
An Insult Comedy show is a relatively new phenomenon. It involves a comic making jokes about the audience and/or other comics, (usually during a roasting session). They don't have to focus on the other comics (lack of) talent, the scope of taking the mickey can be anything from what they've been doing in their personal life to the alegations in the local gossip rag about them having had
plastic surgery. The genre may also cause the comic to take on an alternate persona, which ends up defining their career in general. Yucko the Clown and Triumph the Insult Dog are a couple of examples.
Yet, did you know that the ancient Romans actually had an insult comic of their own? His name was Marcus Valerius Martialis, and he was a poet who specialized in creating satirical epigrams.
Of course, don’t get me wrong. Martialis never went on stage and started insulting people. That type of insult comedy wouldn’t happen until our time. But he’s still considered the first insult comic because he was the only poet at that time who directed jokes at people directly.
In fact, if you look at one of his epigrams, you’ll see that he addresses his subjects by name. The poem then continues by Martialias insulting the person. And, even though the humor within the epigram isn’t very crass, it’s witty enough to draw a smile even now, thousands of years later.
One of my favorites is Epigram No. 43, (Book III). In this epigram, Laetinus is the subject of interest. Martialis tells him that he’s feigning youth because he recently dyed his hair. And now, he’s a raven, (despite being a swan before). Martialis warns that Prosperina, (probably the subject’s wife), knows the real truth and will eventually remove his mask.
Another epigram appears to address an issue that continues even today: whether or not a person who has oral sex before vaginal sex is a virgin. In this one Chiona is the subject of interest, as Martialis explains that the public believes she’s a virgin. However, to him, it’s her mouth that isn’t pure. That’s why he suggests putting panties over her face when she bathes.
The rest of his epigrams follow this same pattern, though there are some that get even cruder, (depending on how you translate the poem). Either way, if you have any interest in comedy, or literature in general, consider looking into Martialis’s works. Not only will you get a couple of chuckles here and there, but you’ll realize that ultimately the ancients weren’t much different from us.