Funny or Die: Bill Cosby explains the origins of Turkey Day

How ever did the turkey, a humble over-sized bird, become the chief symbol and main course of Thanksgiving?

Sage, sweater-donning Bill Cosby has the answer, in the animated short that he wrote and starred in for Funny or Die. After a neat stop-animation style intro in which a family’s Turkey Day feast is foiled by some explosive birds, Cosby goes on to explain how turkey time originated with cavemen and their enterprising spouses to season the bland bird – “or could it have been the brilliance of his wife to say ‘this needs um some kind of leaf or root or something’.” But he admits, “they really didn’t know what they were doing.”

Barring any scientific accuracy, the comedian’s holiday philosophy is comfortably simple: “This is Bill Cosby saying this is Thanksgiving and it is a time to eat and enjoy, and it is also a time to find a way to have a bed next to your chair.”

Watch Turkey Day story time with Cosby below: