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Italy, 2007

In the midst of a lively stand-up routine, a portly middle-aged comedian spies an elderly gentleman

making a beeline for the Pat Auditorium Exit. The comedian, Bepi Grillo, agrees to distract

the audience while the old man escapes in search of the Lou. It's a great comic routine,

but not quite what you'd expect from someone about to found a political party that would go on to

turn Italian politics on its head. This was the genius of Bepi Grillo's that he was able to

attract both left and right at the beginning, so the green policies would bring in the left,

but at the same time there was a hint of right-wing populism there.

But now, why are the balloons popping for the party that promised such radical change?

You're listening to stories of our times and the times and the Sunday times.

I'm David Aronovich. Today, Italy's five-star movement, a well-executed punchline

or a comedy of errors.

It suddenly got hot and sunny here. The parks are full of people running around if they've never

seen a sunny day before. That's Tom Kington, our Italian correspondent at the Times.

Tom's been following the extraordinary career of Bepi Grillo and his impossible five-star

movement from day one. Now, with the movement in big trouble, what can he tell us about this clown

turned power broker? He was a risk-taking, law-cus comic to the point that he got himself banned from

Italy's state TV network in 1987 after making a risque joke about government corruption.

...