Blackadder joke I've never understood

[neardark]

How the fuck can you not understand this

"lest you say it in a timid manner"

[JesusAndYourBush]

something particularly moving would 'bring a tear to a glass eye' but not that.

Meatloaf considers rewrite.

[Ignatius_S]

In Blackadder III, the one with the actors in it, one of the actors tells George not to do something while speaking "lest you mew it like a frightened tree"

Frightened tree? Is that a reference to something? What does it mean?

I always thought that in the context what else the actors say, it's advice that superficially sounds impressive and that they know what they are talking about, but is a load of rubbish.

[popcorn]

How the fuck can you not understand this

"lest you say it in a timid manner"

I wonder if we're ever going to be able to have a discussion about jokes that create confusion or are subject to interpretation without someone popping up and saying "how the fuck can you not understand this".

[phantom_power]

How the fuck can you not understand this

"lest you say it in a timid manner"

We all know what it means. The question is about what the joke is, and how it is worded

[Virgo76]

Not really on topic but I've always thought the Blackadder II line "my path is strewn with cow pats from the devil's own herd" although brilliant on paper didn't work well on screen because Atkinson delivered it a bit oddly.
The Lady Hamilton joke in Blackadder the Third didn't really land because not many people knew who Lady Hamilton was. I myself had to ask my mum.

[somersetchris]

Not really on topic but I've always thought the Blackadder II line "my path is strewn with cow pats from the devil's own herd" although brilliant on paper didn't work well on screen because Atkinson delivered it a bit oddly.

I think when you've seen it a lot it works even better because the way he says "Satanic HEEERRRD!" is so exaggerated and silly.

[somersetchris]

I wonder if we're ever going to be able to have a discussion about jokes that create confusion or are subject to interpretation without someone popping up and saying "how the fuck can you not understand this".

Look, for the last time the joke is that not only does he think that a greatest hits is an acceptable answer to 'favourite album', but he's such a dunce he can't even name one so he assumes it must be called 'The Best Of The Beatles', HOW CAN YOU NOT GET THAT?!

[BeardFaceMan]

What was the gag about St Paul the Evangelist touring Palestine with his trampoline act? I never understood that one.

[Cuellar]

Alright here's another one. In Arrested Development, when Oscar is in prison because they think he's George his complaints to Michael at visiting time cut in and out over the phone thing they're using, and he's mid-sentence when it cuts back in and he's saying something like:

"...and they cover it with soap, and you're meant to THANK them!"

What's this referring to.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Alright here's another one. In Arrested Development, when Oscar is in prison because they think he's George his complaints to Michael at visiting time cut in and out over the phone thing they're using, and he's mid-sentence when it cuts back in and he's saying something like:

"...and they cover it with soap, and you're meant to THANK them!"

What's this referring to.

HAHA RAPE

[mjwilson]

What was the gag about St Paul the Evangelist touring Palestine with his trampoline act? I never understood that one.

Exactly. St Paul was famous for travelling more widely than just Palestine.

[BeardFaceMan]

Exactly. St Paul was famous for travelling more widely than just Palestine.

Where does the trampoline fit in, or was he also famous for having a trampoline act?

you're the worst entertainer since Saint Paul the Evangelist toured Palestine with his trampoline act

is the actual line.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Had a wee search and someone online suggested that a trampoline act and flowing robes with no pants might not be great entertainment but it's a bit of a leap I think.

[neveragain]

Just going out on a limb here, but the writers may have thought the idea of St Paul having a trampoline act... funny.

[BeardFaceMan]

Just going out on a limb here, but the writers may have thought the idea of St Paul having a trampoline act... funny.

Why a trampoline act though, if it has nothing at all to do with Saint Paul? And why is Saint Paul the subject of the joke, is he famous for something I'm not aware of, did he tour shows? Just seems like a completely random combination that has nothing to do with the original point of Baldrick being a bad entertainer.

[neveragain]

Maybe St. Paul would make a bad trampolonist? But I honestly think it's just silliness along the lines of Python referencing [insert random historical figure] in an unrelated context.

[Cuellar]

HAHA RAPE

Right, I'd assumed it must be something like that because it's prison isn't it and that's what happens there, but WHAT are they 'covering with soap'? A dick, In lieu of lube? It's just the word 'cover'. 'Cover' doesn't sound like the sort of word you'd use if talking about lubing up a knob, to me at least.

"I'm going to have sex with you, just let me cover my knob in lube then we'll be away".

I'd say 'put some lube on', or similar. 'Cover' suggests spreading something over a surface. I just think it was the wrong word and needlessly confusing.

[TrappedInMyFlat]

The "joke" is just that the actors are pretentious and being verbose. The line itself isn't actually a joke.

[Cuellar]

Actually it's a reference to actor-manager Beerbohm-Tree

[idunnosomename]

That there's no clever meaning other than jumping on a trampoline being silly, and unbecoming for a saint, is evident by the fact that Paul wasn't an evangelist. The only evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

_{Although Paul (ironically) does use the word more broadly in Ephesians 4:11, it's only really been used in this sense by Protestants}