The author of this article presents readers with a part of their research devoted to the Franco-Flemish songs known in the sixteenth century by the name fricassée. Among the polyphonic a cappella works performed during the Renaissance, this genre, created to make audiences laugh, plays a specific role. Composed of several melodies and poetic texts borrowed from other songs, the fricassée is recognizable for its erotic and sometimes completely obscene character. Why did this lovely vocal miniature that appeared in the first third of the sixteenth century remain popular until the end of the Renaissance? The aim of this article is to explain certain characteristic traits of this genre in connection to Johan Huizinga’s Homo ludens concept as well as Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy of carnivalesque laughter. The existence of these connections is especially demonstrated in examples drawn from a fricassée that had long escaped the attention of researchers, until its 2013 discovery in the Bavarian State Library. The study of this piece focusses mainly on the analysis of its texts that, in the opinion of this author, not only constitute one of the most interesting aspects of the genre, but also confirm that its playful character originates in the aforementioned concepts.