Rayok

A rayok (Russian: раёк, IPA: [rɐˈjɵk], lit. "small paradise") was a Russian fairground peep show. Performed using a box with pictures viewed through magnifying lenses, these were accompanied by lewd rhymed jokes.^[1] The Fall of Adam and Eve was one of the most popular topics. The term rayok has also come to be applied to rhymed humorous talk shows, without peeping, featuring a kind of rhymed prose. The expression "to talk rayok", говорить райком, thus means to speak in a rhymed, humorous way, to patter. Rayok, in both its peep show and talk show forms, has been an occupation of wandering artists called "rayoshniks". When used as the title for a piece of music, rayok implies a scurrilous entertainment, as in:

• Rayok, an extended song by Modest Mussorgsky also known as Peep-Show
• Anti-formalist Rayok, a cantata by Dmitri Shostakovich also known as Little Paradise, The Gods and A Learner's Manual

Rayok. 19th century

See also

• Petrushka
• Vertep
• Zograscope