The phrase ‘jester’ is usually synonymous with medieval European court docket entertainers donning floppy, bell-adorned hats. However, as this brief from TED-Ed reveals, the idea of a jokester or performer with some licence to problem rulers and the the Aristocracy spans each centuries and the globe, with the earliest identified occasion occurring in China within the seventh century BCE. With an appropriately waggish animation model, the video introduces viewers to some notable historic jesters from world wide whereas exploring the various roles, duties and levels of affect they possessed.