A stick-figure Shakespeare comic by Mya Lixian Gosling
Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night! 6-7 the meme, too famous to live long.
Today’s comic is dedicated to all theatre and classroom educators who have weathered the last year of unrelenting 6-7s with grace, patience, and probably just a little bit of murder in their hearts. You are the true heroes.
It’s no secret that I love Shakespeare’s history plays. When I was a kid I loved them for their numerous sword fights and battle scenes. Now I love them for everything else. And also the sword fights.
This scene is from Henry IV, part 2, which is admittedly my least favorite part of Henry IV. This deathbed scene between Henry IV and his son, Prince Hal, however, is pure gold. Henry IV’s reign has been overshadowed by the fact that he usurped the throne from his predecessor, Richard II, and was directly or indirectly responsible for his death. As a result, Henry IV’s reign has been plagued by political discontent and outright rebellion. Fortunately he has a really solid plan to fix everything:
Anyways, Prince Hal becomes Henry V and invades France and distracts everybody from his domestic troubles and everything is fine forever.
Just don’t look at what happens in the three parts of Henry VI… 😬
Exorcising all my earworms for this year by turning them into Shakespeare songs…
In case you don’t have any kids in your life, here is the original song:
And in case you want MORE Shakespeare-themed song parodies, check out my holiday songbook, full of Shakespearean twists on seasonal classics complete with ukulele chords and murder.
IN STOCK NOW! Chestnuts and open fires. Hot chocolate and marshmallows. Holiday songs and… Shakespeare?
That’s right! This 28-page volume contains 10 of my best Shakespeare-themed holiday song parodies, most of them with expanded verses, plus two brand new compositions, each accompanied by hopefully-charming stick-figure illustrations. Spice up your caroling with the dulcet tones of Titus Andronicus, or the cheerful and upbeat rampage of Richard III!
While it is absolutely NOT necessary to play the ukulele in order to enjoy this songbook, all songs come with easy ukulele chord suggestions and, to be perfectly honestly, they all sound hilarious when accompanied by the plinky-plink cheerfulness of a uke. You should give it a try.
Song List:
Hamlet the Danish Princeling (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) *expanded*
O Birnam Wood (O Christmas Tree) *expanded*
Dip Our Hands in Blood of Caesar (Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly) *expanded*
We Three Kings of Lancaster Are (We Three Kings of Orient Are) *expanded*
Baby I Love You So (Baby It's Cold Outside)
O Romeo and Juliet (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) *expanded*
Old King Lear's Dividing His Crown (Santa Claus is Coming to Town)
Have Yourself a Merry Wife of Windsor (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas)
Richard Third (Jingle Bells) *expanded*
Violent Night (Silent Night) *new*
All I Want for Crispin's Is France (All I Want for Christmas is You) *new*
I'm Dreaming of a Midsummer (I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas)
With all the talk of Wicked: For Good going around I thought it would be a good time to revisit the classic Shakespearean tale of witches. And so today I’m presenting a song from Wicked: For Bad.
(Original song here, if by some miracle you’re not aggressively familiar with it already.)
“Once I’m with King Duncan
My whole life will shine,
’Cause when I kill King Duncan
His crown will be mine!”
As the holidays approach, we here at Good Tickle Brain would like to issue a Public Service Announcement: please make sure you are allowing the correct white-bearded individual into your house this Christmas.
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
One of them is the anthropomorphic representation of the Christmas holiday season amalgamated from numerous Christian and pagan folk traditions, and the other is a felon.
If you want more Shakespeare nerdery and joy in your life right now, I highly recommend signing up for Shakespeare News, a weekly e-mail newsletter round-up of all the Shakespeare stuff that is happening right now. It is brilliantly compiled and written by my consulting pocket dramaturg Kate Pitt, who infuses her trademark blend of dry humor and impeccable research (complete with footnotes) into every issue. It is very possibly the only thing I am ever pleased to see arrive in my Inbox. If you enjoy Good Tickle Brain I am confident you will find a lot to enjoy here too. Sign up now!
If you’re reading this, thanks for still being here! This has been the hardest year of my life so far but I survived. As ever, I’m hoping to get Good Tickle Brain up and running again, but I appreciate your patience and understanding as I continue to wrestle my way through the mental and practical hurdles life has handed to me. I’m sure that 2025 will be a worse year for humanity in general, but I’m hoping that I can figure out how to at least make it a better year for me so I can get back to creating fun Shakespeare comics, because I think we could all use more laughs in our lives right now.
Grab your mink robe of state, kick back in your Mojo Dojo Castle House with a brewski small beer, and sing along to this:
In case you are somehow not familiar with Ryan “No Known Relation But I’m Not Ruling It Out” Gosling’s epic performance of this song from last year’s Barbie movie, please check it out immediately.
I am thrilled to report that my epic guide to Hamlet is finally finished and available for purchase!
SOLD OUT, will be reprinted Q1 of 2026.
This is the definitive (and possibly only) stick-figure guide to Shakespeare’s greatest longest play, Hamlet!
More than double the length of my previous publications, this mammoth tome is 110 pages of solid Hamlet content, featuring my complete scene-by-scene adaptation of Hamlet plus 45 pages of additional content, including extensive commentary, numerous random fun facts, previously Patreon-exclusive outtakes, and so much more.
I am not exaggerating when I say that this is the greatest thing I have created so far. I am immensely proud of this book (which is perfect bound, not stapled, because it was so freaking long) and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.
“To be or not to be,” plus an entire page of incredibly illuminating and hilarious analysis and commentary!
On a personal note, I started working on my version of Hamlet back in the fall of 2019, when my father was undergoing treatment for cancer. I finished compiling this book in the fall of 2023, just as we learned his cancer had recurred. He died a month later. He was my best friend in the whole world, unfailingly supportive of me and my work, and I will miss him forever.
My dad was very proud of me for finishing Hamlet after an extremely difficult year of moderate injury, ongoing chronic pain issues, frustrating mental and creative struggles, and increased parental care responsibilities. Despite me now having an immensely complicated and slightly toxic relationship with this relentlessly morbid play about dead dads, I am very proud of this book. I hope that it makes Hamlet — and the world — just a little bit more fun.
