MDDM Ch. 28 Notes & Questions

[Dave Monroe]

A quick one, then I'm away ...

--- John Bailey <johnbonbailey at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> -.26 ‘Joe Miller’ ?

As in Joe Miller's Jests: or, the Wit's Vade-Mecum
(1739) ...

"Miller, A Joe Miller. A stale jest. John Mottley
compiled a book of &facetiae; in the reign of James
II., which he entitled Joe Miller's Jests, from a
witty actor of farce during the time that Congreve's
plays were in vogue. A stale jest is called a “Joe
Miller,” implying that it is stolen from Mottley's
compilation. (Joe Miller, 1684-1738.)"

http://www.bootlegbooks.com/Reference/PhraseAndFable/data/839.html

"Joe Miller (or Josias; commonly called Joe)
(1684-1738), actor and reputed humorist; joined Drury
Lane Company, 1709; a prominent member of the company;
temporarily engaged at Goodman's Fields, London, 1731;
returned to Drury Lane, London, 1732; described as a
natural spirited comedian. After his death a
collection of jests by John Mottley was published,
unwarrantably entitled Joe Miller's Jests (1739),
which became a standard book."

http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/cgi-bin/carol/hmt/carol-5.html#Joe

"Joseph Miller or Joe as his friends called him was a
small-time English stage actor who specialised in
comic roles.

"Miller was a mournful-looking man who did not talk
much but could make people laugh with his jokes and
wisecracks. Unfortunately he could not translate this
talent into money and when he died in 1738 his family
found itself in dire straits.

"One of Miller's friend's, John Mottley decided he had
to help the family and with this intention published a
collection of jokes and witticisms originated by
Miller.

"The book 'Joe Miller's Jests' was the first-ever Joke
book in English. The proceeds of the book went to
Miller's family and it must have helped that family's
finances considerably as the book was a great success
and went into several editions. The book originally
consisted of 272 jokes and 72 pages but people kept
adding to the jokes (any old joke came to be called a
Joe Miller) till finally it expanded into a fat volume
containing more than 1500 jokes."

http://www.dimdima.com/book/joke.htm

"Joe Miller's Jests was a joke book originally
published in London in 1739. Joe Miller, a famous
comic actor who died in 1738, had nothing to do with
its composition. The book's publisher simply used
Miller's name to increase sales. The real author was a
hack writer named John Mottley. Joe Miller's Jests
became such a hit that its title was perpetuated by
several other joke books published during the next two
centuries. As a result a 'Joe Miller' has come to mean
an exceedingly stale joke."

http://www.taxi-l.org/anecj.htm

"Joe Miller: A Joe Miller is a stale joke. If you tell
your friends the jokes you laughed at as a child then
they are probably Joe Millers. Comedians who tell well
worn jokes are said to have taken them from Joe
Millers Joke Book. Joe Miller (1684-1738) was a
popular English comic actor during the early 1700's.
He performed at the Drury Lane Theatre in London, but
his parts were minor. Although his dialogue did not
call for many jests, the audience took delight in
quoting the witty remarks he made. A year after Joe
Miller's death, a certain Joe Mottley, without
permission from anyone, compiled a book titled Joe
Miller's Jest Book, or The Wit's Vade Mecum. The book
contained only 3 jests ever spoken by Joe Miller
himself; the rest consisted of poor puns and dull
witticisms. Other publishers jumped on the bandwagon,
and soon there was a flood of joke books that bore the
name Joe Miller. Readers responded the way audiences
did to the same joke time after time: 'That's a Joe
Miller'. The name soon became a synonym for any
timeworn joke."

http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/s414319.htm

"Joe Miller was a famous English comic actor. His name
has become a bit of a synonym for great coarse humor,
because after he died somebody published a collection
of such and put JM's name on the title: Joe Miller's
Jest-Book, or the Wit's Vade Mecum ['guidebook'].
There was a Batman comic way about 10-15 years ago
where the Joker stole the original Joe Miller joke
book from the Gotham museum."

http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/mason-dixon/alpha/m.html

Available in facsimile of the original ed. as ...

[Mottley, John.]  Joe Miller's Jests: or, The Wit's
  Vade-Mecum.  New York: Dover, 1963 [1739].

August 16th, by the way, is "Joe Miller Day" ...

http://www.profitablepromotions.com/081601.html

... so send a gag condolensce card to 'Scilla and a
bouquet of squirting flowers to Graceland ...

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