13 h 55 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 342 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 342 pagesAbout this book
What does it cost to make a crowded theatre laugh when every leap wears your body down?
In Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, a child of London's theatre world learns his trade under a demanding father. Joseph Grimaldi grows into a beloved comic performer, shaping the English pantomime clown through wit, movement and expressive charm. His stage is a place of delight, but also relentless work.
From Sadler's Wells to Drury Lane and Covent Garden, Grimaldi takes you behind the laughter. Long rehearsals, hard bargains with managers and crowded houses fill his working life. Beyond the stage lie financial strain, family loss and pain that applause cannot ease. The contrast gives these recollections their force.
What you’ll discover
- A childhood on stage Meet the demanding father whose skill and severity shape Grimaldi's early life as a performer.
- The clown's demanding craft Discover the physical wit and expressive charm that help Grimaldi reshape English pantomime.
- Behind the theatre doors Step into a working world of rehearsals, managers and audiences eager to laugh.
- The price of laughter See how falls, tumbles and leaps take their toll on the body behind the clown.
- Beyond the painted face Find a life where public affection sits beside private grief, illness and financial uncertainty.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who love theatre history, Regency London, or the lives of entertainers, and anyone curious about where the modern clown came from. If you want a tight, modern style or a neat plot, you may find its rambling anecdotes less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Born into the London theatre world
- A hard father forges a child performer
- Learning the clown's trade the hard way
- Laughter that cost him his health
- Family troubles and the end of a career
- How the book was made and what it left
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- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi
by Joseph Grimaldi· 1838
A London stage clown recounts his work and private troubles.
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Language: Italiano
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Born into the London theatre world
Joseph Grimaldi was born in 1778 into a London that lived on its playhouses. His father, known as Signor Grimaldi, was an Italian dancer and ballet master who also worked as a comic performer. His mother was an English dancer who belonged to the same busy theatrical world. From his first years the child lived among scene painters, musicians, dancers and stage managers.
The theatres of the day gave audiences far more than a single play. An evening might bring a serious drama, a farce, a ballet, songs, and then a pantomime to finish. Pantomime told a fairy tale or legend in mime and music, and it always held a Harlequin, a Columbine, a Pantaloon and a clown. Stage tricks, trapdoors and painted scenery changed in front of the crowd, and the audience loved the surprise.
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The author
Joseph Grimaldi
1778–1837 · English clown and actor
Joseph Grimaldi (1778–1837) was an English actor, comedian and dancer who lived and worked in London. He performed clown roles in pantomimes at Sadler’s Wells and Drury Lane. His autobiographical material formed the basis of Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, edited by Charles Dickens and published in 1838, after Grimaldi’s death.
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Questions about Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi
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What is Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi about?
It is the life story of a famous London clown, told from his childhood among theatre families to his retirement. It covers his training, his stage success in pantomime, the injuries that wore him down and the family losses he suffered.
Who was Joseph Grimaldi?
Grimaldi was an English comic performer born in 1778 who became the star of Regency pantomime. He created the white face and red cheek look of the clown and was so loved that clowns are still called Joey after him.
Did Charles Dickens write Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi?
Dickens did not invent the book. It rests on Grimaldi's own recollections, which Dickens worked into publishable form in 1838 under his pen name Boz. The voice and the events are Grimaldi's, though Dickens shaped the telling.
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