Philippe Gaulier

Philippe Gaulier is a French master clown, pedagogue, and professor of theatre. He is the founder of École Philippe Gaulier, a French theatre school in Étampes, outside Paris. He studied under Jacques Lecoq in the mid-1960s and was an instructor at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in the late 1970s. As well as performing as a clown, he is also a playwright and director. He has published The Tormentor (Le Gégèneur), a book discussing his thoughts on the theatre and containing exercises designed to develop an actor's skill. Gaulier is known for performing both clown and bouffon comic genres.

Sacha Baron Cohen, Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, Roberto Benigni, Rachel Weisz, Simon McBurney, Geoffrey Rush, Kathryn Hunter, Viggo Venn, Mathew Baynton number among his students. Cohen has particularly praised him for "help[ing him] understand how to be funny," and in 2001 stated that he was "probably the funniest man I have ever met." Gaulier has had a significant impact on the British Theatre, his teachings having inspired the creation of Théâtre de Complicité.