Jester

File:William Merritt Chase Keying up.jpg

Painting of a jester

A jester, joker, fool, or buffoon, is a type of entertainer mostly (but not always) associated with the Middle Ages. Jesters typically wore brightly colored clothing in a motley way. Their hats, sometimes called the cap ’n bells or cockscomb, were special; made of cloth, they were floppy with three points (liliripes) each of which had a jingle bell at the end. The three points of the hat represent the asses' ears and tail worn by jesters when they first appeared. Other typical things about the jester were his constant laughter and his mock scepter, known as a bauble or maharoof.

Other websites

• BBC News site story about the Tongaon Royal Jester's involvement in financial scandal 2003
• Royal decree proclaiming the Jester title by the Tongan Royal 1999
• BBC News site story about Kester the Jester's appointment to English Heritage 2004
• University of California, Berkeley Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL) & links for medieval studies
• Picture of Will Somers with Henry the Eighth
• Mulla Nasruddin
• Gesundheit! Institute
• Shakespeare search engine - A keyword search such as "fool", "folly", "jester" or "clown" reveals every reference in Shakespeare
• The Court Jester (1956) on IMDb
• Rumpelstiltskin - A rare modern day jester with an impressive resumé
• Fooling Around the World (A history of the court jester)
• Foolish Clothing: Depictions of Jesters and Fools in the Middle Ages and Renaissance What 14th-16th century jesters wore and carried, as seen in illustrations and museum collections
• The Funnyman on IMDb