Ribaldry
Encyclopedia
Ribaldry is humorous entertainment
that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to gross indecency. It is also referred to as "bawdiness", "gaminess" or "bawdry".
Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at the foibles and weaknesses that manifest themselves in human sexuality
, rather than to present sexual stimulation either excitingly or artistically. Also, ribaldry may use sex as a metaphor
to illustrate some non-sexual concern, in which case ribaldry may verge on the territory of satire
.
Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribaldry typically depends on a shared background of sexual conventions and values, and its comedy
generally depends on seeing those conventions broken.
The ritual taboo-breaking that is a usual counterpart of ribaldry underlies its controversial nature and explains why ribaldry is sometimes a subject of censorship
. Ribaldry, whose usual aim is not "merely" to be sexually stimulating, often does address larger concerns than mere sexual appetite. However, being presented in the form of comedy, these larger concerns may be overlooked by censors.
, a song which in many European-influenced universities is both a student beer-drinking song and an anthem sung by official university choir
s at public graduation ceremonies. The private and public versions of the song contain vastly different words.
Ribaldry is present to some degree in every culture and has likely been around for all of human
history. Works like Lysistrata
by Aristophanes
, Menaechmi
by Plautus
, Cena Trimalchionis
by Petronius
, and The Golden Ass
of Apuleius
are ribald classics from ancient Europe
. Geoffrey Chaucer
's "The Miller's Tale
" from his Canterbury Tales is a classic medieval example. François Rabelais
showed himself to be a master of ribaldry (technically called grotesque body
) in his Gargantua. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
by Laurence Sterne
and The Lady's Dressing Room by Jonathan Swift
. Mark Twain
's long-suppressed 1601
also falls in this category.
More recent works like Candy
, Barbarella
, L'Infermiera
, the comedic works of Russ Meyer
, Little Annie Fanny
and John Barth
's The Sot-Weed Factor
are probably better classified as ribaldry than as either pornography or erotica.
. Historically these songs tend to be confined to groups of young males, either as students or in an environment where alcohol is flowing freely. An early collection was "Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy
" published between 1698 and 1720. Sailor's songs tend to be quite frank about the exploitative nature of the relationship between men and women. There are many examples of folk songs in which a man encounters a woman in the countryside. This is followed by a short conversation, and then intercourse. Neither side demonstrates any shame or regret. If the woman becomes pregnant, the man goes back to sea. Rugby
songs are often bawdy. Examples of bawdy folk songs are: "Seventeen Come Sunday
" and "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell
". In 1892 "The Scottish Students Song Book" (edited by John Stuart Blackie
) was published, containing 200 ribald songs. In modern times Hash House Harriers
have taken on the role of tradition-bearers for this kind of song.
and/or sexual imagery that may shock and offend some audience members.
"Working blue" refers to the act of performing this type of material. A "blue comedian" or "blue comic" is a comedian
who usually performs blue, or is known mainly for his or her blue material. Blue comedians often find it difficult to succeed in mainstream media. Topical musicians may use blue comedy both in their commentary between songs and in the lyrics to their songs.
Many comedians who are normally family-friendly might choose to work blue when off-camera or in an adult-oriented environment; Bob Saget
exemplifies this dichotomy
. Private events at show business clubs such as the Bob Saget Club and The Masquers often showed this blue side of otherwise cleancut Bob Saget; a recording survives of one Masquers roast from the 1950s with Jack Benny
, George Jessel
, George Burns
, and Art Linkletter
all using highly risque material and, in some cases, obscenities.
There are some prime-time TV comedies and animated shows that deal with blue subjects. In the 1970s, CBS
aired the ground-breaking sitcom All in the Family
, based on the British series Till Death Us Do Part, which featured a "lovable" bigot, Archie Bunker
. The character's dialogue usually contained racial prejudice
s and ethnic slurs, as well derogatory comments against Jews, gays and women's rights, but in a guise of blue humor against his own bigotry.
On talk radio
in the USA, many commentators use blue comedy in their political programs. Examples include Neal Boortz
, Phil Hendrie
and Steve Morrison
.
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to gross indecency. It is also referred to as "bawdiness", "gaminess" or "bawdry".
Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at the foibles and weaknesses that manifest themselves in human sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, rather than to present sexual stimulation either excitingly or artistically. Also, ribaldry may use sex as a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
to illustrate some non-sexual concern, in which case ribaldry may verge on the territory of satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
.
Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribaldry typically depends on a shared background of sexual conventions and values, and its comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
generally depends on seeing those conventions broken.
The ritual taboo-breaking that is a usual counterpart of ribaldry underlies its controversial nature and explains why ribaldry is sometimes a subject of censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
. Ribaldry, whose usual aim is not "merely" to be sexually stimulating, often does address larger concerns than mere sexual appetite. However, being presented in the form of comedy, these larger concerns may be overlooked by censors.
Examples
An example of ribaldry is De Brevitate VitaeDe Brevitate Vitae
"De Brevitate Vitae" , more commonly known as "Gaudeamus Igitur" or just "Gaudeamus", is a popular academic commercium song in many European countries, mainly sung or performed at university graduation ceremonies...
, a song which in many European-influenced universities is both a student beer-drinking song and an anthem sung by official university choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
s at public graduation ceremonies. The private and public versions of the song contain vastly different words.
Ribaldry is present to some degree in every culture and has likely been around for all of human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
history. Works like Lysistrata
Lysistrata
Lysistrata is one of eleven surviving plays written by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
by Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
, Menaechmi
Menaechmi
Menaechmi, a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as The Brothers Menaechmus or The Two Menaechmuses....
by Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
, Cena Trimalchionis
Satyricon
Satyricon is a Latin work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius...
by Petronius
Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian age.-Life:...
, and The Golden Ass
The Golden Ass
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which St. Augustine referred to as The Golden Ass , is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety....
of Apuleius
Apuleius
Apuleius was a Latin prose writer. He was a Berber, from Madaurus . He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the...
are ribald classics from ancient Europe
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
. Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
's "The Miller's Tale
The Miller's Prologue and Tale
"The Miller's Tale" is the second of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales , told by the drunken miller Robyn to "quite" "The Knight's Tale"....
" from his Canterbury Tales is a classic medieval example. François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
showed himself to be a master of ribaldry (technically called grotesque body
Grotesque body
The grotesque body is a concept, or literary trope, put forward by Russian literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin in his study of François Rabelais' work. The essential principle of grotesque realism is degradation, the lowering of all that is abstract, spiritual, noble, and ideal to the material level...
) in his Gargantua. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a novel by Laurence Sterne. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next 10 years....
by Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne was an Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics...
and The Lady's Dressing Room by Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
. Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's long-suppressed 1601
1601 (Mark Twain)
[Date: 1601.] Conversation, as it was the Social Fireside, in the Time of the Tudors. or simply 1601 is the title of a humorous risque work by Mark Twain, first published anonymously in 1880, and finally acknowledged by the author in 1906....
also falls in this category.
More recent works like Candy
Candy (novel)
Candy is a 1958 novel written by Maxwell Kenton in collaboration with Mason Hoffenberg published by Olympia Press. It was later published in North America by Putnam under the authors' own names...
, Barbarella
Barbarella (film)
Barbarella is a 1968 Franco-Italian science fiction film based on Jean-Claude Forrest's French Barbarella comics. The film was directed by Roger Vadim and stars Jane Fonda, who was Vadim's wife at the time.-Plot:...
, L'Infermiera
L'Infermiera
L'Infermiera is a 1975 Italian film starring Ursula Andress, Jack Palance and Luciana Paluzzi, also known by the titles I Will If You Will, The Nurse, The Sensuous Nurse and The Secrets of a Sensuous Nurse.-Plot:...
, the comedic works of Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....
, Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny was a comic strip created by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder for Playboy in October 1962. The inspiration for the comic strip was Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie. The comic follows the escapades of Annie Fanny, a tall, blonde, amply breasted, round buttocked, curly-haired young...
and John Barth
John Barth
John Simmons Barth is an American novelist and short-story writer, known for the postmodernist and metafictive quality of his work.-Life:...
's The Sot-Weed Factor
The Sot-Weed Factor
The Sot-Weed Factor is a 1960 novel by the American writer John Barth, which marks Barth's discovery of Postmodernism.-Plot:The novel is a satirical epic of the colonization of Maryland based on the life of an actual poet, Ebenezer Cooke, who wrote a poem of the same title...
are probably better classified as ribaldry than as either pornography or erotica.
Bawdy song
A Bawdy song is a humorous song which emphasises sexual themes and is often rich with innuendoInnuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
. Historically these songs tend to be confined to groups of young males, either as students or in an environment where alcohol is flowing freely. An early collection was "Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy
Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy
Wit and Mirth: Or Pills to Purge Melancholy is the title of a large collection of songs by Thomas d'Urfey, published between 1698 and 1720, which in its final, six-volume edition held over 1,000 songs and poems. The collection started as a single book compiled and published by Henry Playford who...
