General
- It's not really a funny show, but "Herod's Song" is hilarious.
- Jesus' reactions to the song can often be just as funny (if not occasionally even funnier) than the song itself. They tend to range between a Flat "What" to outright bewilderment and a "I can't believe this is happening right now" expression depending on how...flamboyant the Herod is.
- Some portions of "This Jesus Must Die" can be funny due to the language used, such as a priest wondering how to deal with Jesus being bigger "than John was when John did his baptism thing."
1973 Film
- In the beginning of the film, as the rest of the cast is unpacking the bus, Josh Mostel takes a seat and later is seen brushing his hair, contributing zero effort to get the production underway
- Right after Judas sings "a man like you, could waste his time, on women of her kind!", Simon can be heard yelling, "hey cool it, man!"
- Caiaphas has a line in "This Jesus Must Die" where he admits that one thing he'll say for him is that Jesus is cool.
- Pilate can be hilariously snarky. His delivery in the 1973 film makes it even better.Pilate (to the crowd): Well, this is new! Respect for Caesar! Till now, this has been noticeably lacking!
- Not to mention:Pilate: You hypocrites! You hate us more than him!
- Not to mention:
- Herod's staging here is cringy, but he ends his song by tossing bagels at Jesus. Yes, It Makes As Much Sense In Context.
2000 Film
- "Heaven On Their Minds"
- Unlike most versions, Judas sings this directly to Jesus about his worries. Jesus, dressed in cargo pants and a tank top, rolls his eyes at first. We see him brooding in the same area as Judas keeps going on about how they're messing up.
- We see Judas directly singing lyrics about how the followers are blind...directly to their faces. One says, "Come on Judas" and another one retorts, "What's your problem man?"
- A lot of Judas' reactions in the 2000 version are absolutely hilarious, particularly during Simon's song.
- Simon's Oh, Crap! look when Jesus sings "this is my blood you drink" just as he's sipped from the wine.
- At the next line ("This is my body you eat"), the apostle handling the loaf of bread stares at it and then quickly wipes his hands.
- A blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment during "Hosanna", there are several children mixed in with the crowd and when Jesus sings his comeback to Caiaphas ("Why waste your breath moaning at the crowd"), one little boy sticks his tongue out at Caiaphas and Annas.
2012 Live Arena Concert
- The little headshake that Jesus gives before Judas starts "Heaven on Their Minds," as if he's going Oh, No... Not Again!.
- Even the 2012 concert version gets in on the snarky-background-Judas action: during the Last Supper, just as Jesus sings "this is my blood you drink", Judas rolls his eyes as if to say "here he goes being a drama queen again...".
- Herod is depicted as a TV talk show host who runs a phone text poll of his viewers to find out whether they think Jesus is "Lord or Fraud". The poll is displayed on a screen at the back of the stage, complete with the standard small print for UK text polls (covering who pays the cost of the text message, etc.) Shortly afterward, the poll results are displayed, and this time the small print says:These results are for entertainment purposes only and do not reflect any real votes. The outcome is predetermined by the character of King Herod, who clearly is going to find Jesus guilty of being a fraud otherwise it would be a very short Act 2.
2014 Swedish Arena Concert
- "Heaven on Their Minds"
- Judas is belting at the top of his lungs while everyone is asleep, including Jesus, and sometimes sings directly into his ears. Then he wakes them up during the bridge. As everyone is giving him the stink-eye, Jesus yawns while Judas continues singing.
- Mary Magdalene gives Judas a Death Glare for saying her ointment and caring for Jesus is wasteful, while singing at him not to worry.
- While still the evilest character on the show, Annas here is a lot more comedic than typically portrayed. Not only does his actor, Rolf Lydahl, look like Lucius Malfoy after being hit in the face with a bag of powdered sugar, he plays Annas as a serial overactor who sounds more and more like Starscream the more upset he gets.
Other
- In the 2018 concert, Judas visibly rolls his eyes at some of the backup dancers, and at one point sarcastically dances along.
