Hi Ho The Glamorous Life

It's the last installment of "Stay Sane September"! Thanks so much for putting up with my recycled material from social media and Patreon. It's allowed me to relax and enjoy my visits to the Stratford Festival and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival without having to worry about all the work that wasn't getting done.

Being a full-time Shakespearean comic artist and author is pretty much the best thing in the world, but the creative process is not always straightforward. To wrap up "Stay Sane September", here's a behind-the-scenes look at the ups and downs of my chosen career, as originally seen on Patreon. 

Thanks for sticking with me through "Stay Sane September" and special thanks to my supporters on Patreon (from whence I re-appropriated these comics) for helping me continue to develop Good Tickle Brain!

Upcoming Appearances

**TODAY!!!**

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!

Moai

It's "Stay Sane September"! That means I'll be sharing some of my "greatest hits" from social media and Patreon to keep you entertained while I take the month off in order to avoid burnout, take some theatre trips, and get caught up on various tasks and projects that I have been neglecting. 

Today's comic was originally posted on Patreon while I was in the midst of drawing my Twelfth Night scene-by-scene comics. 

This is probably one of my more obscure gags, but before I knew "M.O.A.I" from Twelfth Night, I knew "moai" from Easter Island. (IT'S NOT FUNNY IF YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT.)

Thanks to my supporters on Patreon (from whence I re-appropriated this comic) for helping me continue to develop Good Tickle Brain! For $5 a month, you'll get bonus comics like these every week!

Upcoming Appearances

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!

The Office Microwave Saga

It's "Stay Sane September"! That means I'll be sharing some of my "greatest hits" from social media and Patreon to keep you entertained while I take the month off in order to avoid burnout, take some theatre trips, and get caught up on various tasks and projects that I have been neglecting. 

Today's comics come from my time working at the University of Michigan Library. For a while I used to draw daily whiteboard comics depicting life in the International Studies division. Here's a series depicting The Great Microwave Crisis of 2015.

Just for the record, I did not actually abscond to a tropical island with the collected microwave money. I went out and bought everyone a nice new microwave. It came in a giant cardboard box, so naturally I turned the box into an airplane.

I still can't believe they put up with me for as long as they did...

Anyways, here's the conclusion:

I LOVE YOU, INTERNATIONAL STUDIES LIBRARY BUDDIES. 

Upcoming Appearances

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!

Desdemona Ditties

It's "Stay Sane September"! That means I'll be sharing some of my "greatest hits" from social media and Patreon to keep you entertained while I take the month off in order to avoid burnout, take some theatre trips, and get caught up on various tasks and projects that I have been neglecting. 

Today's comic comes from Patreon, and features pretty much exactly what happened when some friends and I took a day trip to the Stratford Festival and were driving home at 2am, trying to stay awake by brainstorming Shakespeare musical parodies.

2am on the 401 is apparently the best time and place to write musical parodies.

Thanks to my supporters on Patreon (from whence I re-appropriated this comic) for helping me continue to develop Good Tickle Brain! For $5 a month, you'll get bonus comics like these every week!

Upcoming Appearances

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!

Stratford Festival 2017 Photo Comics (part 3)

It's "Stay Sane September"! That means I'll be sharing some of my "greatest hits" from social media and Patreon to keep you entertained while I take the month off in order to avoid burnout, take some theatre trips, and get caught up on various tasks and projects that I have been neglecting. 

Today's installment features YET MORE photo comics cobbled together from the Stratford Festival's official production photos, starting with Guys & Dolls:

Then The Komagata Maru Incident, based on a rather dark chapter in Canada's history:

The ludicrously complicated and madcap The School For Scandal: 

Then The Madwoman of Chaillot:

And finally, a new play by Kate Hennig, The Virgin Trial: 

I missed Bakkhai. I'm very sorry about that.

Upcoming Events

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!

Stratford Festival 2017 Photo Comics (part 2)

It's "Stay Sane September"! That means I'll be sharing some of my "greatest hits" from social media and Patreon to keep you entertained while I take the month off in order to avoid burnout, take some theatre trips, and get caught up on various tasks and projects that I have been neglecting. 

