October 12: Hamlet – Summary & Analysis by Thug Notes (and) Dr Seuss VS Shakespeare. Epic Rap Battles of History #12

Think you know Hamlet? You’ve never seen it like this.

Cliff Notes for the modern generation? The contemporary connection? Masterpiece Theater.

Tag line? “Classical Literature. Original Gangster.”

Yeah! Thug Notes brings the classics to you with a vernacular spin that could make you seriously dizzy or leave you gasping for air.

Got one more day to go on Shakespeare Week. Putting in a special plug for a whole series (which doesn’t fit the One Day/One Video format of this Blog, but if you haven’t already put it on your Must Watch List, do it.

Slings and Arrows – another view of Hamlet (and the Scottish Play, and King Lear).

Trust me. You need to see the show. Especially if you’re a theatre geek (like I am).

And because I still have one more that wouldn’t fit into the week. Kind of puts the “Gangster” in a whole new perspective…

October 11: Shakespeare’s Who’s On First

When I first launched this Blog, I was finding stuff more or less on my own. In the last several months, folks have started sending me material they were sure I’d like. I love that, because it means folks are paying attention and because I don’t get to see everything that’s out there.

The clip below is one such submission. After highlighting Abbott and Costello way back in July, I got a message saying I just had to see this. So, by sharing, I get to pass the love on to you.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Shakespeare Week is almost over…

October 10: Rowan Atkinson & Hugh Laurie – Shakespeare and Hamlet (1989)

I’m not a huge fan of Rowan Atkinson, and Hugh Laurle is best known these days for his work on House, but watch this. It’s hilarious.

Take Shakespeare and pop him into modern times and you’d see this very conversation.

Really. You never saw Hamlet like this.

Swallow first or don’t blame me later.

October 9: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – Tragedians

I would have picked the Tennis Match scene (because I adore it), but it misses the point of the play, that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters without a play in between their scenes in Hamlet.

That said, in all honesty, I prefer Shakespeare’s comedies to any of his other plays, and of those, I really only have six favorites, in no particular order: Twelfth Night, Taming of the Shrew, All’s Well That Ends Well, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest.

Picking these to highlight presents a different problem – how to choose WHICH version to include – and I’ve avoided the problem altogether by highlighting the genre instead.

Meanwhile, when you have the chance to watch the whole movie, put Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead on your Must Watch list. Trust me.

October 8: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

Yes! This, folks, is THE RSC (that is, the Reduced Shakespeare Company, an in-joke you get best when you’ve had ANY exposure to the London theatre scene). Not to be confused with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Really.)

I attempted to see this show when I was there in 1992, but by the time I found the darkened corner of the West End, we were halfway through the show and I hate walking in late. Fortunately, they’ve been to the Kennedy Center multiple times, and now I have the (autographed – HAH!) script of the show. Of course, it’s not as zany (or as wet, if you sit near the front of the stage) but I’ll take it anyway.

Another compilation of Shakespeare’s complete catalog, warts and all.

I’d suggest watching this quick, before someone figures it out that the show’s posted on YouTube. And, well, because it’s funny as hell, too.

October 7: Next – Aardman Animations

This genius work from Barry Purves tells the story of Shakespeare’s complete works in the space of a little over 5 minutes. The premise is so simple…but telling you would give it away.

The piece, one of five commissioned for the UK’s Channel 4 and presented under the title Lip Synch, is among my favorite pieces of short animation.

October 6: Shakespeare: Original pronunciation

Leaving Star Trek behind (for now, at least), we move on to…Shakespeare. How’s that for a little whiplash.

See, the trick to accumulating material from YouTube is to allow your mind to drift into a complete free-association blur of reality. With this freedom, you can switch between high concept science fiction (Wagon Train in the Stars) to the foundations of drama.

This piece made the rounds on my Facebook and seems a nice kick-off point for a week’s worth of videos on the subject.

From documentary to humor, animation, live action and mind-bending modern fiction, Shakespeare represents a combination of the classical and the modern. (See, for example, 10 Things I Hate About You.)

The first time I visited England, they were just breaking ground on the Globe. I still haven’t seen the inside of the theatre, but I intend to, someday.