Ancient Greeks pre-empted Dead Parrot sketch

[TechBear_Seattle]

Alas, there really is nothing new under the sun.

Ancient Greeks pre-empted Dead Parrot sketch

ATHENS (Reuters) – "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!"

In a British comedy act Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch, first aired in 1969 and regularly voted one of the funniest ever, the pet-shop owner says the parrot, a "Norwegian Blue," is not dead, just "resting" or "pining for the fjords."

The article continues http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081114/od_nm/us_comedy

[sellitman]

1. McCain & the Repugs are not dead. They are just resting or pining for the fjords.

[zbdent]

2. you're no fun any more ...

[edhopper]

3. I also understand that

the Phoneticians had a Priest of Silly Walks and the Minoans prayed to a Hedgehog God named Spiny Norman.