Now there’s some sad things known to man
But ain’t too much sadder than the tears of a clown
When there’s no one around– Smokey Robinson
There are two real paintings that are perfect for this template:
Stańczyk by Jan Matejko
and
The court jester by Claude Andrew Calthrop
I feel like on the surface, the juxtaposition looks like Stanczyk is the depressed jester because he is made fun of and The Court Jester seems to be the one who is happy with his lot. However, IIRC Stanczyk in the painting just found out some incredibly grave news for the kingdom, a privilege he had because he was in the king’s confidence.
Not without consequences. One jester named Triboulet pissed off King Francis I and had to pick how he would be executed. He chose old age and was exiled thereafter.
It was probably a more stressful job than just being an advisor. An advisor could probably try a joke here or there if they wanted, but they weren’t expected to always be making wisecracks. A jester was probably having to push the limit a lot more often and going over the line could be a problem.
Certainly a better job than 99% of the population, but one joke bombs and it could be the end.
Legendary move
He was indeed a Legendary Joker
The Fandom wiki was abandoned. The correct wiki now is https://balatrowiki.org/
Why don’t they just delete it or at least post a message?
fandom doesn’t like that
He could have been imprisoned for life, I think that went well.
And he did die of old age, at 56. Well, old age for the time.
The jesters that immediately come to mind for me are Wit from Storm light Archive, and then The Fool from Farseer, and each of them had the freedom to do whatever they wanted. It seemed like a nice gig, but you got a earn it.
Gotta have all that rizz
No love for Patchface in GoT? Creepiest jester ever.
Being virtual immortal helps a lot pushing the boundaries of jest tho
Holy shit, these were the exact same two I was thinking about. Fool or Fool-like characters that know way more than they ever let on
All trumps most trusted advisors are jesters. They’re just not funny jesters.
I think an actual jester would have been more like keeping a little Weekend Update around you all the time. A White House Correspondent’s Dinner.
Tump lacks the dignity that even an actual king would have, I think he would try choking any decent jester with his tiny little hands within 5 minutes of their appointment because he can’t tolerate the tiniest bit of critisism.
Then when that inevitably fails due to tiny baby hand syndrome he would deport the jester to El Salvador.
Ahh, another perfect chance to link to my favourite role model of history: Roland the Farter
I wonder whether his descendants are still in the upper strata of the aristocracy, managing an ancient pot of money from a yacht in Monaco or a small, high-ceilinged office in Geneva, the logo of their private bank paying tribute to their fortune’s history with a well-hidden fart joke.
It’s so unfair that I’ll never get to be a medieval flatulist
You could be a contemporary one though. Dream on stranger
[off topic?]
The Queen’s Fool by Phillipa Gregory. The story of Bloody Mary, told through the eyes of one of her fools. The fool is a Jewish woman who has visions. Very well researched novel.
Thanks for that, it’s going to be my next book Club suggestion
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