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Jesters from the noble houses have been invited to accompany their masters to court, where they will be performing at a great banquet. However, while they wait backstage, they discover that the King’s Fool, has died, and they are effectively auditioning for the top job.  However, petty rivalries about advancement are soon thrown into sharp relief when a newcomer to their ranks tells the nobles the wrong joke at the feast, and the jesters’ waiting room becomes a prison: a life or death situation for everyone involved…. 

 

 

A claustrophobic drama of male egos, competition and deceit, Court of Fools is a micro-budget one-location feature, which examines the utility and boundaries of comedy and the masks that comedians wear

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Writer/ Director: Spencer Brown 

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Spencer Brown is a comedian turned writer-director.  He started off with the Cambridge Footlights alongside Richard Ayoade and John Oliver and went on to become an internationally acclaimed stand-up, performing at the top clubs around the world, as well as on television (Last Comic Standing, Al Murray’s Edinburgh Comedy,Swedish solo special).   At the same time, he worked as a TV writer (Smack the Pony, Head writer on comedy-entertainment shows, over 10 sitcom commissions/options), presenter (eg. Lip Service with Holly Willoughby) and actor (central cast in Nathan Barley, Teenage Kicks, and the leads in two feature films currently in post-production).

 

For the last few years, Spencer has been concentrating on film-making.  His last short film The Boy with a Camera for a Facescreened at 39 festivals and won 13 prizes (including Best of Fest at St Louis, one of the Oscar-qualifiers).  It also screened on Channel 4, sold internationally and was staff picked on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/151493973.).    His previous short Baby Handswas commissioned by the BBC and used as an example of what they wanted to achieve with their online commissioning stand.  He has spent much of his life hanging round embittered comedians.  This film is the result.

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