Secrets of the first stand-up

A clown’s joke book from 1871 has been unearthed, casting new light on the history of stand-up comedy.

Thomas Lawrence's string of one-liners and short verses, which he used to entertain audiences at Victorian circuses, mix puns, politics and routines about men and women.

But, unlike modern comedy acts, he would often have to deliver his lines while riding a donkey or, in a high-class circus, a zebra.

Historian Ann Featherstone has used the joke book, and another previously unpublished account of entertainer James Frowde's young life with the famous Henglers' circus in the 1850s, as the basis for her new book, The Victorian Clown.

She told the Daily Telegraph: ‘The Victorian circus was all about fools and horses, so being a clown was very hard work. Lawrence would run along beside a horse, looking up at the lady rider. He would be chatting her up with a string of jokes.

‘He would be saying things like, “She's so beautiful, so far above me”. The audience would understand the double meaning and would applaud.

‘As well as filling in between acts, he had to be ready in case there was a break in the performance. As far as I'm concerned he was the first stand-up comedian.

‘What we know about their joke delivery is that it was done at high speed, at high pitch and frantically. I suppose the nearest modern equivalent would be Lee Evans.’

Other of Lawrence’s gags include:  ‘What's the difference between Joan of Arc and a canoe?  One is Maid of Orleans and the other is made of wood.’

And: ‘Married men ought to be happy because they have loving wives to make them so. Married ladies ought to be happy because they have loving husbands to help them. And single men ought to be the happiest creatures in the world - because they have no one to make them miserable.’

The Victorian Clown is published by Cambridge University Press, priced £48. Click here to buy it

Published: 8 Aug 2006