AD enough of fools, dodos, losers and nitwits in your
daily life? Meet the professionals.
"We laugh at the buffoon's antics, but do we really know what
lurks behind the fool's jolly exterior?" asks the Jester Pages by
Lisa Nelsen-Woods (www.geocities.com /Athens/Troy/3883). "Do we dare
scratch the surface to find the foolish substance beneath? Have a
care, you might just learn something before we are done."
The first court fools were kept by the pharaohs, the site notes
in "The Fool Throughout the Ages." It mentions the use of dwarfs,
the physically or mentally handicapped and the "artificial fools,"
clever wits who took the role because of the freedom it offered to
criticize the ruler.
There is a section on famous historical fools, various jesters to
Queen Elizabeth I and female fools. Another page refutes myths about
jesters. (Most did not wear makeup or wear multicolored suits with
tassels, and they did not serve only royalty.)
The pages on frequently asked questions, links and 21st-century
fools make it clear that jesting is alive and well. Modern
performers have names like Tettles and Thomas Thimbletoes. There are
links to jesters in Gilbert & Sullivan musicals, the Joker and
company in "Batman" and (remember the flagon with the dragon?) Danny
Kaye in "The Court Jester."
"My favorite fool is Wil Somers, who was fool to King Henry VIII
and three of Henry's children," Ms. Nelsen-Woods wrote in an e-mail
message. "Somers even lived to see Elizabeth crowned Queen of
England. It is said that Shakespeare modeled his fool in `King Lear'
after Wil Somers. I also have a soft spot for Harlequin, who isn't
really a jester, but a breakout character from commedia dell'arte,
although his diamond-covered costume is associated with a
stereotypical jester of today."
An essay by Dave Ricker at
renaissance-faire.com/Towncrier/Fools.htm discusses the ancient
Feast of Fools, a parody of the Mass. A similar site is Notre Dame
de Paris and the Feast of Fools, at home1.pacific.net.sg/~kyrie
/hback.html.
No modern jester can ignore the Society for Creative Anachronism
(www.sca.org), an international organization dedicated to
researching and, especially, re-enacting the Middle Ages through
dance, costume, talk, food, martial arts, decoration and jest. The
site will connect you with your kingdom, shire and local chatelaine
to get you started. Under Miscellany and "People and Groups in the
SCA," there are many links to costumers and other merchants.
Fools Paradise by Peter Michaels
(members.aol.com/pmichaels/glorantha/foolsparadise.html) explores
the role of jester in various cultures, through links to mythical
figures like Anansi the spider in West African tradition and Loki,
the Norse god of discord and mischief.
What if Yogi Berra had been a medieval mullah? Erol Beymen has a
Web site devoted to Nasreddin Hodja, a beloved 13th-century Turkish
folk philosopher (w1.871.telia.com/~u87109316/index_eng.htm). There
are Nasreddin sites in many languages, recounting the cleric's
combination of silliness and shrewdness. This site is unusually
pretty, well illustrated and entertainingly written; many folk-tale
sites are cultish or academic. There are Nasreddin teaching guides,
joke links and related games.
As for Britain's most famous jesters, Punch and Judy on the Web
(www.punchandjudy.com) has a history, a list of modern Punch and
Judy shows, a collector's guide and statements by several Punch and
Judy societies about attempts to ban performances. "Punch and Judy
are to domestic violence what Tom and Jerry are to animal cruelty
and the Keystone Cops are to police brutality," says one of the
societies, the Punch and Judy College of Professors, in discussing
political correctness. "That stick Mr. Punch wields is the very
slapstick that gave its name to the whole genre of broad physical
comedy."
