That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for August 16, 2021

Shakespeare found himself in front of the censor board trying to get the rating for Romeo and Juliet lowered from an R to a PG-13:

But the main characters themselves are only 13 or 14 years old!

In a secret meeting at the Mermaid Tavern, Sir Frances Bacon, John Donne, Ben Johnson and Sir Walter Raleigh joined to pressure some guy named Shakespeare into putting his name on their collaborations.

“People will eat up anything I write. If I write a play with faeries and name a character Bottom, everyone will love it.”

“They will be calling future hack writers the Shakespeare of their time, some one maybe named King for example.”

This gathering of white men in Tudor England, in an attempt at diversity, discussed admitting to their Club some of the boys who portrayed women on stage.

Shakespeare came to the Friday Street Club, / which would meet at the Mermaid (a pub). / In the tavern’s large room, / despite dampness and gloom, / Will composed the line, “Ay, there’s the rub!”

The tall man in the bright crimson hose / leaned back in a provocative pose. / His stuffed doublet he thrust / at his target of lust, / but the playwright was not into beaux.

Will Shakespeare, together with all the many others to whom his plays have been attributed.

Perhaps he could rename some of his greatest to, “King Leer!” or “Romeo and Vinnie,” or "A Midsummer Night’s Moist Dream, " or “Julius, Please Her” or “As You Lick It” or….etc., etc., and so forth and so on. Anon, anon.

Everyone who was anyone went/ and a glorious evening they spent/ waxing urbane and witty/ that night in the City/ at the super-spreader event.

“Two Gentlemen of Verona” on Venice Beach…

His son, Hamnet died three years ago. / And yet Shakespeare still mourned, even so. / Wearing black, toe to head, / was to honor the dead, / but it’s also quite slimming, you know. /// In his mind he now pictured a Dane, / also grieving, but nearly insane. / At the play’s tragic end, / the dead hero’s good friend / would hope all this loss wasn’t in vain. /// For the groundlings he’d throw in a ghost, / and a gravedigger (two, at the most). / Will had hopes this new play / would be famous one day, / but he hated, in taverns, to boast.

This is NOT a Zoom conference. Go put some pants on!

Looks like two guys are having their stockings washed.

“We’ll feel better,” said Will, to the group /“if we all stop writing this poop. /I shall move in with Ann/ and act like a man/ and you tall guys will not have to stoop..”

Apple Mac Beth.

♩come on down to the mermaid café and i will buy you a bottle of wine…

“I’ll bet I can drink Ben Jonson under the table.”

“Hamlet—The Omelet for Omnivores”

Solly vs Ish ….yay!

Willy fails at his attempt to entertain the club with his “knock Knock” jokes.

“Oh yeah? Well, me and my nine lawyers say I wrote each and every one!”

Before leading the troops, George Washington was known to personally spy on the Brits.

I call this meeting of the Pointy Beard Club to order.

I have decided to write a sequel to Romeo and Juliet titled “It Was All a Joke.”

Shakespeare’s velour leggings were the talk of the club.

Poley hoped this picture was proof enough to show Walsingham that Shakespeare & Co. was really a union front.

Olivia Hussey was 15 when she made “Romeo and Juliet”. Zeffirelli was able to keep a PG rating by offering to cut more explicit parts of the bedroom scene out. Two nipples would have brought an “R.”

GUY 1: I got the best seat in the house!

GUY 2: When they dance on the tables, every seat is the best seat, dummy.

Shakespeare and His Contemporaries or Shakespeare and His Friends at the Mermaid Tavern: 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare_and_His_Contemporaries.jpg 

has info and links that point to more info about this painting.

 

Again, a larger strip image is shown by (⌘- or Ctrl-) clicking the image at 

http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/2021/08/masterpiece-2771.html 

So far, 4 works by this artist have been used here. 

https://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/2021/08/13?comments=visible 

has the prior (the blog entry, pointed to by my comment there, has an already published comment that points to the artist info that I used to point to here).

Pictured here we see Shakespeare conspire / with his friends to, the Globe, set afire. / But he had no endurance / when paying insurance. / It had lapsed and would later expire.

“But I’ve already based characters on every one of you. People just assume I’m imagining them!”

And the votes for this year’s community play are in! We’ll be presenting Robin Hood, Men in Tights— Part deux!! :>)

If this was the ’70s, he would write Romeo Does Juliet.

Twelfth Fortnite

William found the bar was a little old and was looking around for a younger man, but not much available, so he had to go home alone.

“The red stockings are a nice touch Mr. Burbage, but I’m sorry, you just don’t have the gams to play Juliet.”

Cavorting around this late at night means that nothing will be happening in the mmmooorrrrnnin’!