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Good morning.

Here in Edinburgh, we are preparing for the start of the Edinburgh Festival later this week.Ìý Our beautiful city bulges at the seams with people come to perform, and with visitors from all over the world who come to ‘do the Festival’.Ìý

Let’s set to one side for a moment the grand set-piece events –ÌýlikeÌýthe Orchestral Concerts in the Usher Hall.Ìý

My family is gathering to support my nephew – very bright and very sensitive.Ìý He’s coming to do a slot in the ‘stand-up’.Ìý Doing that belongs for me in the same category as bungee jumping and deep-sea diving.Ìý The answer is ‘No’.Ìý

I’ll watch him and wonder why he does it.Ìý After all, I’ve spent the best years of my life trying to get people to take me seriously – and he sets out to do the opposite.ÌýÌý

But of course it’s not as simple as that.Ìý Comedy isn’t just ‘funny Ha! Ha!Ìý It’s a process of stripping off the layers and trying to reveal what is underneath – and that will always be uncomfortable and sometimes evenÌýtragic.Ìý

In the best comedy, what we see is the clown who chooses to make himself vulnerable.Ìý He wants show people aspects of truth even as he makes them laugh – even making them laugh at themselves.ÌýÌý

In that sense, it is an emotional high-wire act.Ìý I can just about see the point.Ìý But I’ll be scared both with him and for him.

O Lord God
Our world is uncertain about truth and integrity
Through the gift of laughter
Help us to hear the truth
And even the truth about ourselves
Especially when it makes us feel uncomfortable.Ìý Amen.