\n From left: Gaulier students Alayna Perry, Brian Byrne and Joseph Bucci receive feedback on a short skit involving a pie in the face.
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Rebecca Rosman for NPR<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Rebecca Rosman for NPR<\/p>\n <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u00c9TAMPES, France \u2014 <\/strong>The man in control tonight is named Carlo Jacucci. You’re on the stage. He’s the audience. And there’s almost no chance you’re going to please him \u2014 which, somehow, is exactly why you’re here.<\/p>\n “The games begin,” Jacucci, a matter-of-fact Franco-Italian, tells his students, then taps a drum between his legs.<\/p>\n The stage lights go bright. The music starts. A group of red-nosed clowns in various costumes begins a ritual that has been the heartbeat of this place for more than 40 years.<\/p>\n \n Zach Zucker performs in Stamptown<\/em> at the Fringe festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, in August last year. Zucker studied at France’s \u00c9cole Philippe Gaulier and his traveling variety show leans into the school’s philosophy. Jacinta Oaten<\/p>\n <\/b> toggle caption<\/b><\/b>\n <\/div>\n <\/p>\n Jacinta Oaten<\/p>\n <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n This is the \u00c9cole Philippe Gaulier, a school named after its founder, a teacher who believed comedy and clowning begin not with jokes, but with the pleasure of being ridiculous. Or, as Gaulier calls it, finding “your idiot.”<\/p>\n![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/1350x1800+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3e%2F3e%2Ffb1e2c2d40f7b9fc16311db0b75e%2Fstamptown-edinburgh-fringe-2025-by-jacinta-oaten-5.jpg\")
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