Operetta Bingo

I am intensely fond of all things Shakespearean, but my first theatrical love was operetta, those fluffy, lyrical stage confections that aren't quite operas but haven't evolved into musicals. My parents took me to a local production of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus when I was three years old (I fell asleep in Act 3), followed shortly afterwards by a trip to the Stratford Festival to see their Pirates of Penzance. I was hooked.

Fortunately for me, the Ohio Light Opera is not too long a drive away from my home. Now in its 36th year, OLO's mission is to perform as many random operettas, light operas, comic operas and early musicals as possible. I have been going there for almost my entire life and shall be driving down again this week to get my annual operetta fix. 

To celebrate, I've put together a small bingo sheet covering some of the most common (and beloved) operetta tropes. If you are going to see an operetta anytime soon, print out a copy and take it along. Just please don't shout "BINGO" in the middle of the performance.

The sausage roll song, incidentally, is from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Grand Duke. This will probably not be the last time Gilbert and Sullivan is featured on this blog...

Chim Chim Chimney

After all the excitement of the Shakespeare World Cup, I thought I would sneak a non-Shakespeare comic in here, just for a change.

As some of you might know, when not occupied drawing Shakespeare cartoons or cataloging books for Southeast Asia I can often be found at my local rock climbing gym, getting into all sorts of literal scrapes. Recently my gym put up a new route that mimics chimneys, or rock fissures that are wide enough to fit your entire body in them. In order to climb them you have to sort of wedge yourself in the chimney and use your body tension to inch your way upwards. It kind of looks like this:

Not me. I found this photo on this blog, and the climber's expression perfectly sums up my opinion of chimney climbing, so I borrowed it.

It's not very common to see chimney routes in gyms, so I was very excited to see one in my gym. This is what happened when I tried to climb it. 

The friction coefficient of my gym shorts has never seemed so important. (In case you're wondering, I did eventually make it up, thanks to my climbing partner's patience and advice.)

Check out my other rock climbing comics here. Normal Shakespearean service will resume on Friday! 

The Good Tickle Brain Guide to Stick Figures

Given that the Netherlands vs. Argentina semi-final hasn't been played yet, I thought I'd take a break from the Shakespeare World Cup and share this mini-comic that reveals the secret foundations of my iconic artistic style! Or possibly it's just a tiny guide to drawing stick figures. Take your pick.

Use this knowledge for good, readers, not evil.

If you want to print out and fold your very own guide drawing to Good Tickle Brain-style stick figures, download this pdf, print it out full scale, and follow these incomprehensible instructions to fold it into an adorable little mini-comic. To see more of my mini-comics, go here.  

Kids Read Comics! (A.K.A. My First Convention)

Hi everyone! I am super-excited, because this weekend I will be sharing my work at my very first comics convention - Kids Read Comics! I will be at Table #22 in Artist Alley, and will be there 12:00pm-6:00pm on Saturday, and 12:30pm-6:00pm on Sunday. 

I know most of my readers are not in the Southeastern Michigan area, but if you are, stop by and say hello! I've prepared some convention-exclusive swag for you, including a collection of my three-panel Shakespeare plays and some physical copies of my mini-comics.

Before you ask, let me just say that no, I have NOT yet gotten my act together and figured out how to most efficiently (and profitably) sell my stuff online yet, so this motley collection of material is, for the moment anyways, ONLY available at the Kids Read Comics! convention. However, I am hoping to get some sort of online shop up and running in the future. If you have any suggestions or want to share your own experiences selling stuff online, please do send me a message (goodticklebrain at gmail dot com) because I'd love to hear from you.

I will be at Table #22 in Artist Alley, and will be there 12:00pm-6:00pm on Saturday, and 12:30pm-6:00pm on Sunday. I hope to see some of you there!

Very Tiny Classics: Beowulf

Saturday was Mini-Comics Day at my local university library. I really enjoy making mini-comics, especially as the limited nature of my artistic talent works very well with the limited nature of the format. At last year's Mini-Comics Day I debuted the first of my very-slowly-ongoing Shakespearean What-Ifs series. I was tempted to continue my work on that series at this year's event, but decided to take a break from Shakespeare and tackle another great Anglo-Saxon classic.

Yes, it's Beowulf time! Before we proceed, I must admit several things:

1. I never had to read Beowulf in school. (What's up with that, Mrs. Graff?)

2. I have never seen any of the films based on Beowulf.

3. I have never read any of the novels or comics based on Beowulf.

4. I first read Beowulf about two weeks ago, when, on a whim, I picked up Seamus Heaney's translation of it in a local bookshop.

5. My only previous exposure to Beowulf consists of a couple episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, in which Xena helps Beowulf kill Grendel because Beowulf can't handle it on his own.

So, you must realize that I am in no way well-versed (unintentional pun alert!) in all things Beowulf. Having said that, I think I managed to capture the essence of the epic in the following pages:

If you want to print out and fold your very own Tiny Classics edition of Beowulf, download this pdf, print it out at full scale, and then follow these incomprehensible instructions to fold it into an adorable little mini-comic. To see more of my mini-comics, go here.

To learn more about the extremely fun art of mini-comics, check out these resources. Mini-comics are super-fun to make and distribute. Don't let your perceived lack of artistic talent stop you from giving them a try. If I did that, I would never have started this website in the first place. Stick-figure mini-comics for everyone!

Nerf Archer

Due to early exposure to Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood, I have always been an absolute sucker for archery. This only intensified when I was subsequently exposed to Shakespeare and learned it was good English and Welsh longbows that won the greatest battles of the Hundred Years' War. 

Next to the great yew longbows, the stupid piece of mass-produced plastic junk with its patronizing pink decoration that I brought in to the office this week looked like an insult to the noble profession of archery. But now I can't stop shooting the darn thing. In my mind, I am now Robin Hood. I am the captain of a company of archers with Henry V at Agincourt. I am Katniss Everdeen.

I am also a menace. My office will never be the same again.

Presto Tagliare La Gola

I can't possibly be the first person to come up with this blindingly obvious mash-up of the theatre world's two most famous barbers. Drop me a comment if you know of another good example. Because only good can come of this.

The Dangers of Office Popcorn

This is in NO WAY autobiographical. Honestly.