Feast of Fools

The Feast of Fools (Latin: festum fatuorum, festum stultorum) is the name given to a specific feast day celebrated by the clergy in Europe, initially in Northern France, but later more widely. Its later reception history has considerably obscured modern understandings of the nature and meaning of this celebration, which originated in proper liturgical observance, and has more to do with other examples of medieval liturgical drama than with either the earlier pagan (Roman) feasts of Saturnalia and Kalends or the later bourgeois lay sotie.

Context

The central idea seems always to have been a brief social revolution, in which power, dignity and impunity is briefly conferred on those in a subordinate position. In the views of later commentators, this makes the medieval festival a successor to the Roman Kalends of January, although there is no continuity between the two celebrations. However, for the start of the Roman Saturnalia, authorities chose an enemy of the Roman people to represent the Lord of Misrule in each community. These men and women were forced to indulge in food and physical pleasures throughout the week, and eventually murdered brutally, "destroying the forces of darkness".

Feast of Fun

The Feast of Fun podcast (formerly titled "Feast of Fools") is a Chicago, Illinois-based talk show hosted by Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion that showcases celebrity guests, artists, musicians, actors, and members of the LGBT community and those who support them. A typical program will include one or more of a number of features, including roundtable discussions, unusual news and social trends, LGBT issues, comedy, music, food and cocktail recipes, or interviews.

The Feast of Fun podcast continually ranks as the top-rated gay and lesbian podcast on iTunes and is frequently listed in the Top 100 list of Comedy podcasts. On average, the podcast is downloaded 30,000 times per week, making it the most downloaded GLBT podcast in the United States. On March 13, 2009, the producers changed the name of the show from "Feast of Fools" to "Feast of Fun" to better reflect changes in the program's design and functionality.

Podcast

The first Feast of Fools Podcast was posted on Tuesday, February 8, 2005. It featured Fernós, Felion and former live show band leader (and recurring podcast contributor) Link Pinks. The name "Gay Fun Show" was added to the title of the Podcast to help prospective listeners easily discern what the show is about when searching podcast databases. As one of the earliest podcasts produced, the Podcast is recognized as a pioneer in the podcasting industry, and is responsible for a number of podcasting firsts, such as: