Are Mormons funny? Do we Mormons have a good sense of humor—in general, or more importantly, when it focuses on ourselves? In introducing Mormonism to those who are outside the faith and attempting to share how the gospel and Mormon life make sense to or motivate its adherents, can a light-hearted, humorous approach be more effective than “earnestness”? In this episode, we bring together three people for whom the answer to this last question is a resounding “yes”! Yet each also recognizes that there are lines—sometimes fuzzy, sometimes very clear—that one must not cross. Often it is informed by fear of losing the good will and respect of the Mormon audience who, let’s face it, will be among the majority of readers even for books about Mormons geared toward outsiders. This audience may be comfortable with finding humor in Mormon culture and its quirks, but possibly will balk as one seeks to examine via humor (and its gifts at providing at times very stark mirrors for things under its gaze) certain practices or teachings. When writing for outsiders (and it’s a good reminder when the Mormon audience will be reading, as well), a humorous approach must watch out for pitfalls such as stereotyping, caricaturing, or not recognizing that a particular view of theirs that might feel like “safe” territory to you doesn’t feel so for them.

A wonderful panel consisting of Latter-day Saints who have written or illustrated wonderful books examining Mormonism through fun approaches—Stephen Carter and Jett Atwood (author and illustrator of the new book, Mormonism for Beginners, as well as two volumes of a Book of Mormon comic book/graphic novel called iPlates) and Jana Riess (co-author of Mormonism for Dummies, and author of The Twible)—examine these and many other questions. How does humor function more effectively than taking a serious, dead-eyed laser approach as an aid in our examining things we sometimes miss because of familiarity, or because we are living within certain patterns of thought, or shells, or structures that we forget are not themselves actually the “real” thing? How important is a humorist’s own feelings toward its subject—affectionate, antagonistic, dismissive—in her or his ability to reach their desired audience—and not just to entertain them but possibly also aid in their shifting certain perspectives? It’s a wonderful conversation that also features their recommendations, along with those of Mormon Matters host Dan Wotherspoon, of favorite examples of Mormon humor done well.