View source for The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi: Laughter, Madness and the Story of Britain's Greatest Comedian by Andrew McConnell Stott

{{infobox1
|title=The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi: Laughter, Madness and the Story of Britain's Greatest Comedian
|sort= Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi: Laughter, Madness and the Story of Britain's Greatest Comedian
|author=Andrew McConnell Stott
|reviewer=Louise Laurie
|genre=Biography
|summary=This is all about the life of Joseph Grimaldi.  Despite having a sad and poor upbringing and private life, he portrayed himself in public as the consummate comedic professional - and his public loved him for it.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=464
|publisher=Canongate Books Ltd
|date=September 2010
|isbn=978-1847677617
|cover=1847677614
|aznuk=1847677614
|aznus=1847677614
}}

This book has won several prestigious awards, so my expectations were raised before I'd even opened the book.  And of all the plaudits given on the back cover, my favourite was Simon Callows'  ''(A) great big Christmas pudding of a book ...''  Stott has researched his subject thoroughly.  First up, there's a Grimaldi family tree, a Prologue, an Introduction and all this before you get to the story proper, so to speak.
 
Interestingly, Stott himself tells us that he has been a stand-up comedian in his time.  The sweeping statement in the Introduction ''But though Grimaldi was a clown, he was neither a children's entertainer nor a circus act'' caught my eye.  What on earth does all that mean, I was thinking to myself:  My curiosity had been roused even though this is not normally the type of book that I would choose to read, as a first choice ... or even a second choice, if I'm honest.  Stott works hard to engage the reader and whet the reader's appetite even further as he introduces such famous names as Dickens and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein into various paragraphs early on in the book.  Stott also informs us about the history and background of pantomime.  Apparently it made its first appearance in Britain in the early 18th century.  We visit Italy and France within the context of the book, albeit briefly - all in the name of entertainment.  
 
Grimaldi's physique and physical appearance are both described giving the reader a first taster, a flavour that he was very well suited to his art.  A big man with an exotic look.  He was born into poverty and ran around the slums of London determined to better himself.  But how?  Stott gives quite a bit of his book over to both Grimaldi's parents and grandparents explaining how the family ended up in London.  And the great theatres of the time eg: Sadlers Wells, the Adelphi are mentioned constantly alongside Grimaldi.  The reader is given plenty of information about the entertainment business at that time.  The fact that children, even very young children were treated almost like props.  They were constantly being thrown about and tossed all over the stage under the name of entertainment.  And the audience lapped it up.  Didn't have a problem with it at all.  In fact, the more dangerous and daring the acts on stage, the more the audience loved it.  Needless to say, many children suffered injury.
 
We're also given Grimaldi's medical conditions - sometimes in great detail.  Like so many 'funny' people he suffered bouts of depression.  But his public face kept on smiling.  Even although perhaps in pain, either physically or mentally - or both.  It was a tough business - and still is.  That well-know phrase 'The show must go on' is apt here.
 
I must admit to being astonished (and appalled) to read under the excellent heading ''exuberance of liberty'' that the audience constantly threw objects at the stage from the lofty gods.  Not only that, but this was both allowed and tolerated.  As well as rather innocent apple cores, bottles and bits of wood were also thrown.  The pictorial scene beggars believe, doesn't it?
 
And as Grimaldi enters adulthood, he marries and fathers children.  He's dreadful with money and it seems to disappears through his fingers.  Even at the height of his considerable fame he just could not deal with anything of a financial matter.  A fool and his money ...  His home life and love life are both put under Stott's microscope.  We come to see this great man, Grimaldi, as perhaps not great in all areas of his life.  He has plenty of ups and downs.  Having said all that, his doggedness, exuberance and natural talent shone through.  This book will be a  must-have, I'm sure for all those either in the theatrical/pantomime business or interested in all things thespian.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
 
If this book appeals then you might also enjoy [[Sir Henry Irving:  A Victorian Actor and His World by Jeffrey Richards]].

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