It's no joke (or maybe it is, depending on whether you think clowns are funny). The first Sunday in February is marked each year with a gathering of clowns - in full costume and make-up - from all over the UK for a service in Holy Trinity Church, Dalston. It's hard to imagine what this service involves - members of the congregation being tripped up in the aisles, the collection being taken by someone in a Noddy car with hooter?
Anyway, it all comes back to Clerkenwell. Joseph Grimaldi was the son of Italian dance master Giuseppi. At the age of three, Joey debuted at Sadlers Wells and spent the next 45 years as performer and part owner of the theatre. He defined clowning, including the white make-up, bright clothes and pointy hats, and gave a common name to the clown: Joey.
He also helped give rise to the notion of the sad clown. Personal tragedy - losing his first wife very young, and ill health brought on by years of falling over - left him in a sorry state. (Query: are there health and safety rules for modern clowns?) Unable to work in later life, he had to rely on a pension from Drury Lane. Grimaldi spent his last years propping up the fireplace in the Marquis of Cornwallis pub in Pentonville. A kindly landlord would carry him home every night on his back.
Grimaldi lived at 56, Exmouth Market between 1818 and 1828. A blue plaque marks the spot. He died in 1837 at 33 Southampton Street (now Calshot Street) and is buried in Joseph Grimaldi Park, on Pentonville Road, while his wife Mary is buried in St. James's Church on Clerkenwell Green.
RIP sad clown.
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