The Dancing Plague • Puppet History

[Music] welcome one and all the puppet history today we'll be taking her deep diving ever winding look into yet another chapter in the heavy heavy book we call history dweller gets ruthlessly vie for the coveted title of history master Brian Vergara are you ready yeah I'm ready as always special guest Jermaine Fowler are you ready I don't know okay and that's cracking [Music] could I take another guess at your name huh sure you're the professor I'm the professor Wiggles professor Wiggles not bad but no professor McNasty that's close that's close I am a little nasty today we'll be talking about a city on the brink and they're very strange coping methods you guys ever been pushed to the brink I'd sure huh I don't think I have yet no way to verse ever just challenged you yes yes the universe has challenged me yes professor McNasty okay I actually kind of like the ring of that now would you guys like to know what we're competing for yeah what we competing for it is the coveted cup of the history master ignore the hand whose hand is that oh it's God God's a white man Oh I mean it's the devil well in the Alsace region of Europe in the early 1500s it's very safe to say that people were stressed cosmically stressed see these were people only a few generations removed from the mass devastation of the bubonic plague and it's easy to imagine that the sheer trauma of experiencing a borderline biblical event could imbue a few generations with an all-enveloping sense of existential dread ruff or any of the stories that you're going to tell are they or is it one of them at least not gonna be a bummer or they all gonna be well they're they're all pretty sad history is a sad thing yeah you're probably right there's some like happy historical events like the day peanut butter was invented oh whoa I would say that you know I saw Lion King yeah that was good that was good too so considering all that the city of Strasburg seemed like a prime candidate for ground zero of the impending apocalypse see the common folk of Strasburg in addition to all the struggles of just surviving in the 1500s found themselves dealing with an increasingly problematic clergy author John Waller says quote monks and priests shamelessly took concubines and all had greater appetites for meat drink and sleep than for prayer or pastoral duties can't fault them for that you know what I'm saying I guess even clergymen have to get the kind of want to say that that's so crass no say it I guess sometimes clergymen gotta get okay no that was too crap that's pretty what's wrong with you people were not stoked about this because these holy folk are supposed to be their direct line to God one guy was so fired up that he went poking around various local holy houses to see how much meat and booze they'd been hoarding and he found plenty of dirt but eventually gave up his investigation oh that red light means we're at a first question why do you think he stopped his little investigation a they paid him off in barrels of barley wine be a nun blackmailed him or see a monk threatened to murder him are you locked in I'm locked in what you put down I put C do you think a monk threatened to murder him I don't think that's what happened but it is the funniest outcome so that's how I've been playing this game so [ __ ] makes sense Germaine I chose B you can blackmail with a happy face yeah a little happy face you know a nun and blackmailing you just seems insane and I always though with the craziest multiple choice question but our monk threatening to murder someone isn't crazy well let's find out no no no everything's fine oh hey brother Thomas my brother wonderful to see you what brings your wonderful soul to the house of HO hazel sorry [ __ ] what brings your beautiful soul to the house of His Holiness today I saw something kind of weird recently I could have sworn i saw someone wheeling barrels of ale into the church but that couldn't be right I mean it's funny that you mentioned that because I saw something weird today too I saw a dead man walking huh how'd you like to be dead whoa whoa let's just let you know about some I thought it seemed like maybe some illicit activity and I'm just letting you know that if you mention those barrels to anybody else you'll end up in one Oh he Walter whited him may peace be with you so damn they were ignited it seems like Ryan gets a history point there Congrats Ryan Thank You congratulations I'm a good sport thank you Joe thank you driving an even greater wedge between the classes the clergy and Lords had been hiking up taxes for years and according to waller quote peasants were forbidden from grazing pigs on common pasture from fishing and local pools and streams and from entering the forest to gather timber for building and fuel a game even to pick acorns or berries and that's some [ __ ] you seem passionate about this is taking won't you take it easy you're just you want to go out there and pick some acorns and berries that's okay you know was a long time ago it's over now your eyes got bigger what's in your bag Oh wouldn't you like to know why don't you come check it out I feel like it's a trick come on open my little bag like a start-up of horeb no come on here don't sign that open my little bag take take one out okay that's right you put you put so much time again those are my special treasure you know what I'll take a jelly bean to go for it I do love jelly beans