Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. 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, rather than to present sexual stimulation either overtly or artistically. Also, ribaldry may use sex as a metaphor to illustrate some non-sexual concern, in which case ribaldry borders 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. Ribaldry differs from black comedy 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'' by Aristophanes, ''

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, ''

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'' of Apuleius 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" from his '' Canterbury Tales'' and '' The Crabfish'', 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) in his '' Gargantua'' and other works. '' The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' by Laurence Sterne 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 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 European-influenced universities is both a student beer-drinking song and an anthem sung by official university choirs 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, ''

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 contemporar ...

'' and John Barth'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. 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" and "

The Ballad of Eskimo Nell "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell" (Roud 10124) is a bawdy rhymed poem or song that recounts the tale of Deadeye Dick, his accomplice Mexican Pete and a woman they meet on their travels named Eskimo Nell. The ballad makes frequent use of body-related ter ...

". Robert Burns 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 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 Risqué may refer to: * Material that is slightly indecent or liable to shock, especially as sexually suggestive * ''Risqué'' (album), album by Chic * Risque (comics) Risque (Gloria Dolores Muñoz) is a fictional character, a mutant appearing ...

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 ...

profane Profane may refer to: * Profane (religion), a thing which is not sacred * Profanity, foul language * ''Profane'' (film), a 2011 film * Profanity (instant messaging client) Profanity is a text mode instant messaging interface that supports the XM ...

, largely about sex. It often contains profanity 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'' 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 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 The Masquers Playhouse (formerly the Point Richmond Village Playhouse) is an 89-seat community theatre in Point Richmond in Contra Costa County, California. It is home to the Masquers, a local performing group that has been in production since 1955 ...

often showed this blue side of otherwise clean-cut comedians; a recording survives of one Masquers roast from the 1950s with Jack Benny, George Jessel, George Burns, and Art Linkletter 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 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'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 Diaphragm may refer to: Anatomy * Thoracic diaphragm, a thin sheet of muscle between the thorax and the abdomen * Pelvic diaphragm or pelvic floor, a pelvic structure * Urogenital diaphragm or triangular ligament, a pelvic structure Other * Diap ...

) 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 ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...

''. Page, Leroy, and Skillet specialised in a particular African American form of blue spoken word recitation called signifying or toasting. Dave Attell has also been described by his peers as one of the greatest modern-day blue comics. On talk radio in the United States and elsewhere, blue comedy is a staple of the shock jock's repertoire. The use of blue comedy over American radio airwaves is severely restricted due to decency regulations; the Federal Communications Commission 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, while bawdy humor is a central element in works of such writers as Shakespeare and Chaucer. 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.

References

External links

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