" published between 1698 and 1720. Sailor's songs tend to be quite frank about the exploitative nature of the relationship between men and women. There are many examples of folk songs in which a man encounters a woman in the countryside. This is followed by a short conversation, and then intercourse. Neither side demonstrates any shame or regret. If the woman becomes pregnant, the man goes back to sea. Rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
songs are often bawdy. Examples of bawdy folk songs are: "Seventeen Come Sunday
Seventeen Come Sunday
"Seventeen Come Sunday" is an English folk song which was used in the first movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite and a choral version by Percy Grainger . The words were first published between 1838 and 1845 .-Lyrics:...
" and "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell
The Ballad of Eskimo Nell
The Ballad of Eskimo Nell is a bawdy rhymed recitation or song that recounts the tale of Deadeye Dick, his accomplice Mexican Pete and a woman they meet on their travels, named Eskimo Nell. In the view of some, Eskimo Nell is in her own way an authentic heroine and, by the yardstick of the...
". In 1892 "The Scottish Students Song Book" (edited by John Stuart Blackie
John Stuart Blackie
John Stuart Blackie was a Scottish scholar and man of letters. He was born in Glasgow, and educated at the New Academy and afterwards at the Marischal College, in Aberdeen, where his father was manager of the Commercial Bank.After attending classes at Edinburgh University , Blackie spent three...
) was published, containing 200 ribald songs. In modern times Hash House Harriers
Hash House Harriers
The Hash House Harriers is an international group of non-competitive running, social and drinking clubs...
have taken on the role of tradition-bearers for this kind of song.
Blue comedy
Blue comedy is comedy that is off-color, risqué, indecent or profane, largely about sex. It often contains profanityProfanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
and/or sexual imagery that may shock and offend some audience members.
"Working blue" refers to the act of performing this type of material. A "blue comedian" or "blue comic" is a comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
who usually performs blue, or is known mainly for his or her blue material. Blue comedians often find it difficult to succeed in mainstream media. Topical musicians may use blue comedy both in their commentary between songs and in the lyrics to their songs.
Many comedians who are normally family-friendly might choose to work blue when off-camera or in an adult-oriented environment; Bob Saget
Bob Saget
Robert Lane "Bob" Saget is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Although he is best known for his roles as Danny Tanner in Full House, host of America's Funniest Home Videos and Future Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother, Saget is also known outside of television for his blue...
exemplifies this dichotomy
Dichotomy
A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts...
. Private events at show business clubs such as the Bob Saget Club and The Masquers often showed this blue side of otherwise cleancut Bob Saget; a recording survives of one Masquers roast from the 1950s with Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, George Jessel
George Jessel (actor)
George Albert Jessel was an American illustrated song "model," actor, singer, songwriter, and Academy Award-winning movie producer. He was famous in his lifetime as a multitalented comedic entertainer, achieving a level of recognition that transcended his limited roles in movies...
, George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
, and Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
all using highly risque material and, in some cases, obscenities.
There are some prime-time TV comedies and animated shows that deal with blue subjects. In the 1970s, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
aired the ground-breaking sitcom All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
, based on the British series Till Death Us Do Part, which featured a "lovable" bigot, Archie Bunker
Archie Bunker
Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...
. The character's dialogue usually contained racial prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
s and ethnic slurs, as well derogatory comments against Jews, gays and women's rights, but in a guise of blue humor against his own bigotry.
On talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
in the USA, many commentators use blue comedy in their political programs. Examples include Neal Boortz
Neal Boortz
Neal A. Boortz, Jr. is an American Libertarian radio host, author, and political commentator. His nationally syndicated talk show, The Neal Boortz Show, airs throughout the United States on Dial Global . It is ranked seventh in overall listeners, with 4.25+ million per week...
, Phil Hendrie
Phil Hendrie
Philip Stephen Hendrie is an American radio personality. He is best known as the host of The Phil Hendrie Show, a comedy talk radio program that is syndicated throughout North America on Talk Radio Network...
and Steve Morrison
Preston and Steve
The Preston and Steve show is a morning radio comedy and variety broadcast on Philadelphia Active Rock station 93.3 FM WMMR featuring DJs Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison. The show, which originated at Y100 in Philadelphia, features daily telephone interviews, in-studio guests, celebrity...
.