the role of the fool

comedians are the bravest people in the world

Half way through the play, Lear’s fool has been successful.

He has helped the king see more clearly.

Unfortunately, when Lear sees what he sees, realizes what he realizes, and finally knows what he knows, he’s sent into madness of grief and loss.

The fool has no time for Lear’s gravity and grief. He splits.

The role of jesters and fools has always been to speak truth to power.

A fools job is to remove the power from totalitarians.

A fools job is to disrupt the certainty and shatter the world of despots and annihilate the egos of autocrats.

Fools typically can only exist with the blessing of their overlords. They need to walk a line between being too critical and not speaking up at all.

Because of this fools are dangerous

Fools and comics are the bravest people in the world.

The know how to ‘kill’ an audience.

They know the humiliation of ‘dying’ on stage night after night.

Comics, fools and clowns are the bravest people in the world.

Because of this, to the despot, there is no one worse than a…