Britain’s first stand-up comic entertained with a ‘Monty Python-worthy sketch’ 540 YEARS ago

It wasn’t all valiant knights and bloody wars – there was slapstick comedy in medieval England, too.

Close analysis of historical texts from the 15th century has revealed that minstrels practiced slapstick, satire and irony at the time.

But they also enjoyed a scatological joke about someone breaking wind.

And even about half a century ago, the comedians of the day may have figured out that getting their audience drunk can make them laugh more and increase their tips.

Dr. James Wade, of the University of Cambridge, discovered a rare example of comic performance in a book called the Heege Manuscript, rescued from the depths of history for posterity by historian and novelist Sir Walter Scott.

The first of the manuscript’s nine booklets contains a satirical story about a group of peasants who try to imitate the nobility by going hare hunting.

But they fail to catch hares, end up in a massive brawl and one man hits his head so hard that his bottom goes ‘quack’ every time he gets up.

This is believed to be a wind breaking joke, which people apparently found funny long before whoopee pillows, in Chaucer’s day.

The booklet also contains a mock sermon, satirizing the religious instruction of the time.

It contains a passage which, roughly translated, encourages the audience to drink more, tells them that their souls will suffer if they leave beer at the bottom of their tankard, and that those who don’t drink heavily will never make it to heaven.

Dr. Wade said, “Even then, comedians seemed to realize that if people drank more quickly, they might find the jokes funnier and might be willing to give more money if the cup came around after the performance.”

The fake sermon is believed to contain the first mention in history of a “red herring” – meaning a misleading diversion.

It contains a story of a banquet involving three kings feasting on food.

They become so full that their bellies burst open, two oxen lunge surreal and start fighting with swords until the two animals are left with nothing but ‘red herrings’.

These red herrings are a distraction rather than an allegory for a religious message, which would have been the case in a real sermon.

Therefore, the minstrel giving the mock sermon manages to bravely mock both religion and royalty.

The text finally analyzed from the Heege manuscript is a nonsense verse about a feast, which is pure slapstick, with random scenes of wrestling bears and pigs.

Oddly enough, as was customary at the time, the legendary character of Robin Hood was included in the lyrics as a guest at the party.

The manuscript, written around 1480 near Sherwood Forest, on the borders of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, is by a scribe named Richard Heege – believed to have been named after the village of Heage in Derbyshire.

Heege was a tutor to the Sherbrooke family, part of the Derbyshire gentry, to whom his booklets first belonged.

Dr. Wade, who accidentally came across the lyrics while researching at the National Library of Scotland, first noted that some of the material may be comical from a note added by the writer stating, “By me, Richard Heege, because I was at that party and didn’t drink.’

This may be a wry admission that he watched the minstrel perform the lyrics in the manuscript, but remained unusually level-headed enough to write them down.

Minstrels may have had a written record of their actions at the time, which may have helped.

Dr. Wade said, “Most of the medieval poetry, song, and storytelling has been lost. ‘Manuscripts often contain remnants of high art.

‘This is something else. It’s crazy and offensive, but just as valuable.

“Stand-up comedy has always involved risk-taking and these lyrics are risky, poking fun at everyone, high and low.”

He described the lyrics as a ‘comedy party’, adding: ‘People then partied a lot more than we do today, so minstrels had plenty of opportunities to perform.

“They were really important figures in people’s lives, right across the social hierarchy.

‘These texts give us a snapshot of medieval life well lived.’

The manuscript even includes a scene reminiscent of Monty Python’s Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.

The scene depicts the fictional farmer Jack Wade, who could be from any medieval village, who reads, “Jack Wade was never so sad / Like when the hare stepped on his head / In case she’d ripped out his throat.”

Killer rabbit jokes have a long tradition in medieval literature and appear in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.

Many minstrels are thought to have had daytime jobs, including as ploughmen, but took to performing at night and on weekends.

Some may have traveled across the country, while others stuck to a circuit of local locations.

The lyrics all contain jokes to appeal to the local audience.