Joe found a really cool article about a medieval comedian from 1480. What was the basis of the jokes back then? Killer bunnies and poop jokes.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Episode Transcript
I came across this article. I was so excited and
became so disappointed. Now I'm going to disappoint you. The
headline is what cracked up medieval peasants? The answer, by
the way, is killer bunnies and poop jokes. Evidently they
discovered and translated an English minstrel his he did like
(00:22):
a comedy show in taverns his notes.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Next village, Yeah, me too, exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So they have pages and pages of his notebook known
as the Hegue Manuscript. That that has everything all of
his notes, including like audience interaction.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Midiev where they from the medieval comedian and a tavern
has got to be a great premise for a lot
of really funny people. Who here's got sores, show a hand?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
How about pad king Booh, careful now you in the
fra row. This guy's got too deep. We hain't annoying.
So it's the year fourteen eighty and this wandering English
bard goes into a bar, he does his act, he
gets tips, he goes onto the next town and it's
(01:18):
fourteen eighty. He's wandering around.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
These are his notes, a series of irreverent jokes about incontinence,
killer rabbits, and binge drinking or a big part of
the act, which is so funny. You know, so today
human nature does not change. But I was so curious
to get into the specifics of the wording and to
(01:40):
be actually able to bring you the jokes. But they're
so mystifying and they're so context dependent that they wouldn't
even make any sense to you. Let me see if
I can find one of them. Ah, jack Way was
never so sad as when the hair trod on his head,
(02:03):
in case she would have ripped out his throat. Reminiscent
of the killer Bunny scene of course from Monty Python
in The Holy Grail. And then the one about incontinence. Right,
we can all make poop jokes, right, here's the actual riff.
A man becomes haunted by incontinence after receiving a blow
to his backside. Here's the wording. Therefore, soon he was
(02:26):
hit on the back forever after his bottom said quack
whenever he should rise to walk.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
The thing.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Honest, let me try one more. It's about drinking. If
you have a big tanker in your hand and it's
full of good ale, and you leave any beer inside,
you're putting your soul at great risk. These men said
in the Bible that someone who's bad at drinking is
not likely to go to heaven.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
All ugh, God, it's hard to imagine what the worldview
would be like back then. I mean, because what is
life expectancy back then? Like twenty six?
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah, something like that. It's another story about a gluttonous king,
but it makes less sense than the other ones. But
evident they get killed back in merry old England.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
You know, and you've had too much meat and you
can't keep from pooping yourself.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Huh with me, big guy?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
The from Rono's what I'm talking about? Duneess, sir, you
know your way around the lamb shop.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I can see anyway.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
It appears that the concept of a killer bunny, though,
is ancient. The soft and harmless and oft hunted and
skinned creature turning on mankind is a thing. Although what
are those giant rabbits that you see on the internet
now and again? I can't remember the breed, but those
can get too aggressive and scared.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
A hell out of you from what I understood, do
you think those people like living in a village in
fourteen eighty were surprisingly happy? You talk about human nature,
doesn't change. And we've talked about psychologic studies. I mean,
you kind of have a set point of happiness, and
you kind of are like that happy regardless of your
circumstances for the most part.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yeah, good days and bad days, but you generally get
back to your your median point.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So would the average person back then just have been
as happy as you are, even though you know there's
all kinds of disease and pains you can't take care of,
and your teeth right out of your head, and you
got to work all day long just to survive. But
they'd be just as happy as you are, because that's
just the way we're built.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Well, and if you wander out of your town at night,
you probably get your head split open and all your
stuff taken because crime was rampant, highwaymen, et cetera. You know,
maybe it was just my my delivery. Let me try
this again. Therefore, soon he was hit on the back
forever after his bottom said quack, whenever he should rise
to walk his bottom of quacking. Let's pass the hat. Now,
(05:06):
you've been a great audience.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
But you probably had to be pretty careful about anything
getting close to religion or God.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Right, Yeah, actually, They mentioned a couple there's one mock
sermon that ridicules the priesthood, which they say was pretty edgy.
That was part of that, you know, God wants you
to finish your beer thing work in blue well. And
they would also mock the local nobleman. A little bit
about old Prince Jim over here.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
I tell you what, I'll.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Tell you what I hear about him. You had to
be careful, but that was you know, you know, taking
down the powerful was part of comedy then, is not.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I think I got a new goal for my time machine.
If I'm ever in a time machine, it's to go
to that tavern on some evening and watch the comedy
routine and the reactions. God, that would be fascinating
Hosts And Creators
Joe Getty
Jack Armstrong
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.