Comedy and Farce - From the Black Death to Global Terrorism

A guy walks into a bar with a newt on his shoulder. "What do you call that?" asks the bartender. The man replies, "It does not have a name, it is just a pet."

A world without humor is dull, lifeless, and boring. A world without humor lacks the sparkle, the joyful surprise, the unexpected guffaw that shows us the difference between our lives and those of soulless calculating machines. Comedy has the amazing power to lift our emotions and make us feel, for however short a time, happy and joyful, when all around us is despair. While some comedy has the ability to cut like a diamond blade or convey a subtly persuasive message, farce eschews such lofty aims. The aim of farce is simply to entertain. Farce is comedy at its most basic, most inclusive, and most raw. The humor of farce transcends the boundaries of age, race, gender and culture. Farce is universal in its audience, enough that its basic elements remain unchanged after hundreds of years. The bedroom scenario is a classic of the genre. Lust, envy and innocence are so prevalent that all audiences can laugh at their comic outcomes and be elevated from the often depressing world around them.

The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio, written around 1350 in plague-ridden Florence, is a masterpiece of comic literature. Its 100 stories cover many themes, but they frequently hinge around bawdy farce and outlandish behaviour. Set against the backdrop of the Black Death, the stories are fast-paced, frothy and funny enough to make the reader forget about the terrible times in which they occur. The sixth story on the ninth day is just such a farce. It concerns a young man of Florence named Pinuccio, who desires Niccolosa, the daughter of a local innkeeper. He conspires a plan with his friend Adriano, and the two friends book a bed in the small inn. The inn is, in fact, so small that there is only one bedroom, with three beds. The stage is set. All the players retire to bed; Pinuccio and Adriano to their bed, Niccolosa to hers, and the innkeeper and his wife to theirs. Once everyone is asleep, Pinuccio climbs into bed with Niccolosa, and the pair soon "take their fill of that sweet pleasure." The innkeeper's wife hears a cat outside and gets up to investigate. On her return, she accidentally gets into bed with Adriano, who welcomes her with some ardor, several times. Pinuccio, now gratified, returns to bed, but gets into bed with

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