Photo: Philip Wayne Lock/Fairfax Media via Getty Images
Philippe Gaulier, the founder of the literal clown academy École Philippe Gaulier, died on Monday, February 9, at the age of 82. He instructed a number of Hollywood’s most malleable stars in the art of clowning, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, and CYSK alumnus Zach Zucker. His strict and meticulous methodologies taught some of the smartest people on the planet how to behave like complete idiots, paving the way for a new generation of red-nosed fools to pratfall onto the stage. Even if you’re not familiar with Gaulier’s international acclaim as a clown and teacher, it’s possible you know him from one of the great viral tweets of our time, a video most refer to in shorthand of “clown is more difficult.”
Hillary Clinton interviewing a 100 year old French clown pic.twitter.com/P0V2UMrLXZ
— cancela lansbury (@gossipbabies) September 30, 2022
In Gutsy, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s short-lived Apple TV+ docuseries, the Clintons go to interview Gaulier in Paris. “Philippe, what’s the difference for a woman in comedy than a man in comedy? Can they do the same thing?” the former secretary of State asks the professional clown. In a voice that can be described only as “Paul Schrader’s but French,” Gaulier goes on to explain that, “Comedy is okay, but clown is more difficult.” Though that does not actually answer Senator Clinton’s question, she leans back in her chair and goes “yes” in a way that connotes the kind of understanding you feign when you have no idea what someone is talking about. Gaulier then launches into a story about how a boy could return home all dirty and be loved by his mother, but the same perhaps could not be said about a girl coming home dirty being loved by her father. What does that have to do with anything? Don’t worry about it. Just enjoy the Clintons making a half-hearted attempt to learn about clowning from someone who knew better than anyone else on earth.
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