Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes

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Ian Hislop goes in search of the earliest examples of British comedy staples.

With the help of contemporary comedians, scholars and an appetite for enduring humour, Ian Hislop tracks down the earliest examples of enduring British comedy tropes and jokes.

There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval.  We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres.  We love a good parody but when did that become a thing?  Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.  
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Jo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.

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Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes: Parody and Sir Topaz

Parody and Sir Topaz

BBC Radio 4 - Ian Hislop's Oldest Jokes, Parody and Sir Topaz

Ian Hislop's quest for British comedy originals celebrates Chaucer's brilliance at parody.

Ian Hislop's search for evidence of early British Comedy staples reaches Chaucer and the art of parody in the form of the Tale of Sir Topaz from The Canterbury Tales.

There are a number of themes or types or techniques in British comedy that seem to survive any social or political upheaval. We love wordplay, we're suckers for Double entendre and while animals can be cute or terrifying, they can also make us laugh. In this series Ian Hislop looks back to try and find the first examples of these jokes or comedy genres. We love a good parody but when did that become a thing? Can we really find Anglo-Saxon Double Entendre? You bet we can, and filthy to boot, another trove of British Humour.
He visits libraries, museums and chapels, and also talks to comedy stars and writers of today like Nina Conti, Paul Whitehouse, comedy song writing duo Flo and Joan and parodist Craig Brown.

And it's the art of parody that's the subject of today's programme as Ian visits Oxford's Bodleian library with Professor Marion Turner, to look at Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century humble-brag parody, the Tale of Sir Topaz, from his Canterbury tales.  It's the tale told by Chaucer himself, the poet pilgrim mocked by the host and apparently for good reason because the rhyme scheme and subject of Sir Topaz is award-winningly awful.  The targets of the parody, the romance tales of the era are less familiar now, but Ian is still able to rejoice in the verse and the beautiful manuscript in which it has been captured.  Craig Brown offers expert observation from today's perspective, explaining what is required of the parodist and why a good parody is much more than a simple imitation.

Producer;  Tom Alban

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