[4] He later joined the Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique, playing small roles and developed his craft as a playwright, finding that to be his true vocation.

"[citation needed] In 1853, he published Chansons et Poésies, a collection of rhymes, from the ribald songs, "which are sung in the desert" according to Albert Blanquet, to the touching simplicity of the poems.

In 1871, he wrote at least two anti-communard songs: L'Internationale[8] where he gave his vision of the "Internationale ouvrière" as a collection of bandits,[citation needed] and La Commune[9] in which he called for the massacre of Communards.

Charles-Albert Nicolaïe, known as "Clairvoyance" (1833–1892), an employee at the Comptoir d'Escompte de Paris, was born of an affair with Augustine Philippon.

[citation needed] Clairville's plays written in collaboration with leading playwrights of his time or that continue to be presented, include the following: