Kemp's only published writing, Kemp's Nine Days' Wonder, relates the details of his famous morris dance from London to Norwich in 1600, and it is to this that we must turn to get a feel for the man's voice and character.

Let us begin, however, with his physique. As a man of powerful build, he despises ‘thin-breeched’ ballad singers. Even though he spread his nine days' dancing over a month, the dance testifies to his stamina, especially given the condition of the roads in February. He moved fast, for, as he remarks, ‘my pace in dancing is not ordinary’. And he has the traditional morris dancer's prowess in leaping. He can leap ditches when his companions land in the middle. And his leap over the churchyard wall in Norwich was so remarkable that his shoes were nailed to the wall of the Guildhall to mark the height. To this day, a plaque on the wall of St John Maddermarket commemorates the famous leap. To be a morris dancer was to be a species of athlete.

Tarlton's squint marked him out as a clown, and Kemp's ‘ill face’ served the same purpose. For this reason alone, Kemp could never have played the part of a tragic hero. Kemp's face sits well with his self-image as one who would, ‘being a plain man, call a spade a spade’.