It was when Dr. James Wade was doing research at the National Library of Scotland when he stumbled upon something rather extraordinary. In a 15th century manuscript, he read what seemed to be notes and details for a live comedy act. Today, we have stand-up comedians writing material and going on the road to test that material out on audiences. Sometimes, they would have spontaneous moments on stage creating comedy magic. I would think that minstrels, the entertainers of the Medieval Age, generally performed impromptu or extempore, but having this manuscript with the writer giving details of the sequences he would perform, is definitely rare especially for medieval literature. Read more about it on Sci Tech Daily. - via Metafilter
(Image credit: National Library of Scotland)