on top of all this [ __ ] the region had been through a pretty rough couple decades we're gonna run through this really quick but every time I turn the light purple like this oh I need you guys to shout all the crops died okay just like that oh great so here we go in 1492 that was a famine because Oh died in 1493 crops weren't half bad but then everybody got syphilis and a bunch of people's skin fell off Ebola as they rounded the Year 1500 things levelled out for a few years the crops were good for a bit and then in 1507 hail the size of apples pummeled the town whoa how big were they really the size of apples or is that it was the size and because of the hail oh then the bubonic clava staged a brief reunion tour and was mercifully stamped out by the bitter winter of 1511 but also oh the crops and then again in the bitter winter of 1514 the store we were on the same page followed by a summertime drought in the summer of 1516 when one last time with Gus Coe I guess that's gusto so that's a solid two decades of ever mounting anxiety scores of people are struggling to make ends meet falling deeper and deeper into debt all the while starving several to death could this have a toll on the general populations mental health well sure what concerning things started to happen a people began to see the dead walk the earth beef people began burying themselves alive or sea people began eating dirt until they died definitely in it yeah what was he a kid people began to see the dead walk the earth I've heard things like that yeah see that's crazy so like ghosts yeah gule gule gule goblins Oh buy me a coke all right Ryan what do you got I'm gonna go with C you're gonna go with sequel eating dirt until they died kind of similar to those people that danced til they died in France oh yeah I've heard of them Jermaine what are you going with I just feel like there should be like all the above option because I just feel like all those things would have happened but I've had to pick I'm going with a well that's a point for Jermaine history buff so Waller describes quote thousands imagined their dead relations to have escaped from purgatory running and screaming to the music of drum and pipe many of those killed in battle were reported to be carrying their bloodied and mutilated limbs one woman was stricken with terror after having seen quote the ghost of her dead soldier husband clutching between bloody hands his own severed head Jesus and these were all visions yes these are all visions but no one ate dirt right no one ate dirt though that is a thing that is a method of suicide it's like a weird ancient thing they would eat dirt until they died Jesus Christ yeah if you thought all that was bad welcome to 1517 which they depressingly and hilariously called the bad year which would play out like a greatest hits compilation of the previous decades more frozen crops more hail some smallpox some leprosy and a fun new disease guess what this new disease is called a the English sweat be Lucifer's indulgence or sea horse bite flu you will be playing if it was English sweat all right Ryan what do you got I'm gonna go with B you're gonna go with B Lucifer's indulgence Spurs indulgences sounds great also sounds like the name of a dope coffee shop in Silver Lake okay so a sounded like like an iced tea tea called English sweating this fog yeah yeah and these sound like some incense yeah that's shows well that's lovely what is that Lucifer isn't chose C but I did a D or but meets the light but you know I thought meats delight but you know what it's a pirate you know what I'm gonna give you an extra point for but meats delight hey wait a sec yeah yeah wait a second you can't do that well you've never taken the initiative right because I was playing by the rules I didn't realize it was the [ __ ] Wild West don't make me have a little fun with it every now and then that's sure you do have a satchel full of jellybeans more creativity and I'm also giving that point out because neither of you got it right it was called the English sweat so yeah it was just a disease where you'd sweat for several days until you died what was the or the symptoms good sweat a lot you just kept sweating how long did they sweat few days okay moving along oh what the yeah that's right it's me that big pile of diamonds that's my catchphrase now I think yeah but we're in the middle of a story here well I'm here with a word from our sponsor rent on this puppet theater isn't free you know well you've got your fuzzy ass nose in a book I'm over here keeping the lights on baby fine fine take it away the floor is yours talk about bed sheets or whatever [ __ ] sheets cut me some slack bro today's episode is brought to you by weight like the concept of mischief yeah the country no you idiot mischief ms CHF mischief is a Brooklyn based company that releases mysterious cool stuff in the form of drops every two weeks I am listening sometimes the drops are limited edition items like these Jesus shoes filled with holy water from the river Jordan that my friend Drake was seen sporting wait are you friends with Drake yeah my sister-in-law Jim Burley is an anklet of his we hang out on Boxing Day is he is he cool uh yeah or sometimes the drops are free things like a font that looks like Times New Roman except it's slightly wider so your written assignments look longer than they actually are not sure I approve of that deal with it nerd or it might be something