first round, one player will make a statement like "I went to the store." Every sentence after must begin with "No, but . . ." Players will alternate until they reach 30 seconds or until the scene totally falls apart. In the second round, one play will make an opening statement. Every sentence after must begin with "Yes, and . . ." Players will alternate until they reach 30 seconds or until the scene falls apart.

What we just witnessed was the power of "yes and." This is the most well-known principle of improvisation. It’s the concept that you agree or say yes to another player’s suggestion or idea, and you add to it to help make it better.

As you probably noticed, this approach helps to keep a scene or an idea moving and growing, and it helps foster creativity. Creativity grows when it is nurtured, and it thrives in a positive environment full of safety and encouragement. The "yes and" approach requires us to listen first. But we listen in more ways than the one we all might be thinking of. Sometimes we listen with our ears. Sometimes it’s with our eyes. And sometimes we just get a feeling in our gut when we walk into a scene.

Listening first can be tough for a lot of us, though. It requires this constant understanding that we don't start off with all of the information.

In a comedy scene, this might look like a player being given their own characteristics and attributes by another player. You may walk out on stage and another player says to you “Mom, get out of my room!” You then have the option to build on that as that character’s mom in their room or you can abruptly end that idea by saying “I’m not your mom, I don’t know who you are, and we are on a spaceship.” Shooting down another player’s idea or saying “no” to an offer might get a quick laugh from a stage, but it makes it hard to move forward.

As you saw, starting with "no" stalls the overall story that’s being told because you have to come up with a story that moves in a completely different direction. On top of that, it can really upset your teammates along the way.

The same thing happens in real life. We can walk into a room with the posture that we know everything already and there is nothing new to learn here. You can say “I’m the boss and I do the telling of facts around here.” But chances are, you’re not actually the boss. And ten times out of ten, you don’t literally know everything. So you can act like you're the boss, puff up your chest around your team, and pretend to know everything, or you can walk into a scene with humility and listen to others around you.

You can help grow other peoples’ ideas and have them help grow yours too. When you choose to say "yes and," you can create something new and special through collaboration and listening.

When we refuse to listen to others, some pretty embarrassing things can happen. In our desire to seem like we know a lot, we can end up proving we don't know much at all. Or, we can get ourselves into a sticky situation because we refused to listen to sound advice.

SCRIPTURE | Numbers 22:28–31

There's a really great story in the book of Numbers that demonstrates why it's important to learn how to listen to different types of cues.

This guy named Balaam is heading out to do something God isn't very excited about. So, God sends an angel to disrupt his journey and keep him from going forward. For some reason, Balaam's donkey can see this angel but Balaam can't. The angel is standing on the road they're traveling, sword out, ready to do everything possible to stop Balaam, so the donkey pumps the brakes.

Balaam's got a choice here. He can get curious about why his donkey is acting this way. He can listen to the cues the donkey is giving him and wonder about what he isn't able to see. He can "Yes, and . . ." with his faithful donkey companion.

But, that's not what Balaam does. Instead, he goes for the "no, thanks" style of collaboration. The donkey tried to let Balaam know what's going on a couple of times until something wild happens.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read Numbers 22:28–34

Numbers 22:28–34 NIV

Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”

*Shrek donkey pic*

Now some of you may have seen the cinematic masterpiece, Shrek, and have gotten used to the concept of talking donkeys, but others may need a moment to wrap their head around this idea and I encourage you to take as long as you need.

When Balaam refused to listen to God speaking to him through his donkey, the donkey spoke out loud to Balaam. And Balaam responded like this was a normal part of their lives. But only after their heart-to-heart is Balaam able to see what his donkey has been seeing. His eyes are opened and he can see the angel. He finds out that if the donkey had not done what it did, the two would have certainly died.

In this moment, God reached out and spoke to Balaam in a way that should take us all by surprise. And yeah, it's okay to think it's kind of funny. But isn't it cool that God is willing to occasionally do such weird and creative things to get our attention? Now, it's safe to assume that most of you won't hear from an actual donkey this year. But you can decide today the approach you take into the world each day. What if . . .

You started listening more closely for the ways God might be speaking to you?

You started listening more closely to the people around you?

I wonder how your life, your friendships, your faith, and your future could all change with a little bit more listening. Because…

The more we listen, the more we grow.

NOW WHAT?

LIVE A "YES, AND" LIFE

When you wake up, you can decide whether or not you'll take steps to listen to others. You can live like you know everything and try to set up scenes all by yourself, or you can engage with people and remember they have things to offer, too. You can create habits that help you listen and make space for others to take the lead. As you do, you might be surprised by the unexpected ways you hear from God and from the people around you. And saying "yes, and" isn't just about learning to listen to the people around you. It's an approach that can help you learn to listen for God's voice in your life, too. You can listen with your ears, your eyes, and with that gut feeling we get when we know what we should be doing. Living a "yes, and" life is when you:

PRIORITIZE LISTENING:

Invite other people into your conversations, even if they're unexpected interactions. Learn to listen to others more than you talk, and pay attention through more than just hearing their words. Listen to body language, tone of voice, and your gut instincts. We can create habits of listening to God and the people around us, which is so important for our growth and development in our faith and relationships.

PRACTICE HUMILITY:

Choose to serve others and admit the things you don't know. There's nothing wrong with saying "I don't know" and asking others for help. We might all want to be the center of all of the jokes, laughter, and attention, but saying "yes, and" means making space for others to share and take the lead. It requires us to admit that we don't —and can't — know it all, no matter how much we may want to.

COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS:

God has given each of us a voice and a perspective. When we allow others to share and speak out, we can create something really incredible. A "yes, and" life focuses on celebrating what we make together and challenging each other to be the best versions of ourselves — the versions that grow close to God's hopes and purpose for our lives. When we focus on listening and practicing humility, we can become better collaborators and partners in the things God is creating through us because we'll know when to step back and let others shine. We can use our voices and make space for our friends and loved ones to use theirs, too.

No matter your experience in the church or how familiar you are with God, you're being invited to play a part. There are things you can offer as we work to create something incredible in the world. You can choose to say "yes, and" to God and step into the role God has been preparing for you. All of us have the chance to make space to listen for the way God leads us into what's next. Whether you've been following Jesus for a while or you're still full of questions, you can prioritize listening to say "yes, and" to God. Because

The more we listen, the more we grow.

PRAYER | Closing and Invitation

INSTRUCTIONS: Close with a prayer that invites students to respond, and maybe to express commitment to Jesus for the first time. Close by letting students know they can come talk with you and the adults in the room if they need help or have questions they want to talk about.