God writes comedy but sometimes has a slow audience.

Keillor’s line treats human life as a kind of divinely scripted comedy—full of reversals, ironies, and punchlines that only become clear with time. The “slow audience” is humanity: we miss the joke in the moment because we are anxious, self-serious, or too close to events to see their absurdity. The remark also gently critiques religious certainty: even if one believes in providence, meaning is not instantly legible. Humor here becomes a spiritual discipline—an invitation to patience and humility, and to the idea that perspective (often delayed) can transform suffering or confusion into something intelligible, even laughable.