that just kicks ass like when they posted live streams of Netflix HBO prime Hulu and Disney Plus on a site for anyone to watch no two drops are the same so if you want early access to all this nutty stuff head over to mischief comm slash watcher and download the app today it helps keep us puppets alive well Thank You diamond necklace yeah [Music] look like a fool well I got to finish this story now okay bye okay where were we ah yes now keeping in mind this seemingly never-ending maelstrom of suffering of mass anxiety and prolonged trauma let's set our sights on July 14th summertime 1518 when a woman known as Frau trophy was no longer content to sit idly by as the cruel hand of fate continued to give her community the finger what did wait what did she what did she do and this is a free right basically whoever gets closer yeah I'll give a point to whoever's answer I like best all right Ryan what do you got I think she covered herself in gasoline and ran through the town naked ablaze okay all right okay Germania damn right that's right oh I just said she sought out some doctors it's probably a better call I'm gonna give the point to Ryan just because it sort of captures the craziness of what is about to happen please enjoy this brief scene that will show you all all right yeah I guess we could clap for that yeah oh wow what a another miserable day and what is basically he'll brow trophy walks out onto the street dazed Oh Frau good morning you're looking uh actually you're looking pretty awful you got a case of that a English but sweater [Music] and Frau begins to dance and she dances and dances I hope we put sound effects over this yeah I will because this looks ridiculous yeah so she danced and people probably thought huh pretty funny good one Frau she danced until she died or she just danced well she continued to dance until she passed out from exhaustion and then she woke up and she started dancing again your eyes are getting more crooked but like I'm in it it's so funny like they're less straightness is how they are I don't say anything find about your eyes you're right and I apologize I [ __ ] up the [ __ ] up ossifying it's fire are we gonna be okay we're gonna no we're good we're good we are yeah come on man let's shake it out I'm sorry man I just thought you know by this point you can imagine some folks were scratching their heads and tossing off some theories a common one was that Frau Rafi was doing this to spite her lousy husband who hated dancing but that becomes a bit harder than Lee and when you consider that according to author Jennifer writes quote by the third day blood was oozing out of her shoes Jesus Christ yeah another common theory that was widely circulated was that the poor woman had been the victim of divine wrath some suspected God himself others pointed to Saint Vitus a saint known for bringing aid to those with epilepsy but also inflicting it upon those who angered him so it stats up that Frau travail would be aware of st. Vitus and his capabilities as just 30 miles east of Strasbourg there was a shrine to the Saint which is exactly where she was taken on July 20th six days into her exhausting routine now unfortunately we don't have any information regarding the fate of Frau trophy hopefully performing some kind of penitence at the shrine of st. Vitus was enough to free her from this terrifying trance but what we do know is that by July 21st just one day after the poor lady was parted off to the shrine at least 34 more residents of Strasburg had started dancing what's amazing wait a second Wow carcinogenic advance to regard your friends oh my god this is the impetus for the people dancing till they died in France yeah you [ __ ] whoa [ __ ] you in France I can't I just I never okay every just really took you this long to figure it out here's the reason why I thought for whatever reason that the dancing till they died plague was like a mass hysteria thing but I never thought of it as a patient zero scenario yeah so dancing had officially reached plague status and as with frau Rafi there was nothing joyous about their shuffling just pure agony wallah writes quote chroniclers tell us that those who were momentarily roused from their trances screamed for help from bystanders God and the Saints so nothing Pleasant about this have you ever been trapped in like a prison of your own laughter like what you're laughing you want to stop laughing but you can't and it starts to hurt yeah it sounds hor like the Joker and like Arkham Asylum it so what started out as a curious anomaly had now become a bit of a municipal concern enough so that a council of magistrates thought that they should consult some local physicians so what do you think the physicians thought the issue was a hot blood B excess bile or C a phlegm deficiency and those all seemed very plausible this is a tough one McNasty alright Brian yeah I'm gonna go b4 bile and Germaine I think it was a hot blood you're gonna go with hot blood was good the physician said quote dance is a natural disease which comes from overheated blood Oh point did you mean well hearing this the council put their heads together and decided there was only one possible prescription what was their plan of action a weighing down the feet of the dancers be baptizing the dancers or see more dancing this is a dangerous game you're playing Ryan I'm gonna go with Seymour dancing just cuz it doesn't make any sense and Jermaine I chose a B