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Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to
indecency Inappropriateness refers to standards or ethics that are typically viewed as being negative in a society. It differs from things that are illicit in that inappropriate behavior does not necessarily have any accompanying legal ramifications. C ...
. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". 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 is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
, rather than to present sexual stimulation either overtly or artistically. Also, ribaldry may use sex as a
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
to illustrate some non-sexual concern, in which case ribaldry borders
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
. Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or
subversive Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...
. Ribaldry typically depends on a shared background of sexual conventions and values, and its
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
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 is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
. 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. Ribaldry differs from
black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
in that the latter deals with topics which would normally be considered ''painful'' or ''frightening'', whereas ribaldry deals with topics that would only be considered offensive.


Examples

Ribaldry is present to some degree in every culture and has likely been around for all of human history. Works like ''
Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...
'' by
Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...
, ''
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''. The ''Menaechmi'' is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a se ...
'' by
Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...
, ''
Cena Trimalchionis The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petr ...
'' by
Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
The Golden Ass The ''Metamorphoses'' of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as ''The Golden Ass'' (''Asinus aureus''), is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety. The protagonist of the novel is Lucius. At the end of the no ...
'' of
Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern-day ...
are ribald classics from ancient Greece and Rome.
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
's "
The Miller's Tale "The Miller's Tale" ( enm, The Milleres Tale) is the second of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'' (1380s–1390s), told by the drunken miller Robin toquite (a Middle English term meaning requite or pay back, in both good and negative ways ...
" from his ''
Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus ...
'' and ''
The Crabfish "The Crabfish" is a ribald humorous folk song of the English oral tradition. It dates back to the seventeenth century, appearing in Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript as a song named "The Sea Crabb" based on an earlier tale. The moral of the story ...
'', one of the oldest English traditional ballads, are classic examples. The Frenchman
François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , , ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French Renaissance writer, physician, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He is primarily known as a writer of satire, of the grotesque, and of bawdy jokes and ...
showed himself to be a master of ribaldry (technically called
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, ...
) in his ''
Gargantua ''The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel'' (french: La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel) is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais, telling the adventures of two giants, Gargantua ( , ) and his son Pantagruel ...
'' and other works. ''
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', also known as ''Tristram Shandy'', is a novel by Laurence Sterne, inspired by ''Don Quixote''. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others followin ...
'' by
Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768), was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric who wrote the novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'', published ...
and ''
The Lady's Dressing Room "The Lady's Dressing Room" is a poem written by Jonathan Swift first published in 1732. In the poem, Strephon sneaks into his sweetheart Celia's dressing room while she is away only to become disillusioned at how filthy and smelly it is. Swift use ...
'' by
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...
are also in this genre; as is
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
's long-suppressed ''
1601 This Epoch (reference date)#Computing, epoch is the beginning of the 400-year Gregorian leap-year cycle within which digital files first existed; the last year of any such cycle is the only leap year whose year number is divisible by 100. Jan ...
''. Another example of ribaldry is " De Brevitate Vitae", a song which in many
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an-influenced universities is both a student beer-drinking song and an anthem sung by official university
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
s at public graduation ceremonies. The private and public versions of the song contain vastly different words. More recent works like ''
Candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...
'', '' Barbarella'', ''
L'Infermiera ''L'Infermiera'' is a 1975 commedia sexy all'italiana 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''. ...
'', the comedic works of
Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fea ...
, ''
Little Annie Fanny ''Little Annie Fanny'' is a comics series by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder. It appeared in 107 two- to seven-page episodes in ''Playboy'' magazine from October 1962 to September 1988. ''Little Annie Fanny'' is a humorous satire of contempora ...
'' and
John Barth John Simmons Barth (; born May 27, 1930) is an American writer who is best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include ''The Sot-Weed Factor'', a ...
's '' The Sot-Weed Factor'' are probably better classified as ribaldry than as either pornography or erotica.


Bawdy song

A bawdy song is a humorous song that emphasises sexual themes and is often rich with
innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), 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'' 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 sin ...
'', edited by Thomas D'Urfey and published between 1698 and 1720. Selected songs from ''Wit and Mirth'' have been recorded by the
City Waites The City Waites is a British early music ensemble. Formed in the early 1970s, they specialise in English music of the 16th and 17th centuries from the street, tavern, theatre and countryside — the music of ordinary people. They endeavour to appe ...
and other singers. 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 sexual intercourse, e.g. "The Game of All Fours". Neither side demonstrates any shame or regret. If the woman becomes pregnant, the man will not be there anyway.
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
songs are often bawdy. Examples of bawdy folk songs are: "
Seventeen Come Sunday "Seventeen Come Sunday", also known as "As I Roved Out", is an English folk song (Roud Folk Song Index, Roud 277, George Malcolm Laws, Laws O17) which was arranged by Percy Grainger for choir and brass accompaniment in 1912 and used in the first ...
" and " The Ballad of Eskimo Nell".
Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
compiled ''The Merry Muses of Caledonia'' (the title is not Burns's), a collection of bawdy lyrics that were popular in the music halls of Scotland as late as the 20th century. In modern times
Hash House Harriers The Hash House Harriers (HHH or H3) is an international group of non-competitive running social clubs. An event organized by a club is known as a Hash or Run, or a Hash Run. A common denominal verb for this activity is Hashing, with participan ...
have taken on the role of tradition-bearers for this kind of song. ''The Unexpurgated Folk Songs of Men'' (Arhoolie 4006) is a gramophone record containing a collection of American bawdy songs recorded in 1959.


