A clown, in Shakespeare's day, meant a yokel, a country bumpkin. But the parts of these bumpkins were comedy parts, so he was also a comedian.
The parts marked "clown" are usually servants, people like Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice.
In around 1600, The Lord Chamberlain's Men changed personnel. Will Kempe, a clown in the traditional sense was out, and Robert Armin, a more witty, intellectual and trenchant kind of comedian was in. He changed how clowns were portrayed in Shakespeare and other drama.
Do not imagine that Shakespeare's clowns wore the white faces, red noses, and oversized shoes of a Barnum and Bailey clown. That image is a wholly American invention. Shakespeare's clowns, especially when they were recognized as such in the context of a household or court, wore special clothes in a patchwork pattern, familiar as the "motley" of a court jester, and sometimes carried a "bauble" or jester's wand. But not always: this was not the costume of the Gravedigger in Hamlet or the Porter in Macbeth.
The expression does not come from Shakespeare.
Shakespeare and the other actors were known as "players". It says that on his application for a coat of arms.
In Shakespeare's day actors were called "players".
The feminine form of "clown" is often simply "clowness." However, in many contexts, the term "clown" is gender-neutral and can refer to both male and female performers. In some cultures or specific traditions, titles like "female clown" or "woman clown" may be used to specify gender.
Siloquy
In Shakespeare's works, the term "constant" is often used to describe someone who is faithful, reliable, steadfast, or unwavering in their actions or emotions. It can refer to a character who remains consistent in their loyalty, determination, or love throughout the play.
It's not an idiom - it pretty much means what it seems to mean. That makes it a metaphor. Someone might not be an actual circus clown, but they're acting like one, fooling around and trying to make people laugh.
a term to refer to concentrated play in baseball
To 'play the Roman fool' is to commit suicide. The term was used in Shakespeare's Macbeth.
cannibalism (i think that's term your looking for)
The Tagalog term for clown fish is "isdang payaso." This name reflects the fish's colorful appearance and playful behavior, akin to that of a clown. Clown fish are often associated with sea anemones, which provide them shelter in their natural habitat.
There is phenomena in the arts (but particularly in drama) where, if you have unrelenting tragedy, that the audience will soon begin to laugh at it. This is not desired. If such happens then you have lost the audience and the play is a failure. To avoid this the play-write inserts some 'comic relief' at a crucial point, so the audience can legitimately laugh at it before going back to the dreadful stuff. Shakespeare knew of this and in his play Anthony and Cleopatra he inserts a Clown to bring Cleopatra the Asp that is to kill her. (In Shakespeare's day a Clown was a rube or a simpleton.) The Clown answers the queen's questions about the surety of the Asp's ability to kill, saying how nobody ever came back with complaints and other such clever things. After the audience has had their laugh at him they are ready to return to the horrible conclusion of the play.