Andrew McConnell Stott

I'm delighted to say that I've been chosen as a 2010-2011 Fellow of the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.

Grimaldi is published downunder today by Text.

I did a little bit with Robert Elms on BBC Radio London today. I'm on around the 12 and a half minute mark. Annoyed that I couldn't remember the name of Exmouth Market. How could I forget that?

The Blue Plaque at Joe Grimaldi's house, 8 Exmouth Street (now Exmouth Market), London, EC1

Joseph Grimaldi. 231 today.

If you live in the West Country and fancy tuning in, I think I'm going to be interviewed tomorrow on BBC Radio Bristol's Graham Torrington show. Listen out for me around 11am GMT.

Update: Yes indeed, it happened, and you can hear it here. I'm on about the 2hrs 10min mark, following a live report from the Cabot Circus German sausage market ('they're right girt.') Thanks to Graham for having me on.

The 'book of the week' broadcast its final episode today, and what a beautiful job they did. If you missed it, the episodes are up on iPlayer, but only for a few more days.

If you were listeninChunee the elephant killed by firing squad after running madg, however, and think that's that, let me assure you that there's still plenty of reasons to buy the book. The abridgement, while wonderful, necessarily left out loads of great stuff, including more of the Signor's appalling crimes, the maritime heroics of Jean-Baptiste Dubois, the disappearance of Joe's brother, John, the mysterious dinner-party crew, the full and lurid history of Joe's son, Joseph Samuel, and the tragic execution of Chunee the pantomime elephant... not to mention gorgeous colour illustrations and the full script of Harlequin and Mother Goose. 

Details of Radio 4 'Book of the Week' episodes are up (also a Daily Telegraph 'pick of the week'). The voice is Kenneth Cranham's, who you may remember from HBO's Rome, the movie Layer Cake, or, if you're as old as I am, Shine on Harvey Moon.

I'm delighted to say that Grimaldi is going to be BBC Radio 4's "Book of the Week" beginning Monday, 7th December. From the press office:  

Book Of The Week –
The Pantomime Life Of Joseph Grimaldi

Monday 7 to Friday 11 December

9.45-10.00am BBC RADIO 4

This week's Book Of The Week presents Andrew McConnell Stott's fascinating account of the life of one of England's most famous clowns, Joseph Grimaldi.

Joseph Grimaldi was introduced to the stage at the age of two by his ballet-master father, a cruel disciplinarian. His unexpected death made Joseph the main breadwinner of the family, at the age of nine and, in spite of the dangers of life as a child on the stage, he worked his way up the theatrical rankings to become a superstar of Georgian pantomime.

An innovator, acrobat and comic genius, equally treasured by the fashionable set and the provincial public alike, his clowning brought national celebrity, enormous fees and a social circle that included Lord Byron.

Regardless of his fame, Grimaldi was a profound depressive, whose tragic life was marked by incapacitating bouts of insecurity and self-doubt. Poor business sense left him penniless. And, by his early forties, he was prematurely crippled by the leaps and pratfalls that had once so delighted his audience. Despite a successful benefit performance at Sadler's Wells to fund his retirement, Grimaldi ended his life as a depressive alcoholic in the slums of Islington.

Nevertheless, Grimaldi's legacy to popular culture is unique and lasting – the notion of the stereotypical sad clown, the funny man who, despite the laughter and adulation, cannot find happiness himself, is personified by many modern-day comedians.

The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi: Laughter, Madness, and the Story of Britain's Greatest Comedian is offically released today.

Cheers!