Clowns and Court Jesters

Renaissance Court Jesters tended to be small, physically deformed, wore motley clothes and cap and bells. But by being marginalized, they were empowered to tell the king things that other people were not able to tell him. The jester also gained power by not using his own voice. He spoke through the voice of his scepter—a miniature representation of his own face. This was the beginning of ventriloquism. By making fun of themselves, and by targeting all sides of an issue, today’s political cartoonists are also able to say things that other reporters are not able to say about societal and political issues.

In the latter half of the 16thcentury, the “Arlecchino” (Harlequin) clown started out as a foolish servant and then developed into a more sophisticated, acrobatic prankster. He carried a large stick that was split so that abrupt movements would make the separated parts hit against each other with a loud noise. This was the development of “slapstick” comedy. Harlequin clowns had elegant, patched costumes with symmetrical patterns and a black domino mask covering half of their faces. Today’s Harlequin clowns (including mimes) still wear precise, neatly detailed makeup, and a sophisticated demeanor of being “in charge.” Their aura of control is sometimes heightened by the contrast of having a “fool” companion.

The “fool” companion of the Harlequin was the Pierrot. Pierrot was a French clown with a bald head, a flour-whitened face, and an always-gullible demeanor. Pierrot was the straight man for the Harlequin.

An obvious advantage of mime and pantomime is that it transcends language barriers.

Because of this, Charlie Chaplin was the first movie star recognized and appreciated around the world. Another advantage of mime is that it works in arenas that are too large or too noisy for people to hear well. This is why circus clowns and the mascots for athletic teams rely for their humor on exaggerated body movements. Emmett Kelly, the famous Ringling Brothers clown, was so skilled in pantomiming the role of Weary Willie that he was allowed to remain in the circus arena through the entire performances. His most famous act was to sweep a circle of light thrown by a spotlight into a smaller and smaller circle, and then to chase it under a rug or into a dustbin. Marcel Marceau had a clown-tramp character named Bip. Bip had tight-fitting high-waisted pants, a dark jersey designed to set off his whitened face, and to serve as a backdrop to his expressive hand movements. This was a modern interpretation of the French Pierrot. It is ironic that in Mel Brooks’s 1976 Silent Movie, it was Marcel Marceau who said the only spoken line.

At the turn of the century, character clowns were becoming very popular.

They had such identifiable personalities as tramps, scarecrows, grandmothers, out-of-work gentlemen, etc. Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, and the Three Stooges were all character clowns. Emmett Kelly’s “Weary Willie,” and Red Skelton’s “Freddie the Freeloader” were both influenced by Chaplin’s “Little Tramp.” Jerry Lewis and Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) were also character clowns.

“AI can make you laugh. But can it ever be truly humorous?”

by Jyoti Madhusoolanan”

https://undark.org/2025/07/21/ai-humor/

“Can AI essay writers understand satire, irony, or sarcasm in essays?”

by Daniel Felix

https://www.yomu.ai/resources/can-ai-essay-writers-understand-satire-irony-or-sarcasm-in-essays

International Society for Humor Studies: http://www.humorstudies.org/

Nilsen, Alleen and Don. The Language of Humor: An Introduction. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2019. www.cambridge.org/core/books/language-of-humor/B37E80D6A21DB3A2E344A4061D996D9C