Giddy Minds

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… 😬

Santa or Falstaff?

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.

Sign up for Shakespeare News!

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!

Thanks for still reading Good Tickle Brain

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.

Shakespeare Characters on the Internet, pt. 1

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently angsting about how my tech usage is eroding my attention, creativity, and general quality of life. Fortunately, that led me into imagining how various Shakespeare characters would use the internet and all the wonders and terrors it provides.

There will be more of these. The wilderness of the internet is infinite.

30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 18: Antony Sher's Diaries

They say you should never learn how the metaphorical sausage is made, but I do! I do want to learn how the sausage is made.

Sher's diaries are a great read, even if you don't love all of his performances (I was not blown away by his Falstaff or his Lear, to be perfectly honest). He was such a calculating, deliberate, and technically-minded actor, and it's fascinating to follow how he builds a character, line by line, and sometimes eyebrow by eyebrow. His diaries and his insights into himself and his craft are a gift to all self-respecting Shakespeare geeks.

GTB Play Page Updates: Henries IV, V, and VI

Today’s play page update features not one, not two, but THREE Henries! I have to confess, these are six of my favorite plays (ok, not Henry IV, part 2, as much as I love the deathbed reconciliation scene.) Olivier’s film of Henry V was my gateway into Shakespeare nerd-dom, seeing an RSC tour of all three Henry VIs and Richard III cemented my allegiance to the history plays, and the title of my webcomic COMES DIRECTLY FROM HENRY IV, PART 1.

Give me that sweet, sweet Plantagenet in-fighting, thank you.