Live from New York, it's Shakespeare? Every saturday night millions of people tune into NBC to watch the famed sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live. The show has stood the test of time for decades even in our rapid paced society. Their secret is one for the network manuals. Similarly, the works of William Shakespeare have lasted for hundreds of years. At some points, he was writing a new play everyday to unfortunately have only a few dozen last. Why those plays? Why that show?
Readers often struggle to find the relation of Shakespeare to the 'real' world. Most of his plays, even the tragedies, can be considered comedic if you look at them in a certain way. Because they're unreasonable. They are absolutely ridiculous. The characters find themselves in crazy scenarios, dressing up in the opposite sex, fooling their friends or lovers, are emotionally unstable, and their is always a jester as the mastermind behind the chaos. Most of the disconnect from the works is due to language struggles and barriers but, once put into modern pretense they can be understood by many with little defect. Once you get the hang of the language, they are some of the best and most true pieces written.
For decades, Saturday Night Live has been the best resource for sketch comedy, the dream for comedians everywhere. Sketch comedy takes ordinary tales, public figures, and anything else you can think of and put it into the most unreasonable terms. They speak truth through extremes, bringing laughter and knowledge. The same goes for Shakespeare, he (indirectly) made fun of monarchs, the various classes, and made the world his stage. They are so relatable because they are both so ridiculous. It's truth through chaos.
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