Mormon Media Studies Symposium

Panel: "Comedy and Mormon Women"

Jeff Parkin, BYU Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts, and Jared Cardon, BYU alumnus and adjunct professor at BYU, mediated a panel with BYU’s Divine Comedy actress Whitney Call, and BYU alumnus/ actress of the web show “Pretty Darn Funny” Lisa Valentine Clark during the Mormon Media Symposium early Friday evening.

The panel was focused on how the role of religion and gender has affected these two women’s comedic careers. The topics discussed included comedy as a form of nurture, the role of the audience, how physical appearance has affected roles played, and creating comedy for an LDS audience.  

Being at different stages of their lives, and having grown up in different atmospheres, the comments made by Call and Clark varied in content. Call spent most of her time talking about the social aspects of comedy.

“It seems that people use comedy as a rite of passage or an alpha male badge,” said Call. “I’ve been excluded from groups of people before because they already have ‘a funny friend,’ and that person is usually a guy.”

Clark also spoke about her experiences as a woman in comedy. Some groups Clark joined were male dominated; but, she stated, this wasn’t an atmosphere she felt comfortable in. For this reason, Clark started her own team called the Thillionaires; an improv group where men and women had equal roles.

Besides gender, religion has played a significant role in both women’s careers. Clark believes that seriousness can be a form of pride. Being a Mormon has led to experiences that have been the brunt of some of her greatest comedy.

“As a Mormon there are things I would never joke about or laugh at. Some things are off limits,” said Clark. “I will never take church doctrine lightly; but when it comes to culture, I definitely will.”

Socially, Call feels that her religion and her career in humor share similar characteristics.

“I think that comedy and the gospel share a feeling of celebration,” said Call. “That’s what I love about them so much.”

Clark and Call suggested a few comedy groups and shows that they have enjoyed over the years. These include “The Carol Burnett Show,” the old “Muppet Show” and “The Harvard Sailing Team.”

Paper: “The Mormon University on the Mount of Olives: A Case Study in LDS Public Relations”

Blair G. Van Dyke, an Orem Institute Director and expert in near eastern studies, spoke on papers that study the Church’s European and Israeli public relations labors in his seminar at the Mormon Media Studies Symposium held at BYU on Thursday.

Dyke focused his speech by discussing the importance of the BYU Jerusalem Center of Near Eastern Studies. Dyke quoted public relations experts when he said, “The Jerusalem Center was the LDS Church’s boldest building project of the 20th century, and was the most expensive building the Church had ever built up to that time.”

While public relations experts felt like the building was “bold,” Dyke explained that the opposition from Israel was fierce towards its construction.  

“Ultra Orthodox Jews thought that this project was a plot to convert all Jews to Mormonism and thus destroy Jewish culture,” Dyke said. “They viewed it as a sort of ‘spiritual colonialism’ of a distant Salt Lake City faith imposing their religion. The building was even being referred to by the locals as ‘the Mormon Missionary Center.’”

However, Elder Boyd K. Packer and Elder Jeffery R. Holland traveled to the Holy Land and promised not to proselyte. Today the BYU Jerusalem Center still stands overlooking Jerusalem and the City of Gold.

The study was finished by Kelsey Koenen, a graduate student at BYU, who shared her personal interviews with the European public relations directors. Koenen quoted Rourland Elvridge the Church public relations director in the UK when she said, “Public Affairs is one of the key ways of bringing the Church out of obscurity, as well as strengthening the faith."