The 1972 novel, filled with laugh lines, is a holiday favorite. Late one December, while speaking at a large university student conference, I sensed before my pre-lunchtime presentation that a packed morning program had left the ballroom audience’s minds weary. So, I offered to scrap my prepared speech and instead read a magazine article condensation of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The crowd roared, and I struggled to keep a straight face during delivery. 

The movie, like the book, draws us in with contrasts. A bunch of obnoxious, devious troublemakers accidentally become key cast members of a church play about Jesus’s birth: potential juvenile delinquents and jailbirds rubbing shoulders with Sunday school children and their parents. Robinson encapsulated the locals’ assessment of the Herdmans: “We figured they were headed straight for hell, by way of the state penitentiary.” 

How badly behaved were they? Robinson summarizes: “They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers.” And that’s just a glimpse. 

The Herdmans only showed up in Sunday school because they falsely assumed there would be free desserts. One student had lied about this in regular school to distract Leroy Herdman from trying to steal his lunchbox dessert. In church, Imogene Herdman swiped money from the passing collection basket. Kids avoided Gladys Herdman because she “hits too hard.” You get the picture. 

Not to be lost in the hilarity are the lessons the Herdmans learn. They know little of the Christmas story, except that Christmas is Jesus’s birthday. Discovering that King Herod wanted to kill the newborn “King of the Jews” motivates them to lobby to rewrite the pageant script to execute Herod. 

But with time, the Christmas message begins to sink in with some. Imogene Herdman, who plays Jesus’s mother, Mary, is upset that there was no room at the Bethlehem inn for Joseph and Mary. “Not even for Jesus?” she asks, stunned. Eventually, she begins to absorb the significance of the story that God become human and was lying in a manger. 

I won’t spoil your movie fun. The film contributes to a significant body of faith-related humor. Parts reminded me of comedian Dick Van Dyke’s book Faith, Hope and Hilarity: The Child’s Eye View of Religion. Van Dyke, a former Sunday school teacher, collected a wealth of amusing kids-and-spirituality stories.

For example: “One boy described to his younger buddies how great God is: ‘God is greater than Superman, Batman and the Lone Ranger put together.'” In another instance, “One polite little girl was saying her prayers but interrupted them to say, ‘Pardon me, God, while I kick my ornery little brother.'”

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The Bible itself acknowledges laughter’s significance: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven …. A time to cry and a time to laugh.” A famous proverb alludes to humor’s therapeutic value: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” 

Film director and executive producer Dallas Jenkins (The Chosen) wanted for years to make The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and jumped at the opportunity when rights became available. This film is appropriate for people of any faith or no faith. Basic awareness of main Christmas characters — no, not Santa and Rudolph, but Joseph, Mary, Jesus, angels, shepherds, wise men, etc. — helps, but is not essential. It’s excellent family fun, with a moving point. Just beware that audience children could be prompted to mimic the Herdmans once home. 

Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. His film commentaries and columns have been published by newspapers across the country. His books include Secrets of Successful Humor.