Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible — Pittsburgh standup comics read the week’s gospel text cold and talk it out with a couple of Lutheran pastors. It should go badly. It somehow keeps not going badly. Hashtag Not All Saints | All Saints Day, Nov 1, 2026 It’s All Saints Day, which means the Beatitudes. Bob and Eric are joined by resident comic theologians Abby Evans and Erick Wil...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with two ELCA pastors to talk about the week's gospel text — badly, then well. It's Reformation Sunday, and Bob and Eric are joined by resident comic theologians Abby Evans and Erick Williams for John 8, where Jesus promises the truth will set people free and the crowd responds that they've neve...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 100! Jesus gets gotcha'd by the Pharisees, and the Pharisees get Wile E. Coyote'd. It's our hundredth episode, and we're marking it with a short take on the Gospel for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost (October 18): Matthew 22:15-22. The Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar. Say yes and he loses the crowd,...

Send us Fan Mail   Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible: two Lutheran pastors, two comedians, and one lectionary reading per week. Short Take edition.  The king throws a wedding banquet, the invited guests blow him off, and the party ends up filled with whoever the servants can find on the street. Then one guest gets thrown out for the wrong clothes. Pastors Bob Schaefer and Eric Damon sit down in...

Send us Fan Mail On this Short Take episode of Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible, Jesus tells a parable about tenants who kill everyone the landowner sends, right down to his son. And the chief priests listening realize, one by one, that he's talking about them. Are we the baddies? It's one of the hardest texts in the lectionary to preach well, and one of the easiest to misuse. So we...

Send us Fan Mail Vinny Palatucci and Paulie Stags are back, and this time they're bringing their whole Catholic-school baggage with them. What starts as a bit about purgatory ("David Lynch meets jury duty") turns into one of the more theologically honest conversations we've had all season — about fear-based faith, the freedom to actually use your brain, and what it means when s...

Send us Fan Mail Bob and Eric are joined by resident comic theologians Abby Evans and Eric Williams for a Short Take on Matthew 20's Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard — the one where the guy who worked one hour gets paid the same as the guy who worked all day, and everybody in the pews secretly thinks Jesus is wrong. This week: why a "fair" wage and a "generous" wage...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with Lutheran pastors to read the week's lectionary gospel cold — no prep, no scripts — and see what happens when comedic instinct meets biblical text. Episode hook: This week, pastors Bob Schaefer and Eric Damon sit down with Pittsburgh comedians Vinny Palatucci and Paulie Stags — two lapsed Italian Cath...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible — Pittsburgh standup comics read the week's gospel text cold and talk it out with a couple of Lutheran pastors. It should go badly. It somehow keeps not going badly. This week Abby Evans and Erick Williams tackle Jesus's step-by-step guide to confronting someone who's wronged you — and end up asking the harder question: what do y...

Send us Fan Mail Bob and Eric welcome back comedian Lydia Henninger and drag performer Envy Sinn to talk about the moment Jesus tells Peter to get behind him — and figure out he's not mad, just disappointed. This week's gospel (Matthew 16:21-28) has Peter going from golden child to "Satan" in the space of one verse, and the crew digs into what actually earned him the demotion....

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with actual pastors to argue about the lectionary gospel — and the comedians usually turn out to be the serious ones. It's a Short Take this week: Resident Comic Theologians Abby Evans (@itsabbye) and Erick Williams (@comicaledubs) join Bob and Eric to unpack Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi —...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with pastors to read the week's lectionary gospel cold — and somehow the comedians end up being the theologians. This week: drag performer and stand-up Envy Sinn (@envysinnpgh) and dog-sitter/comedian Lydia Henninger (@lydia__allison) join Pastors Bob and Eric for Matthew 15:10–28 — Jesus's "it&...

Send us Fan Mail Two Pittsburgh comedians and two Lutheran pastors read the week's gospel cold and see what happens. This week: Peter gets out of the boat, immediately regrets it, and Jesus does not let him drown. Resident Comic Theologians Abby Evans and Erick Williams join Pastor Bob and Pastor Eric to work out what walking on water actually feels like (bouncy house floor, it turns out), wh...

Send us Fan Mail Josh Rittenour (@ritkeepstalking) and Seth Queen (@sethqueen_comedy) are back on the couch for the Feeding of the 5,000 — and the question nobody's brave enough to ask in Bible study: was Jesus nervous ? This week we treat the greatest miracle in the Gospels like a top-five stand-up bit, complete with pre-show jitters, hecklers, and a hometown crowd that literally tried to th...

Send us Fan Mail The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a New York Deli Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with Lutheran pastors to read the week's lectionary gospel cold, with no preparation and no safety net. This week's a Short Take — no warm-up banter, just our Resident Comic Theologians Erick Williams (@comicaledubs), Abby Evans (@itsabbye) and the text....

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh-area standup comedians with ELCA pastors to dig into the week's Revised Common Lectionary gospel text — the format is right there in the name. This week, we sit down with comedians J osh Rittenour (@ritkeepstalking) and Seth Queen (@sethqueen_comedy) to wrestle with Jesus' Parable of the Weeds — the one where an enemy...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with two ELCA pastors to talk about the week's gospel text — badly, then well. Bob and Eric get back to weekly rhythm with resident comic theologians Abby Evans and Erick Williams , diving straight into Matthew 13's Parable of the Sower — no guest banter, straight to scripture. Expect: A pastor-appro...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible pairs Pittsburgh standup comedians with pastors to dig into the week's gospel text — no prep, no script, just an undefended first read of scripture and whatever happens when a comedian's in the room for it. Brian Bennett and Ryan Cobert are back for round two, and this time the tabletop-gaming frame stops being a fun parallel and star...

Send us Fan Mail A note to our audience: We're taking a week off from our normal mix of comedy and Bible study. We'll jump back into the readings next week. In the meanwhile, we're pleased to present... CPTB Special: Library After Dark Comedy Showcase (Part 2) A pastor walks into a library and tells jokes. The books didn't leave. This special episode takes you inside the room f...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible is the podcast where Pittsburgh-area standup comedians join ELCA Lutheran pastors to explore the week's gospel text from the Revised Common Lectionary — because the people least likely to read the Bible undefended are sometimes the most interesting people to have read it first. This week: no comedians. In the first of two experimental summ...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to be sent out in Jesus' name? Apparently: no money, no bag, no second tunic, and a working knowledge of exactly how bad crucifixion is on your core. Resident Comic Theologians Abby Evans (@itsabbye) and Erick Williams (@comicaledubs) join us to tackle Proper 6A — the commissioning of the Twelve — and somehow we arrive there through a detailed anatomical det...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible is a Pittsburgh podcast where Lutheran pastors Bob Schaefer and Eric Damon sit down with stand-up comedians from the local scene to dig into the weekly lectionary gospel — no prep, no filter, and apparently no firm policy on cat buttholes. Comedians Trevor Austin (@trevoraustincomedy) and Ronnie Fleming (@ron_flem) are back in the Parlor, and w...

Send us Fan Mail CPTB is a conversational, funny, and thoughtful take on this week's Bible readings — for preachers, church leaders, deconstructors, and curious listeners who still love scripture, even when they're not sure what to do with it. We explore the text with humor and theological depth, without certainty, outrage, or easy answers. Jesus promised to meet his disciples in Galilee...

Send us Fan Mail CPTB is a conversational, funny, and thoughtful take on this week's Bible readings — for preachers, church leaders, deconstructors, and curious listeners who still love scripture, even when they're not sure what to do with it. We explore the text with humor and theological depth, without certainty, outrage, or easy answers. It's Pentecost. Jesus shows up through loc...

Send us Fan Mail Comedians with Pastors Talking Bible is the show where Pittsburgh stand-up comedians and ELCA pastors sit down with the week's gospel text — and see what happens when nobody's too precious about it. This week Abby Evans (@itsabbye) and Erick Williams (@comicaledubs) return as Resident Comic Theologians for a Short Take on John 17:1-11, the High Priestly Prayer — Jesus&ap...