The story
Possibly influenced by barrel of fun or barrel of laughs.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
barrel of monkeys
bar·rel of mon·keysToday it means: Someone or something very amusing or funny, fun, mischievous, etc. Full definition →
Today it means: Someone or something very amusing or funny, fun, mischievous, etc. Full definition →
Possibly influenced by barrel of fun or barrel of laughs.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.