The Fools Guild is a Los Angeles organization themed around the medieval and renaissance idea of the Court jester. It’s central activity is producing three annual parties on Halloween, New Year’s Eve, and April Fool’s Day.
The Guild was born in 1979 at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California, where the original improvisational team met while performing as jesters, jugglers, pass-the-hat-acts, and mimes. In 1982 they moved to West Hollywood, renting a house with a giant main room and very high ceilings, where the Fools began to host parties, workshops and other performance-centered events. Very quickly a social club of comedic performers evolved and the house became known as the Guild Hall.
The house was originally built specifically for parties by the original builders, the Santleys, Vaudeville artists and original members of the Screen Actors Guild. At the Guild Hall, the Fools events attracted other artists in Hollywood, creating focal point for the emerging ‘New Vaudeville’ scene in Los Angeles. The parties became more ornate, with elaborate themed decor and costumes, and drew a growing roster of local regulars, including members of the nearby Groundlings Theatre and The Comedy Club. In 1987, the original Guild Hall was torn down to make room for an apartment building. The Guild continued the parties using rented venues.
The Fools Guild also refers to ‘Discworld,’ a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, which frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, mythology, folklore and fairy tales, often using them for satirical parallels with current cultural, political and scientific issues. In ‘Discworld,’ the Fools’ Guild is a trading and training organization for clowns, jesters and other practitioners of slapstick humor. Those who might question the Guild’s authority, say, by telling unapproved jokes, unlicensed nose-honking and other forms of creativity, are paid a visit by the Jolly Good Pals, or Bloody Fools, the Guild’s enforcers, who are fully ready to introduce one to the darker side of physical humor.
The Daily Omnivore 
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