Much attention has been given to the comedy of Mark Rylance's Shakespeare performances and his interaction with the audience. Comedy and audience interaction informed the initial creation of many of Shakespeare's roles, particularly Richard III, a figure indebted to the medieval Vice character. Rylance and his collaborators often attribute the playing to the audience as part of Original Practices, however, Rylance's performances also demonstrate many of the attributes of contemporary theatrical clowning. Contemporary clowning, as expounded by Jacques Lecoq and his aesthetic descendants, places particular emphasis on the relationship of failure and the audience. The power of Rylance's performance as Richard III comes from this synthesis of past and present to create a contemporary hybrid style. This essay will showcase the importance of failure and the audience to contemporary clown, before comparing it to the use of audience and comedy in Shakespeare's Richard. After examining the two historical moments, the paper turns to the ways Rylance embodies different aspects of past and present theatrical forms, using a hybrid practice to create a Richard of his own theatrical moment, thus reflecting but not replicating tensions tensions between past and present theatrical practices of the initial creation of the role.