In medieval mystery plays, the play would often see a
buffoon or a prankster getting better of the Devil in the game of wits.
It was here perhaps that Shakespeare and other English authors got their
inspiration for introducing the English clown in their plays. The famous
and foremost professional stage clowns William Kempe and Robert Armin
were both connected with Shakespeare's company. It has been believed
that play scripts now available have been published to include the
ad-libs by the clowns. In fact, Hamlet's order that clowns could speak
only what had been written down for them was in fact, a comment that
came from Shakespeare's heart on ad libbing done by Kemp.
William Kemp was an important star, mainly because of his partnership in
the company and the Globe Theatre. He specialized in playing stupid
country type characters that later came to be known as Auguste style.
Robert Armin was an expert and specialized at playing court jester type
fools. He even wrote a book on famous court jesters that ranks among the
first ever published histories of clowning. When Armin replaced Kemp,
Shakespeare changed his style of script writing to suit the style and
abilities of the newcomer, proving that he was even a greater genius as
a playwright than merely coming out with good plays.