Abstract
The early Christian aversion for the comic and for theatre has been much discussed. The ongoing large popularity of the theatre, predominantly comical in nature, long after the establishment of Christianity as the leading religion of the Roman empire, tells a different story. Theatre and Christianity meet in a remarkable way in reports of mimes that were originally meant to mock the Christian faith. Suddenly, the protagonist converted on stage, and died as a martyr. The mime reports that have been transmitted are briefly presented and discussed in their historical context. Instances of laughter and humorous twists in the mimes and in the mime reports are analysed separately. The reports meet most of the characteristics of comical texts and could have been written by Christians who tried to reconcile Church and theatre.
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