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Everybody loves to play the fool... and one Hebden Bridge man more than others
FOR a jester, the 16th century castle joker Tom Fool had what might be described as a rather macabre sense of humour.
Sitting outside Muncaster Castle in the Lake District, he would point travellers asking the way to London along a path which led straight to quicksand.
From his shaded position under a chestnut tree he would then close his eyes and chuckle as their drowning screams filled the air.
Today the chestnut tree still stands in the castle grounds and the quicksand still appears at low tide on the banks of the River Esk but guests can be assured there will be no similar behaviour from the new Tom Fool.
For James Wood – the Hebden Bridge jester also known as Will Tease who was appointed to the honorary position last week – has far better party pieces.
"Being a jester is all about cocking a snook to people who are perhaps a bit pompous, embarrassing those who are up themselves," the 43-year- old says, "And I think that's kind of what Tom Fool was doing but I have slightly more civilised ways of doing it."
Mr Wood, of Lee Mill Road, was made the fifth modern castle jester after winning a special audition in front of nearly 2,000 people.
His routine included diving from a stack of eight milk crates into a cup of water, juggling blind-folded with knives and performing several magic tricks – often at the expense of the audience.
The former Covent Garden street entertainer said: "Being a jester is just the best fun, I love it so to get this post is a real honour.
"It's one of the most famous in the jester world – and I get paid a crate of ale every month which is a bonus."
Mr Wood, a qualified town planner who originally comes from south London, first started jesting while working on a Manchester market stall in the nineties. While trying to sell bedsteads he took to juggling to entertain crowds and attract customers.
"The thing was the juggling balls were more popular than the bedsteads so we started selling those instead – and that just kind of progressed to me and my wife Helen suddenly owning a magic shop, and that suddenly progressed to us learning tricks and stunts from the acts which came in, and that led to me saying I could do that myself," he says.
"I was young and crazy and, though the business was making plenty of money, the overheads were killing us a little so I decided to just go for it and become a performer."
It's a decision he has never looked back on.
Moving to Hebden Bridge five years ago, he has since become the town's official jester while performing around the world at places such as Manumission in Ibiza.
But it is the Muncaster post which the father of three is most proud of, and the fact he is following in the legend of Tom Fool.
He says: "Tom Skelton – that was his real name – is a legendary jester so to be filling his boots is just incredible. My catch line is 'I'm the jester of Muncaster...is that a good thing?' but it really is, I'm delighted."
Now he just has to hope he doesn't suffer the same fate as his predecessor.
Skelton, who is also said to have murdered the castle carpenter, famously predicted his own death by drowning days before he met a watery end.
Mr Wood said: "Occasion-ally my diving into a teacup does go a bit wrong – which the audience always seem to like better actually – but I'm hoping it never goes quite that wrong." My catch line is ‘I’m the jester of Muncaster...is that a good thing?’ but it really is, I’m delighted.”
Now he just has to hope he doesn’t suffer the same fate as his predecessor.
Skelton, who is also said to have murdered the castle carpenter, famously predicted his own death by drowning days before he met a watery end.
Mr Wood said: “Occasion-ally my diving into a teacup does go a bit wrong – which the audience always seem to like better actually – but I’m hoping it never goes quite that wrong.”
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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