Rare Air With Meri Fatin

The word is "repartee". Anglican priest Father Chris Bedding has it by the truckload, yet he's extremely careful to make sure that his significant comedic and improvisational talents are kept out of the Church context. Called to the priesthood while still at school, there's no doubt Chris takes the complex and demanding role as parish priest very seriously. But in the eight years since he arrived in Perth from NSW he has also found a supportive artistic community in which he's been able to develop his other passion - improvisation, comedy and acting. In response to Chris voicing his guilt about making time for this passion, one of his parishioners said " Honestly if we were getting one hundred percent of your creative energy we wouldn't be able to cope! It's good that you have another outlet." With fellow comedian and trainee Uniting Church minister Paul "Werzel" Montague, Chris has developed a comedy act called Pirate Church, which has toured nationally, melding the "inherently hysterical" comedic potent