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 determined to figure out who counts as a, or the, god of laughter and, by liberal extension, fools. There is a generous...
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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 mutual mockery and laughter. And, like Aristotle, he seems to posit laughter as a quiddity of being human, though I've...
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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 the skills of the fool are essential to prevent mayhem when cooping up a dozen astronauts for months on end in a...
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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 examples of jesters using humour to rein in excess, be it self-indulgence by the king (boozing instead of reigning),...
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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. This advice to the young Adso sums up the dangers of any ideology taken too far and too earnestly - in this case leading to...
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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 and jesters existed, not literally in every place at all times, but across a breathtaking array of cultures over a few...
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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 complete; it's part of their complementary beauty and strength alongside print. As such, we don't expect anything shared...
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A note on design
A note on the visual aspects of this site for those interested in design choices.For the illustrations, having not found anything ready-made with the spirit, kinetic energy, brightness, playfulness and coherence I wanted, I've had the pleasure of working with the...
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How to get the boss to up their game
This account of a Chinese jester is from what may be the earliest study of their exploits. It highlights a common technique for influencing behaviour - not through confrontation but by lightly indirect means, allowing the king to draw his own conclusions. In the...
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A cure for carousing
A common theme in the interactions between fools and kings is the need to rein in regal carousing or other forms of distraction from the affairs of state. On one occasion Baldy Chunyu used a riddle to talk Weiwang of Qi (c. 356-319 BC, whose name has been neatly...
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Are they still relevant?
In the age of concentrated and even absolute power, jesters were a vital counterpoint, a dose of humorous corrective, a laughing shaker-up of rigidity. In an age of spin, propaganda and fake news, they may - should - still have a role to play. They typically come...
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Hiring? Here’s the job description
Following a thorough examination of the issue, we have concluded that fools are as vital to societal and democratic health as they ever were hanging around the courts of monarchs and other power-wielders. To help you improve your organisation's performance (and your...
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The seriousness of jokes
A fundamental error regarding humour is to assume that jokes aren't somehow 'serious'. They can of course be for no purpose than entertainment, but equally can and often are deadly serious in their implications, message or revelation. They can also be a mechanism for...
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Sobering up the king
Riddles are one technique in the rag-bag of fools' tools and can prove a playful, indirect way of bringing someone round to another view. First they focus the person on solving the riddle, allowing a moment for the real meaning to sink in quietly. The decoy of a...
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Were these not great men too?
This ringing endorsement of the effectiveness of court jesters seems a good way to launch a website celebrating them across time and space. It comes from Sima Qian (c. 145-86 BC), 'father' of Chinese history, who wrote what may be the first ever study of jesters,...
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Now we are two
The mirror is a recurring theme in fooldom, both as a symbol and a function of the role - they hold a mirror up to show things as they really are, in turn allowing us to 'reflect' on our behaviour. In European iconography, the jester can be seen looking into a...
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Design and content copyright: Beatrice Otto 2019 all rights reserved I www.foolsareeverywhere.com I www.writingredux.com I www.nuannaarpoq.com I www.beatriceotto.com I header & related jester illustrations by joaomontenegro.com
Colours and fonts were chosen for aesthetic strength and because their names reflect the mission of foolsareeverywhere.com. Fonts: Quipley I Lustria I Wild Pen.
Colours include: Jester Yellow by Faeriepuffs I New Laughter by Ilara
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