wfn.org | UMNS# 05019-Artist spreads Gospel by answering call of foolishness

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Artist spreads Gospel by answering call of foolishness

Jan. 11, 2005	 News media contact:   Matt  Carlisle * (615) 742-5470*
Nashville {05019}

NOTE: Photographs are available at umc.org.

A UMC.org Feature
By Susan Passi-Klaus*

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"Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world's
standards, you will have to become a fool so you can become wise by
God's standards. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God." 1
Corinthians 3:18-20.
---

Some would label actor Doug Berky foolish. Only a fool would travel so
far, live on so little and sacrifice so much to take God's act on the
road.

Since the mid-1970s, Berky has used his unconventional skills as a mime,
clown, juggler, unicycler, mask maker, acrobat and comedian to inspire
audiences to get in touch with their inner spiritual fool.

"Following a passion doesn't always lead to success in the eyes of the
world," Berky acknowledges. "The overall call of the Gospel is for us to
live in a different way than most people do, and that's really what
foolishness is ... not buying into the values of the world."

>From his home in Franklin, Tenn., the master of shtick and slapstick has
performed around the United States, as well as in Cuba, Poland and
Bosnia, and on the Baltic coast. He sets up stages on street corners,
under festival tents and behind church chancels. When he's not
performing circus antics and other tricks of an actor's trade for
secular audiences, he's in front of church congregations, inspiring them
to explore spiritual foolishness through the Gospels.

"Most of the things I do are not religious in nature, and that's the way
Jesus taught," Berky says. "He didn't talk about religious things. He
talked about things that people experienced every day - the things they
could identify with.

"And then when he got done talking, the people would say, 'Well  now,
that's a nice story.' And Jesus would tell them, 'You know, the kingdom
of God is sort of like the story I just told you.'

"In other words, I just try to tell stories the way Jesus would have if
he had had balloons," he says.

Offstage and on, Berky lets his malleable face do most of the talking.
With his windswept bushy eyebrows, elastic smile and eyes that change to
suit each character he plays, his face seems designed for mimicry and
exaggeration.

"Using his body language and some incredible expressive masks, Doug is
able to pull you into any story," says Ricki Keckly, director of
congregational care at Christ United Methodist Church in Franklin. "He's
mesmerizing. You get the real sense that you are there with Jesus or any
of the characters in the story."

>From a peasant Joseph and a joyous Mary Magdalene to the faces of wind
and death, the masks expose audiences to more characters than they
expect to encounter in a one-man show.

"Masks work like magnets when it comes to getting an audience's
attention," Berky says. "There's something about a mask that intrigues
people because it is both hiding something, but it's also revealing
something."

There's always a method to this fool's stage madness. For example, his
"Foolosophies" is a collection of vignettes mixing comedy and pathos as
the means to an "aha!" ending. In it, Berky, the impersonator, parallels
mime with Paul's call to imitate God.

"I start out explaining to people what is required to be an imitator,"
Berky says. "You have to prepare, research, study, practice and then
perform. And as imitators of God, we're called to do the same things.
We're called to be Christ-like by preparing, studying, practicing and
making visual ... God."

During "Give Us This Day Our," Berky forages through a trunk of masks
sculpted to represent people with confused priorities. At first the
congregation laughs at the child who hoards Froot Loops and at the good
old boy who guzzles beer. But onlookers show signs of discomfort when
the moral of the story becomes clear - the characters are so involved
with their own needs and wants they ignore others.

For Berky, performing is not about the applause - it's about laughter
and ... discomfort.

"It's a wonderful sound to hear people laugh, especially in church,"
Berky says. "Christians have reason to celebrate because we feel that
joy that comes with knowing the Lord.

"But the intention behind some of the pieces is to stir people to
think," he says. "What is missing in my life? What needs am I
neglecting? What are the things I see and do every day, but choose not
to deal with? How am I being foolish in God's eyes?"

After 30 years on the road, the homesick clown often wonders if he
should "get a real job."

"That would certainly be the sensible thing to do," he says with a
laugh. "But then again, maybe I'd be a fool to stop.

"After all, Jesus rarely did anything that made sense to those around
him. Picking 12 misfits to be his disciples? Well, that was a little
crazy. Healing lepers and bringing people back from the dead? You can't
tell me that wasn't out-of-the-box-behavior. And hanging out with tax
collectors and prostitutes - now that was really foolish.

"Every now and then I struggle with sanity," Berky says. "But I try
never to forget the call of foolishness."

For booking information on Berky, write to berkys4@earthlink.net.

*Passi-Klaus is a freelance writer living in Nashville, Tenn. and
publisher of "Cracked Pots," an inspirational newsletter for women.

News media contact: Matt Carlisle, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5153 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

This feature story was developed by UMC.org, the official online
ministry of The United Methodist Church.

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United Methodist News Service