1. ‘The theatrical clown was invented at the London Hippodrome in 1815, on Saturday, the fifteenth of February at two thirty in the afternoon. It was raining. The London Hippodrome was an equestrian theatre in those days. Two stablehands, one very tall, and the other very small and fat were employed to shovel up the horse manure after each act. On the day in question, both men were hungover, and they both arrived late for work. The tall one arrived first and in a blind panic scrambled into the first uniform that came to hand, then grabbed his brush and shovel and ran into the ring.

2. The crowd roared with laughter as soon as they saw him, his thin, hairy legs sticking out of his ill-fitting trousers. The short, fat one arrived some minutes later. He was furious to find that his partner had run on stage wearing his uniform. The only one that he could find didn’t remotely fit him, but he stuffed himself into it, grabbed his brush and shovel and ran on stage to confront his partner. The crowd laughed even louder. As soon as the short, fat one saw the tall, thin one in his uniform, he lost his temper, ran at him, and tripped over his far-too-long trousers.

3. Undeterred, he crawled towards his adversary, determined to teach him a lesson. The crowd laughed even more. The tall, thin one ran away, and his trousers fell down and he fell over. The crowd were shrieking with laughter now. Eventually, the fight was broken up and they were both dragged off. The crowd loved it so much that the boss of the show insisted that they did the same thing at the beginning of every show, and so the first theatrical clowns were born.’ Philippe Gaulier Why is that so funny? by John Wright (Nick Hern Books 2006)

4. Physical comedy techniques Timing: fixed point comic stop drop Parody: pastiche caricature burlesque buffoon Clown: point of bafflement credible stupid Find the game!