The Victorian Clown

ISBN-13: 9780521816663 / Angielski / Twarda / 2006 / 288 str.

Jacky Bratton; Ann Featherstone

Opis

Previously unpublished manuscripts--James Frowde's account of his young life with the famous Henglers' circus in the 1850s and Thomas Lawrence's 1871 gag book--offer unique, unmediated access to the grass roots of popular entertainment. Through them this book explores the role of the circus clown at the height of equestrian entertainment in Britain, when the comic generated audience attention for the riders and acrobats, by parodying their skills in his own tumbling and contortionism, and also offered a running commentary on the times through his own 'wheezes' or stand-up comedy sets.

Spis treści

The Victorian Clown: 1. The Victorian travelling shows; 2. Circus buildings; 3. A micro-history from two manuscripts; The Autobiography of James Frowde, a Victorian Clown: 1. Childhood and youth, 1831–49; 2. Running away to join the circus, 1847–9; 3. Out into the world to learn his trade, 1849; 4. At last a clown with Hengler's, 1850–1; 5. A spell with Cooke's Circus, 1851; 6. The end of the story, 1851–7; Lawrence's Repertoire: Popular Humour Unmediated; Thomas Lawrence's gagbook: a collection of Victorian wheezes.