Twelfth Night: Act 1, Scene 4

Since we last saw Viola back in act 1, scene 2, she's had a haircut, found some clothes that look exactly like the clothes her drowned brother wore, adopted the name "Cesario", and has managed to inveigle her way into the inner circle of Duke Orsino. Whatever else she is, she's resourceful. 

As we move forward through Twelfth Night, here are some things to keep in mind:

  1. In Shakespeare's time, women weren't allowed to act on the stage, so all the female roles would have been played by boys. This makes everybody's total inability to realize that Cesario is actually a girl much more understandable.

  2. If you are going to see a production of Twelfth Night, please do not get hung up on how much Cesario does NOT look like a boy (unless you're seeing an all-male production). It's called "willing suspension of disbelief".

  3. Having said that, please do feel free to laugh at how totally clueless everybody is about Cesario's true gender identity. No one in Illyria is particularly sharp on the uptake.

Tune in Thursday to see what happens when "Cesario" meets Olivia!

Dramatis Personae | 1. 1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 

Twelfth Night: Act 1, Scene 3

Everyone has been talking about the Countess Olivia, so let's swing over to her household and see what's going on over there!

I love Sir Andrew. He's a total idiot, but such an endearing one. Sir Toby, meanwhile, is a dick. 

FUN FACT: Maria's name is pronounced "mah-RYE-ah" and not "mah-REE-ah". Fortunately, "Toby" and "Andrew" are pronounced pretty much like you'd expect them to be.

Dramatis Personae | 1. 1 | 1.2 | 1.3

Twelfth Night: Act 1, Scene 2

My scene-by-scene re-telling of Twelfth Night saunters on, with today's comic seeing the introduction of one of Shakespeare's great female leads: Viola. 

FUN FACT: The name "Viola" isn't actually mentioned by any character until the last scene of the play! We literally have no idea what her real name is until the last scene. 

OTHER FUN FACT: "Viola" is pronounced "VIE-oh-lah" and not, as I originally thought in my youth,  "vee-OH-lah". One is a famous Shakespearean heroine, the other is a massively underrated string instrument.

And don't ask me about her cunning plan to disguise herself as a singing eunuch. I don't know. I just don't know.

Dramatis Personae | 1.1 | 1.2

 

Twelfth Night: Act 1, Scene 1

You've checked out the dramatis personae, so let's get right into the opening scene of Twelfth Night, with one of Shakespeare's most famous opening lines!

Orsino is such a drama queen. He's also kind of an obsessive stalker at this point, with no respect for boundaries or for other people's feelings.

Don't be like Orsino, guys. He's got some good lines, but his interpersonal skills need help. Tune in next week to see if he gets it!

Good Tickle Brain on Air!

When I was at the Folger Shakespeare Library, I had the good fortune to chat with Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, who kindly interviewed me for their weekly podcast. It is now up and you can listen to me and Austin chatting about Good Tickle Brain! 

Also (and I swear I'll stop harping on about this soon) be sure to check out my Patreon page! For a small monthly subscription, you not only help me continue making stick figure Shakespeare comics, but you also get access to a variety of fun, exclusive perks!

Twelfth Night: Dramatis Personae

Time for another scene-by-scene retelling of an entire Shakespeare play! This time around I'm going to try my hand at adapting my first comedy, and it's one of my favorites: Twelfth Night. 

Let's get thing started with a good old who's who...

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Also, be sure to check out my Patreon page! For a small monthly subscription, you not only help me continue making stick figure Shakespeare comics, but you also get access to a variety of fun, exclusive perks!

Guffaw and Order: Touchstone

On the opposite end of the clown spectrum from Dogberry (totally oblivious idiot) is Touchstone (brilliant, witty conversationalist). However, he often goes overboard, which can be just as incomprehensible...

Moral of the story: Don't get into an argument with Touchstone.

Tune in again next week, when we'll launch on another scene-by-scene adventure!

In case you missed it, Good Tickle Brain is now on Patreon! Help support my work creating stick figure Shakespeare comics and get fun rewards, like bonus comics and video drawing tutorials!

Guffaw and Order: Dogberry

Shakespeare's clowns have a reputation, founded or unfounded, for being extremely challenging for modern audiences to digest. In this week's comics, we take a closer look at one particularly egregious offender: Dogberry.

Poor old Dogberry... Nobody understands him.

...no, I mean, seriously... nobody understands a word he's saying...

In case you missed it, Good Tickle Brain is now on Patreon! Help support my work creating stick figure Shakespeare comics and get fun rewards, like bonus comics and video drawing tutorials!

Good Tickle Brain is on Patreon!

Hey everyone! As I mentioned obliquely in yesterday's post, I am now working full-time on Good Tickle Brain! This is very exciting, as it means I have more time to devote to other cool projects (priority #1 = making that flowchart poster a reality) besides just rushing to get each week's comics out on time. 

Of course, working full-time on Good Tickle Brain does come with it's own set of challenges, so, if you're interested in supporting my work, I've set up a Patreon page. Here, let me tell you all about it in this dorky, awkward, yet hopefully somehow endearing video that I made!

You can read up much more about how it works, plus see examples of the various rewards, over at my Patreon page. 

Again, I want to stress that Good Tickle Brain will continue to be a totally free webcomic. If you don't want to support me, or want to support me but can't afford to, that's absolutely fine. You can still come here twice a week for Shakespeare comics, and I will still love you. But, if you have the means, your patronage will help me take Good Tickle Brain to newer and geekier heights than ever before.

It's going to be a fun ride! Thank you so much!