IN: A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which, in turn, is derived from the Italian burla - a joke, ridicule or mockery. Burlesque overlaps in meaning with caricature, parody and travesty, and, in its theatrical sense, with extravaganza, as presented during the Victorian era. "Burlesque" has been used in English in this literary and theatrical sense since the late 17th century.

The word first appears in a title in Francesco Berni's Opere burlesche of the early 16th century, works that had circulated widely in manuscript before they were printed. For a time, burlesque verses were known as poesie bernesca in his honour. 'Burlesque' as a literary term became widespread in 17th century Italy and France, and subsequently England, where it referred to a grotesque imitation of the dignified or pathetic. Shakespeare's Pyramus and Thisbe scene in Midsummer Night's Dream and the general mocking of romance in Beaumont and Fletcher's The Knight of the Burning Pestle were early examples of such imitation. In 17th century Spain, playwright and poet Miguel de Cervantes ridiculed medieval romance in his many satirical works. Among Cervantes' works are Exemplary Novels and the Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes published in 1615. The term burlesque has been applied retrospectively to works of Chaucer and Shakespeare and to the Graeco-Roman classics. Burlesque was intentionally ridiculous in that it imitated several styles and combined imitations of certain authors and artists with absurd descriptions. In this, the term was often used interchangeably with "pastiche", "parody", and the 17th and 18th century genre of the "mock-heroic". Burlesque depended on the reader's (or listener's) knowledge of the subject to make its intended effect, and a high degree of literacy was taken for granted. 17th and 18th century burlesque was divided into two types: High burlesque refers to a burlesque imitation where a literary, elevated manner was applied to a commonplace or comically inappropriate subject matter as, for example, in the literary parody and the mock-heroic. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque is Alexander Pope's "sly, knowing and courtly" The Rape of the Lock. Low burlesque applied an irreverent, mocking style to a serious subject; an example is Samuel Butler's poem Hudibras, which described the misadventures of a Puritan knight in satiric doggerel verse, using a colloquial idiom. Butler's addition to his comic poem of an ethical subtext made his caricatures into satire. In more recent times, burlesque true to its literary origins is still performed in revues and sketches. Tom Stoppard's 1974 play Travesties is an example of a full-length play drawing on the burlesque tradition.

What else did the burlesque do

OUT: 17th and 18th century burlesque was divided into two types:

IN: Rhett & Link are an American Internet comedy duo consisting of the two YouTube users Rhett James McLaughlin (born October 11, 1977) and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal, III (born June 1, 1978). Self-styled as "Internetainers" (from "Internet" and "entertainers"), they are known for their online viral videos, comedy songs, ten-episode TV series Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings for the Independent Film Channel, their daily morning talk-show titled Good Mythical Morning (GMM), their YouTube Red series Buddy System, and more recently, their YouTube channel "This Is Mythical." In their 2008 documentary, Looking for Ms. Locklear, they chronicled their search for the first grade teacher in whose class they met for the first time. All their work is put under their one banner name, Mythical Entertainment.

Rhett and Link met on September 4th, 1984 (this is the exact date they started school in Harnett County) at Buies Creek Elementary School in Buies Creek, North Carolina, where they attended first grade, a meeting about which they have subsequently written a song and made a movie (Looking For Ms. Locklear - 2008). They met through having to stay in at recess, as they were both doodling on their desks. In an interview on The Tonight Show, they state that they stayed in during recess because both of them had written swear words on their desks. They stayed in and colored in mythical creatures such as a unicorn (hence their YouTube channel name, GMM/Good Mythical Morning). At age fourteen, they wrote a screenplay entitled Gutless Wonders and began shooting a film based on it. They shot only a couple of scenes, and the film was never finished. This screenplay ultimately was read in multiple episodes of Good Mythical Morning. In high school they shot a 25-minute film-parody on the tragedy of Oedipus Rex. Rhett was Oedipus, and Link was his father's servant. Rhett and Link were both members of a punk rock band as teenagers known as "The Wax Paper Dogz" and have played at an Independence Day festival. Later, they were roommates at NC State, where Link studied industrial engineering and Rhett studied civil engineering. They earned degrees and worked in their respective fields for a time. Link briefly worked at IBM, while Rhett worked at Black & Veatch. Both men now reside in Los Angeles, California, where together they run a production company named Mythical Entertainment, located in Burbank. They both currently have wives, and they each have kids. Rhett married Jessie Lane in 2001 and has two children: Locke and Shepherd. Link married Christy White in 2000 and has three children: Lily (Lilian), Lincoln (Charles Lincoln IV), and Lando.

Do they have kids?

OUT:
They both currently have wives, and they each have kids.