The service starts with organ music. Congregants are offered a program listing the officiants: Mega-Pastor Greg Kyte, Arch-Prophet Adam Broud, and Lord & Savior Caleb Wall. The service unfolds in this order: a lesson, message, music, sermon, and benediction. There isn’t an altar, but a deep-red curtain hangs behind the officiants. Instead of pews, stools are set up for seating.
“Feel free to stick around,” Kyte tells the crowd in his introduction, “and let your soul get tarnished.” This is the unique setting for Comedy Church in Salt Lake City, and the theme of this particular performance is mental health.
The recurring comedy show, which started in Utah, has traveled to Texas, Arizona, Colorado, New York, and even Canada. Kyte has been doing stand-up comedy since 2002. At that time, he was transitioning out of being a “zealous” evangelical Christian. He was so devout that he even transferred from the University of Washington to Brigham Young University to “convert all the Mormons to the real Jesus.” As his dedication to his faith faded, Kyte turned to comedy.
“It was hard not to notice the similarities between a stand-up comedy show and a church service,” Kyte said. “So I kind of had this idea brewing for years of doing a show that somehow tied into my background in evangelical Christianity.”
Another thing Kyte noticed was that a lot of material from Utah comedians touched on religion, God, and spirituality. Thus, Comedy Church took shape in 2018 and has since mirrored an actual church service so closely that there’s a disclaimer at the start of each show.
“The initial success of Comedy Church was not so much about drawing huge crowds,” Kyte said, “it’s that the comedians we had on the show as guest comics loved it.”
Each performance features comedians from all religious backgrounds. Among them is Utah comedian Anna Tibbitts, an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After each set, Kyte and Broud interview performers about their history with religion and their thoughts on the show’s theme for the night.
“There are probably more parallels between a stand-up comedy show and a testimony meeting at a Mormon church,” Kyte explained, “because you have multiple speakers who come up and share a particular message they’re trying to deliver.”
Broud, a former Latter-day Saint, joined Comedy Church in 2020 and now co-runs the shows with Kyte. He jokingly says the duo is trying to form a “cult” with their show.
During the lesson portion of their mental health-themed show in September, Kyte and Broud shared their own experiences through the lens of religion.
“I felt like most of my mental health issues in religion came from perfectionism, trying to be just the perfect little Christian boy,” Broud shared with the crowd, which responded with cheers. “For instance, I used to get anxious thoughts all the time that I called promptings, and I now know them as the beginning stages of generalized anxiety disorder.”
The lesson segment ended with a hilarious, anything-but-peaceful meditation guided by Kyte. It was set to vaguely religious background music performed live by Caleb Wall.
When the night’s two featured comedians, Brandon Henderson and Andy Gold, took the stage, their jokes were only made stronger by the interviews that followed.
When asked about his belief in a power greater than himself, Gold said he’s made peace with not needing to define it. He’s just fine embracing the mystery of it all.
“I don’t understand why a sunset is so beautiful. I can’t explain why music moves us the way it does,” he said. “The mountains are gorgeous. There are so many things I experience every day that touch me at a level where it feels meaningful.”
The show promises equal doses of laughter and seriousness. The musical special between the sets was a raucous song by Wall. The chorus, “I’m a B for Jesus,” had people singing along irreverently.
Comedy Church, Broud said, is about having a common language for something many people have experienced: religion.
“You go to church, and you all speak the same language because you have the same stories, books, and backgrounds in many ways,” he said, “but after you leave religion, you still have that culture, that language of idioms, and nowhere to take it.”
The next Comedy Church show is Sunday at Wiseguys Comedy Club at The Gateway in Salt Lake City.
https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/2025/11/15/comedy-church-traveling-show-with/
