The History of Medieval Comedy

During the medieval era, when kings ruled and dissent was forbidden, only one player dared to tweak the noses of the powerful: The court jester. Not merely a comedian, the jester held a mirror to the elites to ensure they ruled benevolently. But the jester’s work was fraught with risk: In one infamous incident, members of the Castle Town Criers Association rose up against a jester who said “Town Criers? More like town liars, am I right?”

Wow, they literally have faceless minions around here. (Imgur)

That’ll teach him to make jokes about eye shadow, Sharon H.

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13 thoughts on “The History of Medieval Comedy

  1. allein ? April 30, 2018 / 10:49 am

    Doggie is totally cracking up here. 😀

  2. Doug April 30, 2018 / 11:32 am

    Bring me a shrubbery, must be one that looks nice. And not too expensive.

    NI !

    • allein ? April 30, 2018 / 11:33 am

      Um…I think the guy in the hood is a shrubbery.

  3. dubravkamcvmd April 30, 2018 / 11:48 am

    Mike, I’m with you on the eyeshadow joke!

    • Debg April 30, 2018 / 2:58 pm

      Nicely done, Mike!

  4. Blue Footed Booby April 30, 2018 / 12:14 pm

    Is it just me or do the doggie’s markings, together with the curve of his ears, make him look at little mephistophelian?

    • dubravkamcvmd April 30, 2018 / 12:18 pm

      Yes, very sharp-eyed!

  5. Murray C April 30, 2018 / 12:51 pm

    Faceless minions!HAH! (confused about the eye-shadow reference – anyone enlighten me?)

    I had a friend who mis-read “shrubbery” as “Shrew Berry”.

    • Not That Mike The Other Mike April 30, 2018 / 1:01 pm

      Re the eye shadow reference: This entire post reflects my annoyance with this weekend’s White House Correspondents Association dinner, in which the featured comedian set off a wave of pearl-clutching with her roast-like set, which included a joke that mentioned eye makeup. In short, they invited a jester to make fun of them, then got mad when said jester made fun of them. This article captures it pretty well:

      https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/michelle-wolf-and-the-pseudo-event-of-the-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner

      • Amy April 30, 2018 / 1:49 pm

        I grant you all the high fives, NTMTOM.

      • brouhaha April 30, 2018 / 4:22 pm

        It was such a benign joke, too.

      • Smartypants April 30, 2018 / 5:37 pm

        Yes, one commentator took particular offense at her use of the P-word. Hello?!? I swear we’ve gone straight down the rabbit hole.

  6. Faye April 30, 2018 / 1:28 pm

    Me thinks they ALL doth protest too much.

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