30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 3: John Barton's Knit Tie

One of the things I love to do as a Shakespeare geek is seek out behind-the-scenes stories of productions. While I enjoy the finished product that I see onstage, I also very much want to know HOW that product was created. As someone who has never been involved in acting or directing, much of it remained a mystery to me… until I saw today’s 30 Days of Shakespeare pick.

Let me be clear: I very much don’t believe that Shakespeare needs to be “unlocked” for you by some white man in order for you to “properly” understand and appreciate him. Nor do I believe Barton’s style of playing Shakespeare is the only way he should be played. However, the collective experience of this amazing group of actors, crystalized through Barton’s knowledge and insights, legitimately increased my appreciation of Shakespeare’s text and helped me understand a lot about how contemporary actors can bring his words to life.

If you haven’t seen Playing Shakespeare yet, I strongly encourage you to check out the full series on YouTube. The picture quality is rather fuzzy… much like John Barton.

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 1: The Charge at Agincourt

Hey everyone! It’s Shakespeare’s birth/death month, and I wanted to do something special to celebrate it this year. As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been having a really hard time creating new comics lately. I think the <gestures vaguely to indicate pandemic/impeding world war/social injustice/toxic politics/apocalyptic climate> has been getting to me and creating comics has just felt frustratingly impossible and pointless.

But the fact of the matter is that I really like creating comics and I feel empty when I don’t create comics. So, in an attempt to reconnect with what inspired me to start creating comics in the first place, every day this month (hopefully) I will be drawing something from the Shakespearean world that brings me joy. I’m starting things off with one of my earliest Shakespearean memories.

If you want to watch the charge, it starts around 1:37 on this video. Make sure you have the sound on.

If you’ve got moments from the Shakespeare world that bring you joy — a performance, a character, a line, a fun fact, anything goes — leave a comment below! Let’s all share the Shakespeare joy this month.

Head Trick and Bed Trick (Remastered)

I started drawing Shakespeare comics about eight and a half years ago, sharing them privately on Facebook with my friends. One of the first ones that I drew was about Measure for Measure, because why not? It never found a proper place to live on the Good Tickle Brain website, but it still amuses me, so I’ve gone ahead and re-drawn it.

Barnardine deserves someone much better than Angelo, but I hope they’re very happy together.

Shakespearean Valentines (part 3)

Them: Shakespeare is soooo romantic!

Me: 🤨

Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt

Huge shout-out to my consulting pocket dramaturg Kate Pitt for coming up with the ideas for all of these.

Be sure to check out Shakespearean Valentines (part 1) and Shakespearean Valentines (part 2), as well as all my other Valentine’s Day themed comics.

(Repost) The Shakespearean Chinese Zodiac

Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! I’m still here, staggering gamely into the Year of the Tiger! May it be better than the years of the Rat and the Ox, that’s all I’m going to say. To celebrate, here’s a comic I did a couple years and/or a lifetime ago:

I’ve covered the basics of Chinese New Year before, but this year I thought it would be fun to run through the Chinese Zodiac and give each animal sign a Shakespearean equivalent based on that sign’s supposed characteristics. (Don’t argue with me about any of them. Like astrology, this is entirely arbitrary and for entertainment purposes only.)

Don’t know your animal sign? Find the one that lists your birth year. Shakespeare was born in 1564, so he’s definitely a Rat.

I’m hoping that, with the inspiration and can-do attitude that will come in the year of Richard III, I will be able to figure out how to achieve the goal I have set for myself. Fortunately for everyone involved, that goal is “resume posting fun Shakespearean comics on a sustainable schedule that doesn’t completely burn out my sad and tired little brain” and not “murder most of my immediate family in order to become king of England.”.

Gong xi fa cai!