Laughter Is Sacred Space: The Not-So-Typical Journey of a Mennonite Actor

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Laughter Is Sacred Space: The Not-So-Typical Journey of a Mennonite Actor

4.24 of 5 stars 4.24 · rating details · 50 ratings · 19 reviews

Ted Swartz, formerly of comedy duo Ted & Lee, is known for blending Bible stories with comedy and poignancy, and pushing the envelope on issues of faith and social justice. But who is Ted Swartz?

Follow along in this engaging memoir as Swartz finds his way as a middle child in a Mennonite home in eastern Pennsylvania, to his early work in the family butcher shop, to upr...more

Hardcover, 280 pages

Published September 14th 2012 by Herald Press (first published September 1st 2012)

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Apr 15, 2013 Robert Slaven rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

As usual I received this book from GoodReads as part of a giveaway. Also as usual, despite the very kind and generous consideration of getting a free book, I give my candid opinions below.

This book is the autobiographical romp of Ted Swartz, an actor for small-scale religious theatre as one of the duo "Ted and Lee" (Don't look for him on IMDB as you just won't find him). Ted takes us on a decades long journey through his life as a Mennonite actor but this reader notes that there's really not muc...more As usual I received this book from GoodReads as part of a giveaway. Also as usual, despite the very kind and generous consideration of getting a free book, I give my candid opinions below.

This book is the autobiographical romp of Ted Swartz, an actor for small-scale religious theatre as one of the duo "Ted and Lee" (Don't look for him on IMDB as you just won't find him). Ted takes us on a decades long journey through his life as a Mennonite actor but this reader notes that there's really not much of the Mennonite side of things represented. Sure it comes up when choosing his material but the issues, joys and rewards of life as a traveling actor that this book puts on display are doubtless universal no matter who your audience is. At about two-thirds of the way through, the book turns intensely personal as Ted deals with through the suicide of his long-time partner in the act.

Swartz's writing in this novel is at times intimate and at times approaching the comical. Other reviewers have noted the novel's humor but I don't really see it. His take on things is sometimes off-beat but generally falls short of humorous. The last section of the book is achingly personal and one really feels for him; he represents his state of mind well as he deals with that terrible loss.

With every book I read I try to draw some larger truth from it, some life lesson. This volume offers many. We see the author moving on after a grave loss, of a friend and work partner all in one. Half his life's work simply vanishes one day. Yet he carries on. To those who have experienced loss he is a great example. Alternatively, when you look at this title initially the words that jump out are "Mennonite Actor". I'll admit that when I hear the word Mennonite I consider those backwards-looking women in the grocery store with their heads covered. One can easily fall into the trap of believing that they have fortified themselves completely and live in a world separate from our own. Swartz' work here demonstrates the opposing reality; we really are much more the same than we ever would think. Ted's problems on the road traveling from town to town really aren't all that different from Guns and Roses (though doubtless his rider is a bit different).

Pondering who to pass this book along to next, clearly there's a niche market for those that have heard of "Ted and Lee" but more than that I think it has a lot to say about loss. Religion isn't really the heart of Ted's story. Fundamentally he's dealing with this sudden Lee-shaped hole in his life. Anyone can benefit from that example.

In summary, Ted Swartz has presented us with a wonderfully honest view of his life from the joys to the pains. I won't say that it's the most riveting thing I've ever read but it is filled with an honesty and a soul that you won't often find. (less)

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Feb 05, 2013 Dnicebear rated it 5 of 5 stars

For several months I helped plan the night when Ted & Company came to the Bay Area for Peace, Pies and Prophets. I made a pie for the auction and hovered over the pie table during the performances. After the show, when I walked past Ted & Co's table of stuff, I knew I had to get the book. I read for the next few days; each time I picked up the book I easily re-entered Ted's life, marveling at the twists and turns.