it felt like at this point the doctors weren't helping sure so they brought in maybe some religious people to just leave it to God yeah I think at this point that's what you do yeah yeah that'll sort it out true but they did blame God the first time that's true so [ __ ] you know I [ __ ] up I got no no well point to Ryan they cleared out a couple of the local guild halls in an open market area huh he be constructed a stake and escorted the afflicted now numbering over 50 into these designated dancing areas and to seal the deal there was one last touch that they hired a band dozens of musicians were hired to play yeah I got a crazy gig for you free yeah that a crazy gig right as we need it all right we need the money the council also employed various unelected people to dance alongside the entrace people encouraging them to keep going when people passed out they were put back on their time like a third baseman and like their base coach and the musicians up to the tempo Oh oh my god is amazing a month into this August rolls around the number of dancers continued to glow probably because it was a psychological virus and instead of quarantine the thing they literally put the dancers on a stage for everyone to see it didn't take long for things to go from strange to dark Waller points to the records of a neighboring merchant named Lucas REM who jotted a note in his diary around the time quote in the year 1518 in summer lots of people died of the Saint Vitus dance in Strasburg about 15 people died a day man yeah this is gonna have a happy I mean this is what happens when you try to put out fire with more fire yeah don't work with no choice but to change their approach the council now had to seriously grapple with the idea that the long decaying morals of the community may have angered a vengeful spirit quickly and desperately changing their game plans they ordered all dancers back to their homes and band music strings were fine but tambourines and drums illegal you said that strings were allowed to keep playing yes strings were fine beautiful you know it just makes things sad or without music yeah I mean is there any royalty-free violin music you have right now that we could try and dance to yeah here we go is this look you feeling it yeah is it look positive you know what not working really not working speak for yourself all right even still in private homes the mania continued to spread at this point the dancing had been going on for over a month and while there are conflicting reports about the number of people most seem to agree that there were at least a couple hundred desperate times calls for desperate measures yeah you know what I'll give you an extra point for that what in the hell is going on here this [ __ ] on the same wavelength biased the magistrates weren't about to sit on their hands as their town was slaughtered by the jitterbug so they so they really put their heads together and came up with a new plan first obviously make a big 110 pound wax likeness of Saint Vitus as a sweet gift to the dude sure second line up a bunch of wagons to transport the afflicted wiggling masses to the shrine of Saint Vitus about 30 miles outside their still desert they're still dancing and what was their final measure a chain the dancers feet together be by the dancers sweet new kicks or sea dress a monkey up his Saint Vitus and have it kissed the dancers feet oh god I wish you would see the same thing I got my answer in Brian what'd he go I got a you're going with a chain the dancers feet to get that's right and Germaine not to piggyback off you Ryan but that's fair right so far you'll probably figure out a way to give you a point anyway so you're going with a is lied to it sounds like the best option well let's find out what happened alright everyone so that's that will make a nice offering to Saint Vitus and all these poor souls off to the shrine oh and we should give them some little red shoes wait now hang on a sec wait what's that you say I said well give us a little red shoes well please explain it Osby well they'd be little and red and they'd be shoes all right well let's order a bunch of little red shoes then Oh goddamnit how are they gonna make that many shoes that quickly how long does it take to make a shoe I don't know in red ones why red so the blood you don't see the blood is maybe that makes sense once at the altar of st. Vitus a very strict prescription for the afflicted was carried out one they led the dancers in a circle around the altar two they had each dancer offer up a single penny as a donation and then they took them back to the chapel and down to the wagons that was it do you think it worked is this a question by the way um do you think it worked I guess now I know okay well I got a 50% shot here one two yes you both think it worked yeah we're getting towards the end of the story it's kind of like when it's the third act of a movie our characters about job well it did is good so one thing to remember these people believed with great conviction in the power of the supernatural of divine forces meddling with their souls so it makes sense that if they believed strongly enough in a curse they'd also believe deeply in the power of penance now when you think of what they've done to earn their forgiveness from Saint Vitus a 30-mile journey sacrificing whole ass panty wearing a little red shoes it probably did seem to them like they'd earned their freedom there's yet