“As a known murderer…”

Great line from the Wikipedia article on poet François Villon:

“As a known murderer Villon could not continue his privileged life as a teacher at the Collège de Navarre or get reputable employment; thus, he was forced to sing in inns to survive.”

I try to imagine myself telling my life story to a stranger someday and uttering the line: “thus, I was forced to sing in inns to survive.”

Unfortunately, I have no ability to put people on like that even for a few seconds (with the sole exception of April Fool’s jokes), since it makes me feel like a liar. Simply put, I have no talent for creative teasing. But there are people I know who might want to try this.

I once had an acquaintance who would end every one of his complaints about present-day society with the line: “And that’s why we need National Socialism.” Just to see how people would react. I’m afraid I don’t have the stomach for this technique, but it’s occasionally funny.