I don’t have confirmation on the authenticity of this, but I like the story. It is about “badinage” which is “light trifling raillery or humorous banter.” It’s from the French word ‘badin” which means “joker.”
Another wonderful example (of badinage) showed up at a Manhattan party in the 1930s, attended by George Gershwin, Oscar Levant, and a number of musicians and show business personalities. Levant and Gershwin, good friends, as well as musical colleagues, often engaged in friendly banter with one another. This particular evening, Levant said, “George if you had to do it all over, would you fall in love with yourself again?” Even though everybody knew Levant was teasing, they waited eagerly to see how Gershwin would respond. The great songwriter ignored the remark and rejoined with a playful insult of his own:
Oscar, why don’t you play us a medley of your hit?