S1, E84: The Comedy Church - Adam Broud
When Adam Broud joined me on the Small Lake City Podcast, I knew we were in for a fascinating conversation about comedy, religion, and finding one's path after leaving a high-demand faith tradition. Adam is best known locally for co-founding Comedy Church with Greg Kite, a comedy series that playfully examines their previous Mormon lives without resorting to church-bashing.
Adam's journey began in rural Southern Oregon, where he grew up in a poor family with limited exposure to higher education. No one he knew had gone to college, but he eventually made his way to BYU—partly because it was the only affordable option he'd heard about. With disarming honesty, Adam shared how he initially believed he was destined to die on his Mormon mission. When he survived, he found himself without a plan, eventually completing both undergraduate and MBA degrees at BYU.
The cultural dynamics between Salt Lake City and Provo formed a significant part of our conversation. As Adam noted, there's often this apologetic tone people take about living in Utah County, yet he's found his community there. We laughed about the peculiar Utah phenomenon where people will be outwardly nice until something shifts—then "the claws come out." This duality appears frequently in his comedy, as he navigates between different audiences and their expectations.
Adam's comedy career evolved from writing jokes on Twitter during a difficult academic period to performing at BYU's Humor U Club, and eventually co-founding Comedy Church. What makes Comedy Church unique is its format—structured like an actual church service but filled with comedy about religious experiences. While it started with a Mormon focus, they've taken it around the country to explore regional religious experiences from Judaism in New York to evangelical backgrounds in the Bible Belt.
What struck me most was Adam's perspective on how his comedy lands differently depending on where he performs. In Utah, some jokes might be perceived as having an anti-church agenda, while those same jokes performed elsewhere are seen as remarkably gentle toward religion. It reflects the heightened sensitivities within Utah culture and how religious identity remains deeply intertwined with personal identity for many ex-Mormons.
We also discussed the surprising public fascination with Mormon culture. Adam noted that when traveling outside Utah, audiences are often more interested in hearing about Mormonism than Utah audiences might expect. From "soaking" to dirty soda culture, these peculiarities of Mormon and Utah life have become cultural touchpoints that outsiders find endlessly fascinating. As Adam joked, it's like being an ex-Amish person and refusing to talk about Amish life—people want to hear those unique experiences.
Through it all, Adam maintains his passion for writing and creating comedy that speaks authentically to his experience. He found his calling when he realized that every time he invested more energy into comedy, it gave even more back to him. Now performing full-time, Adam balances solo stand-up with Comedy Church performances, creating spaces where people with similar backgrounds can laugh together in a shared language of inside jokes and cultural references.
For anyone interested in seeing Comedy Church, they perform at Wise Guys on the first and third Sundays of each month—first Sundays at the Salt Lake location and third Sundays at Jordan Landing. As Adam promised, they never repeat topics within a calendar year, ensuring fresh content for regular attendees. The show follows a church format complete with opening messages, musical interludes, and even a Latin toast to close things out.
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