The End Times Comedy Show
A Novel
by Thor Ramsey
Imprint: Resource Publications
Los Angeles, circa 1998, Sam Seitz is a mildly successful comedian with five Tonight Show appearances who is actively trying to lose his religion so that he might "pursue the mindless goal of becoming famous for the sake of fame, without hindrance, setting aside the truth that so easily besets" him. Coming from a family of the most famous evangelicals in the country, apostatizing is no small task. After all, his family has been called "the Kennedys of the evangelical world." For the first time in his life he feels like unbelief is within reach, until he notices that Jesus is following him. Literally. Not to mention the demons he starts seeing, but they might be with the drug dealer who happens to be his stripper girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. And let's not leave out the night God tells him in a dream that he only has twenty-four hours to live. Thus begins his quest to find a way to reverse this proclamation, but hopefully one that doesn't involve repentance, since he's trying to deconvert and all.
The End Times Comedy Show is a satire of the evangelical landscape that is filled with kindness, faith, and warmth for its characters. Blending magical realism and dark humor, Ramsey takes the theological subject of "crucified with Christ" to parabolic and hilarious extremes, all while avoiding heresy.
Thor Ramsey is a Christian, husband, father, pastor, author, screenwriter, actor, vertebrate, biped, and stand-up comic, in that order.
“Unforgettable, hilarious, and read-again good: this author’s wry and often painfully astute self-awareness turns the ‘fourth wall’ into a backboard, presenting the first-person account of a modern Jonah in the person of a stand-up comedian who tries to ‘de-convert’ from a Jesus who both stalks him and winks at him. Help me, Rhonda, indeed!”
—Latayne C. Scott, author of The Hinge of Your History: The Phases of Faith
“If David Foster Wallace and Martyn Lloyd Jones had a baby, he would write like Thor Ramsey. Thor is a bold Christian and a biting, theologically sound satirist—which means he makes stodgy people uncomfortable, regardless of their worldview. The End Times Comedy Show is smart, funny, and thought-provoking.”
—Marshall Allen, author of Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win