The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi Laughter, Madness and the Story of Britain's Greatest Comedian

* A wonderful book: beautiful, heartbreaking and absolutely fascinating -- Amanda Foreman author of The Duchess * A round of applause is due to this exuberant, impassioned portrait, for bringing the great Grimaldi, 'Joey the Clown', into the limelight again -- Jenny Uglow Observer * Grimaldi's is a story of comedy mixed with pathos, endurance with absurdity. It is exceptionally well told here -- Sam Leith Daily Mail * This interesting and entertaining book gives a real insight into how much professional comedy has changed over the last 250 years, and how much it hasn't changed -- Frank Skinner * Always vivacious and engaged, Stott's writing is earthed in research that gives resonance to the amplitude of detail he provides, tactfully tucking away documentation of sources in endnotes that are a pleasure in themselves -- Jennie Renton Sunday Herald * A round of applause is due this exuberant portrait for bringing Grimaldi into the limelight again Observer New Review * Splendid Sunday Telegraph * Superb The Telegraph Review * A dazzling yarn The Independent * McConnell Stott's engaging book...presents a fantastic panorama of stage history, tracing how pantomime rose to be the most popular British art form at a time when the rest of Europe was convulsed by the Napoleonic wars The Sunday Times * Full of wonderful descriptions of how this manic yet poignant clown beat off competition ... to be the "supreme comic being, part child, part nightmare" Guardian Review * [A] great big Christmas pudding of a book, almost over-stuffed with rich and colourful life -- Simon Callow Guardian 'Book of the week' * Fascinating, informative and compelling, this is essential reading for lovers of theatre and comedy Waterstones Book Quarterly * As a portrait of London life in all its mutinous and anarchic variety this book would be hard to beat Spectator * The biographer once did a comic turn himself and it animates his account. Stott doesn't just bring the man to painful life but his world as well Scottish Review of Books * Sad though his decline was, his story, as McConnell Stott tells it, conveys an overwhelming impression of verve and ingenuity... [McConnell Stott] recounts these wonders with infectious brio -- John Carey The Sunday Times * Rich in detail... [Stott] succeeds in evoking the London theatrical world of the time in all its riotous energy -- Patrick O'Connor Times Literary Supplement * In this attractively written, well-illustrated and well-researched biography Andrew Stott brings this extraordinary genius vividly before us, in the process richly evoking the tumultuous life of the London theatre -- Michael Slater Literary Review * Stott has had fun with this life Irish Times