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The Victorian Clown 2007

On 25 January 2007, Fools and Horses: The Victorian Clown was presented at the Grand Theatre, National Theatre of Variety by Dr Ann Featherstone, Lecturer in Performance History at Manchester University Drama Department. One of a series of talks about the energy and diversity of the nineteenth-century theatre, her lecture included illustrated gags and 'wheezes' originally performed by Thomas Lawrence, the Clown to the Horse, from his comedian gagbook, 1871. These were acted for the first time in 130 years, by students from the Drama Department: Rob Ward, Rich Luke, Timmy Jones and Mike Gilhooly.

Did the jokes of an 1876 merrymaker get the Grand Theatre audience rolling in the aisles? They certainly did! Here's a sample: "Bad husbands are like bad coals – they smoke, they go out and they don't keep the pot boiling!" Here's another. "Have you seen my lady? Her skin is like alabaster, her eyes like diamonds and her mouth full of gingerbread."

"Some women have a smile from ear to ear. Hers was from 'ere to over there." How about: "Did you hear about the terrible incident involving three men and a train? Miraculously they all survived. The train was going over the bridge and they were walking under!" As Fylde-based comic Frank Carson might say: "It's the way you tell them!"

Ann Featherstone said, "Victorian clowns were much like today's modern comedians. They based their humour on the events of the day, much like stand-ups perform. But the jokes were often time-served. One letter sent to a newspapers in the 1870s from 'unamused of Bispham' - said clowns were well paid for their work. 'But if they did not have the ability themselves to come up with new material, surely they could pay someone'."

Rob Stocks of the Blackpool Gazette, wrote in his review, "Despite the clear cobwebs on the gags, there are plenty of gags from the Victorian clown which have sneaked through to modern comedy. The attempts at 'serious drama' and unceremonious roasting of the straight man, in the form of the ringleader, bear more than a passing resemblance to Morecambe and Wise skits while focused embarrassment of individual audience members are staples of such top stand-ups as Jimmy Carr and Johnny Vegas."

The afternoon, which attracted much national media coverage, was attended by over two hundred patrons, including Blackpool Tower Circus former ringmaster Norman Barrett, its present impresario, Laci Endresz, veteran professional clown Arthur Pedlar, theatre academics from Sheffield, Coventry and Royal Holloway universities, and Friends of the Grand.

Dr Featherstone said that it was a truly delightful experience to be part of the Grand Theatre, just for one day. "We felt so very much supported and part of the bigger theatrical picture that, as Mike Gilhooly said, as soon as he stepped out onto the stage in front of the audience, he felt as though he had been doing it forever! And this is in no small part due to Paul Iles, Duncan Swan, Phil Harrison Sarah Jane Wright and Stephen Mercer, and everyone who took so much trouble to make us feel comfortable and special - both at the same time!"

Previous Grand Theatre manager Paul Iles said, "This was a creative, hilarious, enjoyable, inspiring, sometimes lewd but totally happy carnival day! The circus came alive, and the clowns were wondrous, vibrant and subversive. One of the most impressive 'education-and-entertainment' events I have witnessed here, it showed what the National Theatre of Variety can be. The company of young clowns, directed by doctoral student Hayley Bradley, would do any vocational acting school proud — let alone many professional companies. I hope the Grand Theatre will collaborate with the University of Manchester Drama Department on future projects."

Our album shows photographs taken by Phil Harrison: of making-up and robing in the dressing rooms, the talk and performance, and post-show socialising.

See more particulars on our archived show page, The Victorian Clown

Manchester University Drama Department

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