Blue comedy

Blue comedy is comedy that is
off-colour Off-color humor (also known as vulgar humor, crude humor, or shock humor) is humor that deals with topics that may be considered to be in poor taste or vulgar. Many comedic genres (including jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult c ...
, risqué,
indecent Inappropriateness refers to standards or ethics that are typically viewed as being negative in a society. It differs from things that are illicit in that inappropriate behavior does not necessarily have any accompanying legal ramifications. Co ...
or profane, largely about sex. It often contains
profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
or sexual imagery that may shock and offend some audience members. "Working blue" refers to the act of using swear words and discussing things that people do not discuss in "polite society". A "blue comedian" or "blue comic" is a
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
who usually performs risqué routines layered with curse words. There is a common belief that comedian Max Miller (1894–1963) coined the phrase, after his stage act which involved telling jokes from either a white book or a blue book, chosen by audience preference (the blue book contained ribald jokes). This is not so, as the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
'' contains earlier references to the use of blue to mean ribald: 1890 ''Sporting Times'' 25 Jan. 1/1 "Shifter wondered whether the damsel knew any novel blue stories." and 1900 ''Bulletin'' (Sydney) 20 Oct. 12/4 "Let someone propose to celebrate
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
by publicly reading some of his bluest productions unexpurgated. The reader would probably be locked up." Private events at show business clubs such as the Masquers often showed this blue side of otherwise clean-cut comedians; a recording survives of one Masquers roast from the 1950s with
Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...
, George Jessel,
George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film and television. His arched eyebr ...
, and
Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of ''House Party'', which ran on CBS radio a ...
all using highly risqué material and obscenities. Many comedians who are normally family-friendly might choose to work blue when off-camera or in an adult-oriented environment;
Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Saget played Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom ''Full House'' (1987-1995), and reprised the role for its Netflix sequel '' Fulle ...
exemplified this
dichotomy A dichotomy is a partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothing can belong simulta ...
.
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
's 1969 record album '' 8:15 12:15'' records both his family-friendly evening standup comedy show, and his blue midnight show, which included a joke about impregnating his wife "right through the old midnight trampoline" (her diaphragm) and other sexual references. Some comedians build their careers on blue comedy. Among the best known of these are
Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movement. ...
,
Lawanda Page LaWanda Page (born Alberta Peal; October 19, 1920September 14, 2002) was an American actress, comedian, and dancer whose career spanned six decades. Crowned "The Queen of Comedy" or "The Black Queen of Comedy", Page melded blue humor, signifyin ...
, and the team of Leroy and Skillet, all of whom later performed on the family-friendly television show '' Sanford and Son''. Page, Leroy, and Skillet specialised in a particular
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
form of blue spoken word recitation called signifying or toasting.
Dave Attell David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's ''Insomniac with Dave Attell'', which earned him a cult following. His work has drawn admiration from many comedi ...
has also been described by his peers as one of the greatest modern-day blue comics. On
talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
in the United States and elsewhere, blue comedy is a staple of the
shock jock A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor and/or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative o ...
's repertoire. The use of blue comedy over American radio airwaves is severely restricted due to decency regulations; the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
can levy fines against radio stations that air obscene content.


Blue literature

As a part of English literature, blue literature dates back to at least
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
, while bawdy humor is a central element in works of such writers as
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
. Examples of blue literature are also present in various cultures, among different social classes, and genders. Until the 1940s, writers of English-language blue literature were almost exclusively men; since then it has become possible for women to build a commercial career on blue literature. While no extensive cross-cultural study has been made in an attempt to prove the universality of blue literature, oral tradition around the world suggests that this may be the case.


See also

*
Black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
*
Clean comedy Clean comedy is a comedy genre that is generally free of ribaldry: racism, rape jokes, pejoratives, profanity, obscenity, incest, illicit drugs, off-color humor, toilet humor, explicitly sexual content, and similarly objectionable material. Comedi ...
*
Dirty blues Dirty blues encompasses forms of blues music that deal with socially taboo and obscene subjects, often referring to sexual acts and drug use. Due to the sometimes graphic subject matter, such music was often banned from radio and only available on ...
*
Drinking song A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music. In Germany, drinking songs are ...
*
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, ...
*
Limerick (verse) A limerick ( ) is a form of verse, usually humorous and frequently rude, in five-line, predominantly trimeter with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA, in which the first, second and fifth line rhyme, while the third and fourth lines are shorter and ...
*
Off-color humor Off-color humor (also known as vulgar humor, crude humor, or shock humor) is humor that deals with topics that may be considered to be in poor taste or vulgar. Many comedic genres (including jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult c ...
*
Ruth Wallis Ruth Wallis (January 5, 1920 – December 22, 2007) was a novelty song, novelty popular cabaret singer. Career Born Ruth Shirley Wohl in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, Wallis began her career singing jazz and cabaret standards – wit ...
* " The Ball of Kirriemuir" *
Toilet humor Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It sees subs ...


References


Further reading

*Cray, Ed. (1992) ''The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs'',
University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...
, * Legman, Gershon, ed. (1992) ''Roll Me in Your Arms'' (bawdy songs and lore collected by Vance Randolph), University of Arkansas Press, *Legman, Gershon, ed. (1992) ''Blow the Candle Out'' (bawdy songs and lore collected by Vance Randolph), University of Arkansas Press, *Robert Burns (1982) ''The Merry Muses of Caledonia''; edited by James Barke &
Sydney Goodsir Smith Sydney Goodsir Smith (26 October 1915 – 15 January 1975) was a New Zealand-born Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots often referred to as Lallans (Lowlands dialect), and was a major figure of the Sc ...
. Loanhead: Macdonald,


External links

* {{Sex Comedy Sexuality and society Humour Entertainment Off-color humor Stand-up comedy