I love his experiments and getting an inside look at the way his art comes...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Holly rated it 5 of 5 stars

I probably could have borrowed this from a friend if I'd waited, but I didn't want to wait. I bought the book at the Goshen College bookstore while there with my high school senior for a campus visit. I read it in two sittings. I laughed aloud as much as I did reading Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. It's really two stories, equally compelling-- the story of how Ted the meat-cutter became Ted the actor, and the story of his creative partnership with Lee. I had known some of the principal chara...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Robert Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

Back at the beginning of August, I saw posted on the Ted & Co TheatreWorks FaceBook page an opportunity to get a free book. Nerd and bookworm that I was, I posted the necessary comment to get my free brain candy. Here is what I said in response to the query "tell us why laughter is sacred".

"Laughter is sacred in that it is the truest expression of joy. Laughter can happen in good times and in bad. And in those bad times, it is laughter that brings release to enjoy where you are in spite of t...more Back at the beginning of August, I saw posted on the Ted & Co TheatreWorks FaceBook page an opportunity to get a free book. Nerd and bookworm that I was, I posted the necessary comment to get my free brain candy. Here is what I said in response to the query "tell us why laughter is sacred".

"Laughter is sacred in that it is the truest expression of joy. Laughter can happen in good times and in bad. And in those bad times, it is laughter that brings release to enjoy where you are in spite of the pain. Being able to laugh in those times expresses to the rest of the world that God's love and power brings joy to the hurting. Without laughter to liven the pained spirit, all we have left are tears."

Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

The book, Laughter Is Sacred Space is an autobiographical memoir of one Ted Swartz, walking his readers through his life from his time among a very conservative Mennonite community through his calling into some sort of ministry and into the struggles and trials of running a Christian comedy theatre company...and the darkness that somehow always seems to follow humanity wherever we go.

Swartz's primary medium for writing is in the form of scripts and dialogues for skits and sketches. So, he keeps to what he knows and writes this book in a series of 5 Acts with a prologue (is this a nod to N.T. Wright's 5 Act play of the story of Scripture...or am I just too much of a Bible geek to let it slide?). The Prologue seems out of place at first. It seems a little too dark, too gloomy at points, a little poignant, and certainly, while funny at points, doesn't seem to really be talking about laughter. But it's necessary. It sets the target for the rest of the book. Without the Prologue, what happens later on would shock us too much. We need to be primed in order to prepare us for what is to come.

Act 1 describes Swartz's life as a child in a conservative Mennonite community of south-eastern Pennsylvania. This is, to me, the funniest part of the entire book. For laughs, these scenes elicit the most joy and hilarity for me. Perhaps it is because, while I didn't grow up quite so conservative, I have enough conservative relatives and have experienced much of the same traditions and general ideas that I could relate with almost every scenario presented. I think, though, that this would probably be the biggest drawback to this book for the larger market. There are many, even in the Mennonite church today, who would not understand the jokes about women who wash feet in another room because we might see the stockings actually off the feet. These images resonate well with me, but would they with others? In any case, I enjoyed the laughter.

From that point on, while the book does have its light moments of laughter, we are taken on a journey of what it means to wrestle with calling that does not seem to fit the mold of what "ministry" looks like. I can relate to this in my own life as my "ministry' doesn't seem to be very traditional. The growth, though, of the theatre company out of the minds of Ted & Lee seem inspired. The struggles on the road of life give plenty of fodder for light-hearted humor and the interjections of scripts from the shows and the dialogues between the two main actors make the story human. But is it sacred?

The answer to that question comes in the brevity of the third act, and the depth of the fourth, and the doubt and tension of "what next" in the fifth. I hesitate to say more detail because, like any good story, giving away the ending ruins it (although, many people who know Ted Swartz and his journey already know what happened).

But my initial blurb on that FaceBook page rang true. Ted shares how humor, acting, and theatre allowed him to step out the pain and share in the joy, even while the pain was real. And that laughter even allowed him the outlet to express his pain in ways that nothing else could. As the artist behind the scripts, Ted poured his grief and agony into his work, even in the comedy (the hill-billy Jeremiah is genius) and through this was able to connect people to something sacred, something beyond themselves...and in the process was able to connect himself to that "other".