another theory about the miraculous healing that took place so our final question what else may have healed them a antibiotics be a traveling hypnotist or see the power of love oh I got it you know I agree with you too that I should get double points on that last one because I locked my answer in a little bit sooner no what's your uh I'm gonna go at C you're gonna go with C them how we're a flower of love that's the bow of lip rough I chose B but hypnotism I guess back in the day was a thing there's a lot of people in hypnotize yeah it's true yeah [ __ ] damn it Ryan well it's too late I'll choose B you choose B yes sir we're gonna give the point to Ryan a history point to Ryan remember I don't think I did because he gave you all those Pony points we'll find out we'll tally up the scores at the end think back to the beginning of this story the state of the community before the plague took hold decades of growing class divide in uncaring and downright abusive clergy a lower-class bearing the brunt of a seemingly endless series of community hardships and yet when the plague took hold the community banded together author Jennifer Wright says quote the people of Strasburg were exceedingly abnormally kind to those afflicted they didn't burn them at stakes permanently cast them out of the community thought and concern went into considering ways to make them healthy again sure a lot of people died but that's the cost of knowledge and that's the cost of living back then that was a good story dude I learned a lot thank you dancing is who knew would be so dangerous there is consequences yeah I'm gonna tell my daughter that hey look sometimes you're gonna want to dance but there's a story don't you Danny it was a cautionary tale after that yeah I think so that's know don't you do there's no daughter of mine well that concludes our history lesson I'm going to go tally the scores to see who receives the coveted cup and title of history master while I do that please enjoy this special performance from someone who was blamed for this whole thing along with Saint Vitus God and just a heads up God doesn't really look like you'd expect him to so just know that it's kind of a weird looking guy but anyway enjoy all right let's get this over with what the [ __ ] it's me God oh no it's not yes like a blood-borne character I'm God okay I've got something to say those dummies dancing after death that wasn't me no way I made the stars and moon and Sun and also I made everyone like Genghis Khan Celine Dion all dogs and cats fruit bats your mom and sure some people worship me but then I did make everything like Jupiter and Tupperware and Diet Coke in teddy bears pull em in and make those people dance Oh way back when in olden times I'm not that guy that's not my scene you think that I would be so mean oh sure killed their crops three years and preyed upon their deepest fear as a squad with plague completely eat but dancing man that's not my boo their feet or they could really jitterbug go where they died I pulled the plug come on it's not the worst thing that I've done like that books pinkeye Tampa Florida and also the rest of Florida so yeah that's a way back when and hold in France I'm sorry I know it was ready I guess I'm just a zany dude Wow God is a masterful lyricist what a strong performer yeah man God made Lauryn Hill some believe it makes it you really got to stop complimenting yourself at the end of these through the veil of oppose any that was God hey so believe it or not this is wild you guys aren't going to believe this it is a tie really oh wow this is historic you know what I'm gonna do a tiebreaker here we go you joined a dancing plague what would your dance move be oh it's a dance-off contents off I'm gonna go with a classic because I think it uses a lot of space so I would go [Music] I don't like that one bit you don't like it No Jermaine's already got a bit of an edge going into this one okay that was pretty sorry I guess I'll just go with whatever I'm feeling so you know I just you know you are the history master thank you very much thank you thank you to our special guest Jermaine Fowler thank you for watching we'll see you next time on puppet history [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Watcher

Views: 2,285,496

Rating: 4.9818931 out of 5

Keywords: puppet history, puppet history song, musical, history, dancing plague, mania, shared mania, france, dancing plague of 1518, mass hysteria, mass hysteria throughout history, black death, shane madej, ryan bergara, ruining history, buzzfeed, buzzfeed unsolved, jermaine fowler, the professor, funny, educational, edutainment, quiz, game show, learning, history lesson, competition, animation, animated history, watcher, watcher entertainment, puppet history diamond necklace

Id: 2MZZrDA-I4M

Length: 27min 51sec (1671 seconds)

Published: Fri May 22 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Shane has been giving Ryan spoilers on this episode for YEARS and he still didn’t win

[u/TheZacef]

Ugh I already want more, what an amazing show

[u/GrabaBrushand]

Ryan's tiebreaker dance scarred me for life 😂 😂 😂

[u/Allthenamesweredumb]

The song in this episode is the best one yet! Can’t wait for more.

[u/psuedo-intellectual]

The song was the best part!! I’m also actually quite interested in the sponsor which is a first

[u/[deleted]]

FINALY! :)

[u/ssslytherin26]

YESS I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG