Esther as satire & A tig NOtaro comedy special

On Sunday, Maddie preached about how comedy helps us to navigate the tension between joy and all the reasons why we shouldn't feel it. In a moment when there are so many reasons not to be joyful, humor can help us to see another perspective that God is offering us. Sometimes taking ourselves less seriously can allow us to respond to our circumstances with more grace — for ourselves, for other people, and for the rest of God's creation. 

This week's two resources build on these themes: an article about how we might read the book of Esther as a satire and a comedy special that navigates the tension between joy and deep personal pain. 

Our first resource is an article in the Christian Century by Pastor Debbie Blue about the book of Esther. On Sunday, we looked at how many scholars read the book of Jonah as a satire. In this article Pastor Blue explores why we might read the book of Esther similarly. The Book of Esther tells the story of a Jewish woman named Esther who becomes queen of Persia and, with the help of her cousin Mordecai, courageously thwarts a plot by the king’s advisor Haman to annihilate the Jewish people. Though God is never mentioned explicitly, the narrative highlights themes of divine providence, hidden identity, and courageous advocacy. The Jewish festival of Purim commemorates this dramatic deliverance and celebrates survival through cunning, bravery, and solidarity.

According to Pastor Blue, the book of Esther is a comic farce that mocks imperial power, gendered expectations, and human egotism through exaggerated characters, bawdy humor, and absurd political drama. Rather than offering solemn moral lessons or divine mandates, it invites readers to laugh at the powerful, question the pretensions of empire, and find grace in human courage and wit. Purim, the festival inspired by Esther, preserves this spirit of joyful subversion — celebrating hiddenness, survival, and laughter as sacred acts. 

This reading of Esther is politically subversive. By laughing at the Persian empire — the pompous king, the sycophantic advisers, and the ridiculous laws — it undermines the authority and permanence of empire itself. It shows that the structures we’re taught to revere (royalty, gender roles, power) are often absurd and fragile. The humor becomes a weapon — a way to reclaim agency, especially for the marginalized. Esther, a woman with no power on paper, uses wit, timing, and beauty to save her people. That’s not just a story of survival — it’s a satire of how power works, and who gets to wield it. In that way, reading Esther as satire is a kind of resistance. It invites us to take joy seriously, to question seriousness itself, and to see comedy as a theological act.

Our second resource is a groundbreaking comedy special by queer comedian Tig Notaro that some people call "Live," but that others remember as the "Hello, Good Evening, I Have Cancer" set. This set was not intended to be a recorded special, but someone at the venue thankfully happened to tape it. The audience was so moved by the set that night that others convinced Notaro to release the recording. As the alternate title suggests, the set begins with Notaro taking the stage and saying "Hello. Good Evening. Hello. I have cancer." The following thirty minutes are a hilarious and cutting exploration of Notaro's fresh cancer diagnosis, her mother's death, and her recent breakup. At various moments, Notaro attempts to comfort the audience members who seem concerned for her, assuring them that they will be ok. Her humor plays on the bleakness of her own situation as she attempts to make meaning of recent events. At one point, towards the end of the set, she apologizes to the audience for being so depressing and asks them if they would prefer for her to switch to jokes. But you can hear them yell in reply "No! No! Keep going!" This is one of my favorite comedy specials that speaks to the power of the genre to navigate tension well. 

As you head into this week, may you open yourself to the possibility of seeing God's joy, even in the midst of so much sorrow. I'm praying that you find a moment to laugh as well!