Today's installment features MORE photo comics cobbled together from the Stratford Festival's official production photos, starting with HMS Pinafore:

Next up, Twelfth Night:

Then it was time for Treasure Island:

Next up was an ultra-modern Tartuffe with an ultra-modern script by Ranjit Bolt. 

Anyways, that's all for now! Tune in Thursday for another "Stay Sane September" installment!

Upcoming Events

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!

Iamb What Iamb

It's "Stay Sane September"! That means I'll be sharing some of my "greatest hits" from social media and Patreon to keep you entertained while I take the month off in order to avoid burnout, take some theatre trips, and get caught up on various tasks and projects that I have been neglecting. 

Today's installment features two iambic pentameter-themed bonus comics drawn for my $5 supporters on Patreon. 

I apologize for nothing.

Every time I seen an uncapitalized "lambic" I get really excited until I realize it's beer. (I'm not a big drinker.)

Thanks to my supporters on Patreon (from whence I re-appropriated these comics) for helping me continue to develop Good Tickle Brain! For $5 a month, you'll get bonus comics like these every week!

Upcoming Appearances

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!

Stratford Festival 2017 Photo Comics (part 1)

It's "Stay Sane September"! That means I'll be sharing some of my "greatest hits" from social media and Patreon to keep you entertained while I take the month off in order to avoid burnout, take some theatre trips, and get caught up on various tasks and projects that I have been neglecting. 

Today's installment features some comics I put together during my trip to the Stratford Festival two weeks ago. I deliberately didn't take my computer so that I wouldn't be able to work. However, once I got there I found myself wanting to document my theatre-going, so I downloaded all the official production photos, ran them through a basic comic app, and here they are.

First up was Timon of Athens, which I previously saw 13 years ago, when I was far too immature to appreciate this famously hard-to-appreciate play. Here's how it unfolded:

While I'm still not particularly fond of the play itself, I thought this was a great production - very clear and comprehensible, with excellent acting, especially by Joe Ziegler, who managed to somehow make me not lose all interest in Timon once he slid to the "UNRELENTINGLY BITTER" end of the spectrum. 

I then saw Thomas Middleton's The Changeling. This was my first Middleton (not counting his possible collaborations with Shakespeare) and it was a doozy:

This was an intense play. I'm struck by how very different Middleton feels to Shakespeare as far as the language and characterizations are concerned. It all feels much more melodramatic, with the result that I empathize less with the characters involved, but enjoy all the horrible, over-the-top atrocities that occur. 

Next up was Romeo and Juliet. We all know how this one goes, right?

Confession: I'm really really really sick of Romeo and Juliet. It's just done ALL the TIME, and it's always pretty much the same, and you can't seem to get away from it. However, this production managed to rekindle my interest in the play, thanks primarily to the ludicrously engaging performances of the two leads, Sara Farb and Antoine Yared. 

Finally, I saw The Breathing Hole, a new play commissioned by the Stratford Festival. It goes like this:

I really loved this production, and not just because the bears are ADORABLE and PERFECT and LOVELY. Apart from the bears (who were adorable and perfect and lovely), my favorite scene was one in which two Inuit hunters meet and try to communicate with British explorer Sir John Franklin and his crew. It was perfectly written and acted. 

Anyways, that's all for now! Tune in Thursday for another "Stay Sane September" installment!

Upcoming Events

TOMORROW: September 6: Stratford Festival Forum - Willy Shakes: Fanboy

WHO: Me! And also Conor McCreery of the Kill Shakespeare comic book series.
WHAT: Panel discussion on Shakespeare in pop culture and graphic novels. Part of the Stratford Festival Forum series of events. 
WHEN: Wednesday, September 6, 10:45am
WHERE: Chalmers Lounge, Avon Theatre, Stratford, Ontario.
WHY: Because they asked me! 
HOW: Buy tickets at the Stratford Festival website. 

September 28: Cincinnati Museum Insights Lecture

WHO: Me! Again!
WHAT: Talk followed by Q&A on the development of Good Tickle Brain and approaches to making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences. 
WHEN: Thursday, September 28, 7:30pm
WHERE: The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
WHY: Because they have a cool Shakespeare exhibit going on right now! 
HOW: Reserve a FREE ticket at the Cincy Museum website!