Ancient Greeks predated Dead Parrot sketch. " "I'll tell you what's wrong with it. It's dead, that's what's wrong with it." For those who believe the ancient Greeks thought of everything first, proof has been found in a 4th century AD joke book featuring an ancestor of Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch where a man returns a parrot to a shop, complaining it is dead. The 1,600-year-old work entitled "Philogelos: The Laugh Addict," one of the world's oldest joke books, features a joke in which a man complains that a slave he has just bought has died, its publisher said Friday. "By the gods," answers the slave's seller, "when he was with me, he never did any such thing!"" Somehow I picture Zero Mostel as Philogelos.
What will those crazy, dead, Greeks thing of next? That's pretty funny. I wonder if they also had plays "about nothing".
Tomorrow's headlines today: "Greeks sue Toyota over use of word 'Prius.'" "Greeks sue rest of world over use of concrete." "Egyptians sue world's geometry teachers over triangular intellectual property." "Native Americans sue cowboys over buffalo: we ate them first." "Prometheus sues humans over fire: I want it back now."
