"A Phone Call from God"
is a nearly 15-minute-long religious
comedy
routine about a hapless backslider who receives exactly what the title says. Like
Shelley Berman
,
Ray Reeves
performs the bit as though speaking on the phone; no other voices are heard aside from occasional canned laughter. As the bit progresses, the squirming Christian is taken to task for failing to go to church, tithe, etc., and his lies are repeatedly exposed by the all-knowing
God
.
Reeves
' message might be useful for prodding guilt-ridden Christians toward Sunday service, but the humor is weak.
Country comedian
Jim Nesbitt
parodied
' routine with
"Phone Call from the Devil,"
which charted in 1975 and -- unlike
-- managed to be genuinely funny and a reasonable length.
'
routine takes up the entire first side of his album, but the second side is filled with six instrumentals, some if not all of which are previously released recordings by
King
and
Starday
artists such as
Tommy Hill
Cowboy Copas
. It doesn't matter since no one will listen past
"A Phone Call from God,"
but if
had only recorded one more
routine, today he would have an entire album instead of half of one. ~ Greg Adams