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A bag of rice

Jesters and jester types were regularly rewarded by the king or other head honcho for their services. In addition to accounts of such gifts and...

A fool in fur-lined cloaks

European court account books yield rich details concerning the kind of clothes provided to fools and jesters. They also provide insights into the...

The Sultan’s jester

Physical deformity was in many times and places a positive asset in a jester, as this example from the 1001 Nights demonstrates. In other contexts,...

Jester takes the throne

A recurrent theme in the fool-king relationship is that of role-swapping, more formally known as 'inversion'. Fools, jesters, clowns, are often said...

Time to choose a new chief

The court jester often has a certain closeness to the boss he serves, challenging them, criticizing them, but not normally getting them chucked out....

So who was asking for him?

Some of the most startling examples of a jester's being impudent to the point of lèse-majesté can be found in anecdotes concerning Emperor...

Pillow talk

One of the most famous jesters is Talhak, whose name may be derived from, or have spawned, the Persian word for jester (dalqak). He is...

On madness, feigned or real

It was a happy moment to discover this first hand account of a 10th century 'wise fool', Sībawayh the Egyptian (897-98 - 968-69 / 284-358). I am...

How far back can we go?

The first specific reference we have (so far) to what might be a jester concerns a dwarf or a pygmy in ancient Egypt during the reign of Neferkere...

I am a jester

As far as we know, the first Chinese jester on (available) record is Jester Shi (You Shi) who served Duke Xian during the reign of King Huiwang (r....

The pits (II)

Another example of Tenali Rama's quick-witted defiance. He is said to have served King Krsnadevaraya (r. 1509-1529), though in all probability was a...

When I was melancholy

Attributed to the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605), expressing his sorrow at the death of Birbal, the poet and courtier whose wit made him morph...

The pits (I)

A vivid example of a jester's talking his way out of imminent execution after overstepping the mark. Sometimes, even jesters went too far and got...

Bum revolutionaries

Delighted to encounter these bum revolutionaries, the Jewish jesters who flourished in Eastern Europe, entertaining people at weddings and...

Mirth to the mind

When was the last time somebody brought you such a gift? A charming rhapsody, by the Chinese writer Sima Xiangru (ca. 179-117 BC), showing jesters...

Rubinstein is dead, long live Rubinstein!

One of the most intriguing and touching fools is Rubinstein, who took it upon himself to act as the jester of the Warsaw Ghetto. Part comic relief,...

Staying alive

Another example of a jester feigning death, in this case to reveal - or expose - the intentions of the king which Tenali Rama may have suspected...

Laughter’s master

This wistful, affectionate phrase come from Feng Menglong's preface to the Expanded Treasury of Laughter. Among other aspects of fools, we are...

Part of the pabulum

This expansive quotation comes from the Preface to the Expanded Treasury of Laughter by Feng Menglong (1574-1646). I love its tumbling cascade of...

We have lift-off!

What better way to launch foolsareeverywhere.com than scientific evidence of their central role on earth and beyond. NASA has cleverly realised that...

Of humour and proportion

This, in a delightful travelogue in 1930s Romania, caught my eye as a pithy and original definition of humour. I now keep it in mind as I re-visit...

The fool’s mission statement

Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose is a gripping medieval whodunnit but also a plea for humanity and humour over extremes of piety and earnestness....

Fools are everywhere

Fools are everywhere - the name of this website and title of the book which informs it, and a shorthand for the underlying thesis; that court fools...

Always more to say or add

Foolsareeverywhere.com is not a digital version of the book which informs and inspired it. Websites are 'works in progress', always evolving, never...