Philippe Gaulier, the legendary French clown teacher who taught generations of comedians and actors to embrace their inner idiot, has died. His students, including Rachel Weisz, Sally Phillips and Simon Munnery, recall his alarming yet transformative lessons.
Gaulier believed everyone has a clown. He described Sally Phillips as 'a Protestant church-mouse, sex-mad Brownie', which she says made her feel seen. 'Without Philippe, I don’t think I could have done Cass in Back or Deb in Such Brave Girls, because he gave me permission to be an idiot.'
His bouffon workshops were particularly memorable. Students played a game where Gaulier was the 'king' and they were clowns who had to entertain him. 'You had to be mischievous, unruly and test the boundaries of foolery,' recalls one student. 'But mostly you had to keep him entertained, otherwise you were expelled from this imaginary court.'
Gaulier’s teaching was tough. 'I failed and failed and failed,' says Simon Munnery. 'The first time I really made him laugh, he pointed at me and said, “He’s such a bastard!”' Another student, Garry Starr, notes: 'You will be your funniest, you will come alive, you will be your most beautiful in your moment of failure.'
In one workshop, Gaulier made a Swiss juggler shout until he was hilarious. 'It was genuine: he was so angry at the position he’d been put in,' recalls a student. Gaulier then told another student to 'talk, but don’t make any sound', leading to a breakthrough. 'It was the pain of people laughing at you.'
Gaulier’s methods extended beyond clowning to Shakespeare and Chekhov. He had Romeo and Juliet kiss each other on the nose after every line, then removed the kiss, leaving 'the ghost of the game'. His legacy lives on in the countless performers he taught to find glory in their own ridiculousness.
