Campaign Trials: The Issues

Let's see what the candidates have to say about some of this election's major issues... in their own words, naturally.

I'm not terribly familiar with Marlowe - the only one of his plays that I've seen so far is Edward II - but I just love "HOLLA, YE PAMPERED JADES OF ASIA", which Tamburlaine declaims as he enters on a chariot drawn by captive kings. It's so unapologetically dramatic. Plus, Pistol totally riffs off of it in 2 Henry IV. 

Tune in on Thursday to see what the popular support for Shakespeare and Marlowe is like. And remember to pick up your Shakespeare election gear from the Good Tickle Shoppe! (Sorry, Marlowe supporters...)

Campaign Trials: The Rivals

You can't (or rather you shouldn't) have a presidential election with only one candidate, and who better to challenge Shakespeare than his contemporary, that dramatic genius and trail-blazing playwright CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE!

The heavily-bearded gentleman is Edward "Ned" Alleyn, also known as Ben Affleck from Shakespeare in Love, who played many of Marlowe's leading men, including Faustus and Tamburlaine. It's a bit weird, when you picture him as a closely-cropped Ben Affleck, to find out that he actually had a great big bushy beard.

Tune in next week as the campaigns get underway, and don't forget to pick up some limited-time-only Shakespeare campaign gear from the Good Tickle Shoppe! 

Campaign Trials: The Annoucement

Aaaand we're back! Thanks for giving me a week off to catch up and work on other projects. Let's get back to business...

That's Richard Burbage, Shakespeare's leading man and business partner. They make a great team, don't they? I'd certainly prefer to see them on my TV every night as opposed to... certain other people. Person. Thing. 

Speaking of which, this is your last chance to pick up my election-themed t-shirts and bumper stickers from the Good Tickle Shoppe! These won't be reprinted (obviously) so get 'em before they're gone. I'll be wearing my t-shirt at the polls next month!

(PS - I am not in any way endorsing you to write in Shakespeare on your ballot. Please don't do that.)

Campaign Quotes, part 1

As you just might have heard, the U.S. presidential campaign is well underway now. I thought it might be useful to start collecting some of the most appropriate Shakespearean quotes related to politics.

I love the phrase "scurvy politician".

Disillusioned with the current crop of candidates? Support the Players' Party and pick up some Shakespeare/Burbage gear at the Good Tickle Shoppe! </end shameless plug>

Elections

As most of you probably know, the U.S. held its midterm elections yesterday. I generally aim to keep post-Stuart politics off of this blog, but I thought it might be fun to interview some of our favorite characters and find out what issues were important to them in this election. 

It turns out none of them are U.S. citizens, and thus are ineligible to vote, so this entire comic was an exercise in futility. Oh well.