“harlot” comes from the pantomime stock character Harlot. clowns have traditionally been from the same stratus of society as whores, and have often been engaged in sex work on the side maintaining their show persona (the clown), their bar persona (the whore), and their own real day to day identity that is kept separate from the others to keep people from asking too many questions.
i’m sure at somepoint a madame has been asked by a patron if he can actually talk to Tickles, not Lucinda
Harlot entered English through Chaucer in the 1300s and meant “vagabond” pretty much as far back as we can trace it, where it gets lost in Middle English / Old French.
The clown character of Arrleccino, ellided to Harlequin in English, was popularized by 1500s comedian Zan Ganassa.
Harlequin and other Commedia dell’Arte characters evolved over the next 300 years to eventually become pantomime, which wasn’t really codified as a discipline until the 1700s by which point the conventions of Commedia weren’t as prescriptive.
Around this time (1780s-1820s) the rise of performers like Joseph Grimaldi, who would participate in Harlequinades during Pantomimes would popularize what we would call “clowns” in modern parlance today.
source: I trained as a clown under the Gaulier style, with some experience as a Pierrot clown before that and as a Bouffon clown later.
“harlot” comes from the pantomime stock character Harlot. clowns have traditionally been from the same stratus of society as whores, and have often been engaged in sex work on the side maintaining their show persona (the clown), their bar persona (the whore), and their own real day to day identity that is kept separate from the others to keep people from asking too many questions.
i’m sure at somepoint a madame has been asked by a patron if he can actually talk to Tickles, not Lucinda
I think you’re confusing Harlot with Harlequin.
Harlot entered English through Chaucer in the 1300s and meant “vagabond” pretty much as far back as we can trace it, where it gets lost in Middle English / Old French.
The clown character of Arrleccino, ellided to Harlequin in English, was popularized by 1500s comedian Zan Ganassa.
Harlequin and other Commedia dell’Arte characters evolved over the next 300 years to eventually become pantomime, which wasn’t really codified as a discipline until the 1700s by which point the conventions of Commedia weren’t as prescriptive.
Around this time (1780s-1820s) the rise of performers like Joseph Grimaldi, who would participate in Harlequinades during Pantomimes would popularize what we would call “clowns” in modern parlance today.
source: I trained as a clown under the Gaulier style, with some experience as a Pierrot clown before that and as a Bouffon clown later.
Damn. Forget clown college, you went to clown university and got a bachelors in clown history.
haha. I mean I do have a BA(Hons) in Theatre Practice from my clown training, so yes you are also literally correct.