NEW ORLEANS, LA - FEBRUARY 9: Rex, King of Carnival, Michael W. Kearney, toasts his queen during Mardi Gras day on February 9, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras in French, is a celebration traditionally held before the observance of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Christian Lenten season. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

The Tweeting of the Courts: what is #RexComus

Here's the backstory: the annual "tweeting of the courts," helps bring the lowly public to the forefront of high society.

by Mary Staes | March 6, 2019

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There it was, a text alert when I woke up this morning: “What is #RexComus?”

Here’s the backstory: the annual “tweeting of the courts,” helps bring the lowly public to the forefront of high society. The meeting of the Rex and Comus courts is one of the last things to happen on Mardi Gras Day, bringing the revelry to a close for many.

For those not invited to the ball, it’s televised on public television, but only recently has Twitter gathered to poke fun at the highest echelons of Carnival royalty. That’s where #RexComus comes in. If you missed the live broadcast, or the replay immediately following, Twitter gives the best recap from locals on the spectacle. There’s even a drinking game involved. Pro tip: don’t play it, you’ll pass out.

Key words here:

Lineage – how many people in your family have been a part of the organization or krewe royalty. A must-have for these type of events.

“If Ever I Cease To Love”– Rexs’ theme song, played by an orchestra in 2019 year instead of a band. Read as: more strings, softer feel.

Page – an elementary-aged boy whose job is to help the royalty throughout the night with their costume, and not fall asleep.

If you missed it in 2019, here are the Twitter highlights:

Mary Staes

Mary Staes

Mary Staes is Digital Content Lead for Very Local. She works with our freelancers and crafts content for our social media platforms and website. Before Very Local, she worked with CBS affiliate WWL-TV as a web producer and weekend assignment editor for about 4 years. She has also handled broadcast coverage for 160 Marine Reserve training facilities while she served as an active duty Marine. As a native New Orleanian, she takes being "very local" to heart. She loves being intertwined with the culture and figuring out how there are less than two degrees of separation between us all, whether we're natives or not.

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