HERRIMAN, Utah, March 2, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Adam Broud still remembers the best compliment ever bestowed on him for Comedy Church, a live act he cohosts with fellow comic Greg Kyte.
“There’s this one lady who just literally lives on a bus, and she was in Utah for the day and looked up what there was to do,” Broud said. “And she saw there was a comedy show called Comedy Church.”
So she bought a ticket.
“And she was like, ‘I came and I’ve never been religious at all, but this is the greatest comedy show I’ve ever seen in my life. It was so funny.’ And to this day, she’s still on our text list and texts us, just because she liked the show so much.”
Top tier comedy is the priority at Comedy Church, even more so than the religious themes. The adult-themed show, for 21 and older, comes on March 2 to Redemption Bar & Grill, the hottest entertainment venue in Herriman.
Both Broud and Kyte are longtime comics, but they are also formerly church members whose once-strong faith has faded, although their memories of religious upbringings have not. Both men enjoy poking gentle fun at their former selves and at the culture that surrounds religions.
Broud and Kyte — a former member of the LDS Church and a former Evangelical — don’t typically target core tenets of religious faiths.
“It’s mostly us talking about ourselves,” Broud said. “We’ll talk about the culture, but we have plenty of currently religious people come to the show as well, who say ‘Oh yeah, I’d probably say that same thing, with less swear words, but I don’t necessarily disagree with you guys.'”
Comedy Church comes to Redemption one Sunday a month and to a venue further north one time a month. The show follows a church-inspired format, begins with opening announcements, then a themed talk about a different gospel theme, such as the mysteries of God or the Law of Chastity.
One recent topic was the second coming, and Broud and Kyte questioned the presumed belief that Jesus will descend from on high in a loose, flowing robe.
That particular view, from below and looking upward, could end up providing more of a visual “revelation” than the Bible ever predicted, Broud says.
“It’s a lot about overthinking the scriptures,” he says of the act.
After announcements and the opening message comes an utterly irreverent song, usually written by Broud and Kyte and performed by one of them or music director Caleb Wall.
After that comes guest talks by two guest comics, who may muse about religion or a subject of their choice, but following each talk, the guest speaker will be interviewed by Broud and Kyte, often about their religious beliefs or backgrounds, again with comedy as the top priority.
Broud says Comedy Church has played around the nation, and has a strong Utah following of both currently and formerly religious people. But there’s a bonus benefit for the formerly religious, like himself. After believers lose their faith, they tend to go through predictable phases, which include researching other religions, including Eastern religions, then just getting angry because they feel they have been lied to.
“But as soon as you’re no longer mad about it, and you’re just kind of living, there’s not a whole lot of places to go after that point, because so many of the communities that people build after religion are typically built on this concept of ‘Isn’t religion bad?’ And even if you agree with that, it’s hard to dwell on something I think that just makes you mad all the time. I don’t want to live like that. It wears you down and it gets exhausting.”
Acknowledging your former self and beliefs, and sharing laughter with those who have similar stories is a much more positive experience, Broud said.
“I think that’s where we fit in for a lot of people’s lives, and it’s a fun thing for that community. I can just poke fun at the things like the person that I was, rather than feel sad or remorseful. They can come hang out with us, and they can just be like, ‘Oh, yeah, crazy, right?’ I think that’s really therapeutic for people.
“I feel like our show resets reality for us all, because we can talk about things rather than never speak of them again, and pretend we never did any of that stuff, because if we did talk, it could be seen as rude or obsessive.”
Broud said he has had people come to the show looking for a verbal fight, only to politely disagree with certain jokes after the show. He is totally ready to debate with anyone who wants to defend bigoted or exclusionary beliefs in the name of religion.
“I don’t have a problem making certain people mad.”
But quality humor is the ultimate goal. And playing at Redemption adds a lot of fun, Broud said.
“We’ve got a super strong following at this point, and all of our people like Redemption a lot because it’s a good place, and has good food, good people, and a good space as well. I’ve got multiple friends who are obsessed with chicken wings, and I’ve had friends who are like, ‘I love you, I love your comedy, but at the same time, I’ve seen you perform enough times that I think I’m mostly going to Redemption primarily for the chicken wings.'”
Redemption also offers special drinks during the Comedy Church shows, such as Passion Fruit of the Christ, the Blood of Christ, “and I think there’s one called The Word of Wisdom, which has liquor and coffee flavoring. I could be wrong about that.”
Broud said Redemption “is a fun, fun place. It’s been really nice that they’ve made space for us. It’s hard finding a location that has all the things: food and drink and a good stage and all that sort of stuff. They’ve been awesome to work with. We really like them a lot.”
Comedy Church makes its next monthly stop at Redemption Bar & Grill at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 2. Doors for the downstairs gig open at 6:30 p.m. Redemption is at 3517 W. Maradona Drive, Herriman.
For ticket information, click this link.
