Sam Singleton Atheist Evangelist

Sat., July 18, 8 p.m., $12-$15, Ethical Society Building, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square, 215-735-3456, samsingleton.com.

by Holly Otterbein

[ think tank/comedy ]

If you descended from a long line of evangelists in the Midwest, would you become one, too? Even if you were an atheist? That's the central, absurd question that Roger Scott Jackson poses in his comedy act, Penises and Patriarchs. (Absurd because the answer is "uh ... no way" in real life.) And yet for Jackson's character, Sam Singleton, it's an unwavering yes.

"I wanted to know what would happen if someone had been raised in an abusive religious background," says Jackson, "but still became an evangelist — an atheist evangelist, preaching atheism — because that's what everyone in his family did." Decked out in a black-rimmed hat, blue-colored glasses and a full-on tuxedo, he plays Singleton as a wild, cursing intellectual who'll argue about religion with anyone. "He's got a bone to pick with people who believe in God," says Jackson. "He's pissed."

While the show certainly questions religion, it's more interesting when it's grilling atheism, too. Singelton's character mocks popular atheists like Christopher Hitchens, by showing that they can be just as pushy and preachy as the evangelists they criticize. Still, Jackson definitely prefers one over the other. "Celebrity atheists are making a living debating a frivolous proposal with people who they themselves say are delusional," he says. "But that's where atheists and evangelists part company. One is using empirical knowledge, the other's beliefs are based on nonsense."

Sat., July 18, 8 p.m., $12-$15, Ethical Society Building, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square, 215-735-3456, samsingleton.com.