# Rayok

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{{Short description|Folk theatre}}

280px|thumbnail|Rayok. 19th century
A '''rayok''' ({{lang-rus|раёк|p=rɐˈjɵk}}, {{literally}} "small [paradise](/source/paradise)") was a Russian fairground [peep show](/source/Raree_show). Performed using a box with pictures viewed through magnifying lenses, these were accompanied by lewd rhymed jokes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Novik |first1=Alina |title=«Народная косморама»: происхождение русского райка в контексте истории оптических медиа XIX века |journal=“Новое литературное обозрение |date=2019 |volume=156 |issue=2 |url=https://www.nlobooks.ru/magazines/novoe_literaturnoe_obozrenie/156_nlo_2_2019/article/20888/ |language=ru}}</ref> ''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 show](/source/talk_show)s, without peeping, featuring a kind of [rhymed prose](/source/rhymed_prose). The expression "to talk rayok", говорить райком, thus means to speak in a rhymed, humorous way, to [patter](/source/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](/source/Rayok_(Mussorgsky))'', an extended song by [Modest Mussorgsky](/source/Modest_Mussorgsky) also known as ''Peep-Show''
*''[Anti-formalist Rayok](/source/Anti-formalist_Rayok)'', a [cantata](/source/cantata) by [Dmitri Shostakovich](/source/Dmitri_Shostakovich) also known as ''Little Paradise'', ''The Gods'' and ''A Learner's Manual''

==See also==
{{Commons category|Rayok}}
*[Petrushka](/source/Petrushka)
*[Vertep](/source/Vertep)
*[Zograscope](/source/Zograscope)

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Music of Russia
Category:Russian humour

{{Russia-culture-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rayok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayok) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayok?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.