As humans, grief and pain are facts of life. We must deal with them. And we deal with them either by working through them...or surrendering to them. Ted's partner, Lee, seems to have chosen the latter. Ted chose the former. And Ted chose laughter as a way of transforming that pain. I recall my own father, in the days and months after my mother's death (coincidentally, only 6 weeks after Lee's) when he would share something about my mother, it was frequently a funny moment, a time of joy and laughter. And I hurt at the time, but my father would laugh and cry at the same time. He was grieving, but he was also remembering joy.

This is where Ted takes us in this book. We find that sacred space in the laughter where grief is transmuted into joy, where humor is applied as a balm to a deep wound, and where hilarity helps us to find that connection of community where people can come together and remember. The world around us with its wars, death, disease, hate, depression, and grief defies us to laugh. What good is there in such a world? What Ted shows us in this book is that by entering into laughter, we defy that same world. We say that we can still find the sacred spaces in between, those spaces that we fill with laughter, not to forget the pain, but to make that pain bearable so that we can cry and laugh and remember, together.

Three words: buy this book.(less)

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Nov 13, 2012 Laura Zimmerman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I was able to read this book because I borrowed it from my fiance who won it in a Goodreads giveaway. I had entered the drawing for the same book and was glad that even though I didn't win it, I would still get to read it.

I'll start by saying that the book wasn't what I expected it to be. My impression from the title was that the author wrote a book about growing up Mennonite and then having to reconcile that upbringing into a life of acting. I was interested in learning more about the Mennonite...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Zola rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: actors

Recommended to Zola by: Adalira Morningstar

A fantastic memoir! Whenever Samantha lent it to me, I was concerned by the byline specifically naming Ted Swartz as a Mennonite actor. I thought to myself "ah, fuck. Here's another memoir written by a too-religious actor who's going to spend 200 pages talking about his unimportant, unfunny self & trying to convince us that Jesus is awesome."

Samantha assured me this wasn't the case--and she was right. I really enjoyed this memoir. As an actor, I could identify with a lot of the feelings rega...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Terri rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, favorites

Laughter is Sacred Space: The Not-So-Typical Journey of a Mennonite Actor by Ted Swartz is an honest and interesting look into the journey one makes in finding their true passion. Everyone's path is different, but as a person learns to love a craft, they are constantly changed and reformed into different people. This is a strong story of those changes.

The book is written in play format, with plenty of anecdotes, footnotes and other asides, but readers can still easily follow along. Swartz explo...more

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May 06, 2013 Warhammer Grantham rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really want to give this book a better review. In my opinion, laughter IS a sacred space, a way we can approach a better understanding of ourselves, of the nature of God.

But 'rambling' is a word that just begins to describe this work. This book is a collection of experiences that reads like someone telling stories and then going back to describe the inside jokes, but you're already feeling disconnected.

In the hands of a different author, this book could probably be beautiful, it certainly has...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Scot Mcatee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I expected something different based on the title. Not having ever heard of Ted Swartz, I was judging this book by its cover. A Mennonite chomping on a stogie is not something I see every day. I suppose I was thinking that he would be some sort of Sam Kinnison-- I'm religious but I'm not, in fact, I'm WAY not.

I loved the Monty Python hook. I was much more interested in the book once I could hear Ted & Lee performing as John Cleese and Eric Idle. It was fascinating to watch how they turned a...more I expected something different based on the title. Not having ever heard of Ted Swartz, I was judging this book by its cover. A Mennonite chomping on a stogie is not something I see every day. I suppose I was thinking that he would be some sort of Sam Kinnison-- I'm religious but I'm not, in fact, I'm WAY not.

I loved the Monty Python hook. I was much more interested in the book once I could hear Ted & Lee performing as John Cleese and Eric Idle. It was fascinating to watch how they turned a bawdy style like that into something cleaner and more wholesome. Through most of the book I was amused by the laughter angle of the story.

