When Guy Laliberté thought workers at Cirque du Soleil’s Montreal headquarters were taking their jobs too seriously, he hired a professional comedian to liven things up.

Madame Zazou spends 20 hours a week popping in and out of offices. She has carte blanche to interrupt meetings – briefly – with witty questions and comments, and is a regular heckler at Cirque’s annual “creative summit”, at which 100 senior employees exchange ideas on present and future shows.