The fool as a character is confusing, but part of this is the difference between the 1600s and today, as well as the difference in place. If somebody made a joke about your local sports team, would people several hundred years from now get it?
Shakespeare also wrote his plays for his group of actors, and the original actor portraying fool was a comedian of sorts, that was the type of character he played. So it can be really hard to understand the fool.
He does serve as a counter to Lear, especially in the Storm scene, a kind of reasonable-ish counterpart to the absolutely insane Lear. The fool's position also gives him the ability to say things that no body else can say, even if they believe them. He is the ultimate character allowed to "speak truth to power."
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