So this weekend we went to one of those Improv Asylum shows, where the audience feeds information to the actors on stage as they build a scene.  Think “Whose Line Is It Anyway”, with Chinese food. Anyway, we end up at the front and center table, so you just know we’re gonna get called on.  Last game of the night, they’re doing tv styles, and asking for suggestions.  Then he says movies, then he says playwrights. “Well, Shakespeare,” I call out. “Shakespeare’s a good one,” the leader says. “Kinda obvious,” I reply. “Any others?” he asks the crowd.  “Any readers in the audience?” Silence. “Miller?  O’Neill? Ianesco?” I offer. “One guy who reads.  Ok, we’ll just stay on him then.” They then go off and do the scene, which is entirely tv and movies until they throw in a little Shakespeare at the end. Afterward the leader comes by the table and says, “Thanks for being the only person here that reads.” “It’s kinda my thing,” I tell him.  “I sit here all night waiting for you to say playwright so I can yell Shakespeare!  Woohoo!” 🙂

http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?mscssid=SNN5MX4S73VT9GVSAGW6HX9QXSC346X1&sitetype=1&did=4&sid=47412&pid=&keyword=romeo§ion=all&title=undefined&whichpage=1&sortBy=popular I grabbed this right away, as I’m a sucker for Shakespeare cartoons.  Romeo and Juliet as told by instant messages has been done a million times, but hey. Does anybody see the glaring problem with the above link?  It’s a shopping cart link for a poster sized print of a New Yorker cartoon that originally appeared in 2002.  Fine.  But…you can’t read the image.  So, if you never saw the original, you have no idea what you’re supposed to be buying. Or am I missing something?

http://www.onenightcastle.com/img/crossword.pdf Not really too much to say.  A crossword puzzle where almost all of the clues are Shakespeare references.  Sponsored by One Night Castle for their new performance “Good Night Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet”, there are several clues about the director of the play (and the playhouse) as well. Fun!

http://bnjammin.blogspot.com/2007/12/shakespeare-as-consultant-would-tell-it.html I like it.  I agree with the commenter that a true consultant’s presentation would be crammed with bullet points.  The emphasis on visuals is actually fairly easy to understand (at least the first few, it starts reaching at the end).

http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2007/11/two-releases-ar.html Wow, cool!  After hearing that Arden, the Shakespeare virtual world, was “taking a break”, I didn’t expect to hear from them.  I certainly didn’t expect this release, where they’ve opened it to the public.  I would have blogged this sooner, but I had to get my order for Neverwinter Nights (the game engine required) first :). Castronova’s comments on the failure of the project are interesting.  Basically, the game wasn’t fun.  No monsters.  Too much text, too linear.  He seems pretty down on the project, the blog entry has several comments that sound like a sarcastic “Ha!  Good luck!’ to the next guy to try it. Rest assured I *will* be playing this. 🙂