The King's Lynn man who made Shakespeare funny

BBC News

23-03-2025

Archive research has revealed new information about a 16th Century comedian and his influence on William Shakespeare.Robert Armin began working with the Bard's acting troupe in the 1590s and became the principal comedic performer in 1599 when William Kemp left the group. Tim FitzHigham, creative director of Shakespeare's Guildhall in King's Lynn, Norfolk, says he believes many of the Bard's best known comedic roles would have been written and performed by the comedian."Robert Armin is a person who fundamentally changed comedy and he is really underrated - and I think people need to know more about him," he said.
"He was Shakespeare's principal comedian for the majority of Shakespeare's writing career."
Robert Armin was born in King's Lynn in 1565 and his birthplace is now a nail bar on the high street.While the town's connections to Shakespeare have begun to be better known, the story of Armin's life and writing has been hidden until now, Mr FitzHigham said. The creative director, who is researching Armin's life for his PHD study, said his work had revealed more about Armin's relationship with Shakespeare."I think it is fair to say there was a lot of love between the two of them," he said."They came from similar backgrounds, had similar educations - and we know Armin like Shakespeare could read Italian."Armin's roles included starring as the first Feste in Twelfth Night, Autolycus in A Winter's Tale and as the Fool in King Lear.Research reveals Armin left Norfolk at the age of 16 to work as an apprentice goldsmith in London.He joined Shakespeare's acting troupe in the 1590s, becoming the principal comedic performer in 1599 when William Kemp left. Kemp is best known for Morris Dancing from London to Norwich in nine days, a feat that was replicated by Tim FitzHigham.
"He was the first person to really study comedy," said Mr FitzHigham. "Without him we wouldn't have Blackadder, we wouldn't really have Faulty Towers, and we wouldn't have The Fast Show because he changed comedy in such a way as to allow character comedians to happen." Armin's story has been shared across King's Lynn's Town Guide Network, who offer tours of the town to highlight it's heritage.Town Guides' chairman, Paul Allford, said: "While we all know about Shakespeare and his probable visits to Lynn, it's not commonly known that one of our own was so involved in his works."
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