The use of Lee's suicide (not a spoiler) as foreshadowing was seductive for me, to say the least. I couldn't imagine how a book with such a title could use a suicide to offset humor and even to accentuate it. While Ted was giving me a glimpse into an actor's backstage, I was frequently pleading with him to just get to the part about the death. I wanted to know more about it, to see how he lived through it, to see how he got back to the humor. And while this book held my attention all the way up to the end, I was looking for a different ending, a little more in the way of 'things are great now!' I felt like the journey needed more of an ending and what Ted gave me was, 'the journey never ends. I'm hoping it continues to improve and I'd like to thank..." It was not the tightly packaged Hollywood ending I expected (and which I would normally hate), but this was real life and I wanted Ted to be happier in the end than I think he was.

All in all, this is a great book. It wanders a bit here and there, but that's life and that's why I entered the First Reads contest to get a copy of this book in the first place-- for a little real life drama. (Yeah, I won this in a First Reads Giveaway). It's a 5 star book, but the ending for me was 4 star because I wanted more laughter at the end. Sorry Ted, I feel for you and I truly appreciate this work of art. I wish you a five star ending in real life.(less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'll admit it, most of what I like about this book are the connections. I almost feel as if I'm in the story. A production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, of which I was a performer, is mentioned, a high school friend is written into the biography, Ted's wife was a middle school teacher of mine, one of his acknowledgements at the end of the book is to my cousin's husband... And of course there are the countless times we saw Ted and Lee's comic routines. This is not just a book about a wanna-be pas...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Ryan Miller rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't know Ted Swartz, and didn't know Lee Eshleman, other than in the way (as Ted writes) that performers allow audiences to know parts of them. With this book, I feel I know both of them a bit more. I laughed out loud at remembered bits and new stories and tears streamed liberally down my cheeks as I mourned with Ted after Lee's death. Read as a fan, as an actor, as a comic or a laugher, as a mourner, as a friend, as a pastor or as a believer. Just read.

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May 04, 2013 April Yamasaki rated it 4 of 5 stars

The strength of this book is Ted Swartz's focus on the "not-so-typical journey" part of his story, especially his relationship with comedic partner Lee Eschelman. Lee was both incredibly gifted and bipolar, and sadly his struggle with depression eventually led to his death in 2007. This was a major upheaval for Ted both personally and professionally, and he tells his story both before and after Lee's death with an earthy honesty, humour, and yes, even some understandable anger. I appreciated his...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A thoughtful reflection of life issues with a deft dosing of humor. Am I the only Mennonite who has not seen Ted & Lee or Ted & Co? Maybe. That however did not detract from the memoir.

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Jan 28, 2013 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This biography of Mennonite actor/comedian gives an unvarnished view of grief an healing after his acting partner's death by suicide. It's also really funny!

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Nov 06, 2012 Walt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Walt by: GOODREADS FIRST READS

RECEIVED FROM GOOD READS FIRST READS. THE NOT SO TYPICAL JOURNED OF A MENNONITE ACTOR.

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Dec 15, 2012 Lara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, memoir

I come from a family of Mennonites, performers, pastors and writers. I teach theater and also am a writer, so this book may resonate with me more than others. I chuckled a lot, and at times found myself nodding in agreement and saying aloud, "Yes, I know." The photos and drawings made the characters more poignant, and I was really touched by the relationships that were developed in the book.

My biggest issue now is whom to pass it on to next.

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Nov 05, 2012 MariAn Nyce rated it 3 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed his writing re: Ted and Lee Theatreworks - written as his journey in theatre with Lee Eshleman (1992 - 2007); his grief following Lee's death and finding his way back. You will laugh hilariouslly at times- I did!

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Apr 03, 2013 Juel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very funny book. Of course it helps that I know the author and saw many of the shows he writes about. Lee is definitely missed.

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Apr 07, 2013 Brenda Shelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

From the hilarious to the heartbreaking, an honest reflection.

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