Mutiny of the Barony sketch - Mercorabilia

The inspiration for this sketch came from a documentary I saw on the Plantagenet kings and was originally much longer and wordier. Trouble was it was a bit too waffly so I cut it down to make the best lines stand out and make a shorter, sharper sketch. Enjoy!

Baron: Come on, John. You’ve spent five minutes looking at the same sentence.

John: King John to you. And it’s rather a great charter you’ve given me to sign.

Baron: Oh, come off it – don’t you know? No-one ever reads the Terms and Conditions.

John: Well – you should know by now that I am not no-one. I am King of England, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Ireland and Earl of Mortain.

Baron: Yes, well, once you’ve signed this document things’ll be a little bit more fairer.

John: Hmm. There are a lot of words here.

Baron: Oh you don’t need to worry about those! What it basically boils down to is your typical workshare arrangement whereby you, John Plantagenet, hereinafter referred to as the party of the first part, agree with us, the Barons, hereinafter referred to as the party of the second part, to devolve the regulation of any and all actions and directives pertaining to the freedoms and liberties of persons of the general populace – i.e. us – and that any attempt to negate said regulation will be to the detriment of the chattels, possessions and general stuff of the party of the first part.

John: Oh, I see. Well that seems fair enough.

Baron: So if you’d just like to put your seal at the bottom.

<Thump as stamp hits the table>

Baron: Thank you, your majesty. Pleasure doing business with you.

John: And you. If you’ll excuse me I’ll just dash off a quick note to my friend, Pope Innocent.

Baron: What? But that’s a clear contravention of the treaty you’ve just signed.

John: Yes, but you didn’t expect me to take that seriously, did you? Plus I had my fingers crossed.

Baron: Right – that does it. This means war.

John: If you say so.

Baron: I do. And may the best man win.

John: I intend to.