Love Rowan. Saw this when I was a kid and always remembered how funny it was. Never realized it was Colin Firth! Shakespeare literally wrote the language we use today. If he had given up and not written his plays, the world would have changed in so many different ways. You can say you don't like the subject or the play or the sonnet, but don't say that you dislike the actual man. He spent his life inventing the language you speak in your daily life. After 500+ years, that is incredible.
Poor Shakespeare,he meant well.Shakespeare can't help it if teachers don't know how to teach his plays,poems and sonnets.I defy anyone to not be excited by the speeches made by Henry V;the dialogue between Richard III and Anne and of course Hamlet,"To be or not to be...."Lets all read more Shakespeare!!!!
Well, the tights are pretty cruel, but in general, young people just need to get their heads out of their rear ends and recognize genius when they see it. God forbid something tax their short-winded attention spans or actually ask them to THINK. And it's a self-perpetuating cycle: People convince themselves Shakespeare is boring, and that sentiment works its way into pop culture, which makes new generations think it'll be boring, so they never even REALLY give it a chance.
@Ashiman12 I am studying English literature and I do recognise how talented Shakespeare was, and the first few times I read his works I did enjoy them, but you can't deny that his works are ridiculously overused in school. It's as if people know that kids know who Shakespeare is so refuse to use anything other than his plays or poems to teach. There are more brilliant authors out there. And 'pop cuture' is also responsible for the stereotype of all kids being ignorant dumbasses. Which we're not.
@Ashiman12 That's true, but it's like in the old days in China where people had to learn classical Chinese literature. Yes, we cannot deny that the writing is beautifully done, the stories are wonderful, and the language used is exquisite, but nobody can blame people for finding Shakespeare or pretty much classic literature with language that we no longer use nowadays boring.
yes, it is hard to make shakespeare pertinent to largely petultant teenagers, however in Australia at secondary school, we have to study a Shakespeare every year. In my 6yrs, I studied: "A Midsummer Night's Dream","Much Ado About Nothing", "The Taming of the Shrew", "Romeo and Juliet", "Othello", AND "Hamlet".
Theres one very special girl that i really love and i really do miss her after watching this. Sigh, it just reminds me of the time where i stood beside her and talked to her about this.
Fuck organizing writing into steps and overly complicating things with pointless hard to define words describing idiotic stories such as tragedies. This Shakespeare fellow was awfully good at spitting complete shit out of his mouth and somehow the idiotic school officials of today think it is pertinent in ones future to quote something out of a book written in the Elizabethan era. Seriously i dont see the benefit of learning this shit at all.
@utube2344 I teach Shakespeare to 6th graders and they love it! Shakespeare ROCKS!! The two written works that are referenced the most in modern pop culture: the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare. That is why students need to learn his stuff in school. So that they are culturally literate!
If I didn't suffer countless hours in school trying to understand the vocabulary I might have actually respected Shakespeare's work hmmmmm maybe in an alternate universe
@MrMagicalJosh I thought Romeo and Juliet is probably one of the worst of his tragedies.
In general I thought his tragedies were better than his comedies, and R&J was in my opinion the weakest one of all.
Of course being forced to analyze it and pick everything apart the way your teacher wants you to (or according to some established convention) does NO justice to his work.
I don't think he hit Shakespeare quite hard enough for that first one, dozens of people I know would go straight for the groin. With that said, I am certainly surprised more teachers don't try to explain some of the jokes, or at least help students get them, would certainly make it a lot more interesting to read and keep their attention longer.
Shakespeare's stories are ok, it just annoys me how our teacher considers him the greatest writer of all time. I mean, come on, he is great, but I can name a dozen novels better than Hamlet...
@markgg1 No he wasn't. The writing was great, it's just the fact that we have to slave over his works in school that makes me resent him. I don't think you can actually, seriously, diss the works.
I actually do like shakespeare but this is brilliant, I was the smug one in english who always knew what he was on about...probs explains why I wasn't too popular,
I'd quote a part of this, but it's ALL GOOD, start to finish...wow, that is HILARIOUS, as a long-time theatre person who's acted Shakespeare and an English major...
BRILLIANT!
I've never seen this show (sorry, TV in the States is CRAP!) but heard about it, if it's all as hilarious as THIS...
For every schoolboy and schoolgirl, eh? I LOVED Shakespeare and still do...I was that one annoying kid who when everyone else says "What is he SAYING?!" would smugly say "It's EASY!" *punch!* ;)
Shakespeare can't be a crRRap, Edmund! There are lots and lots of crRRaps these days *and* there will be more: High School Musical, Jonas, Skins, Twilight, Sherlock Holmes(Downey - which can't be equal even to Basil the GrRReat Mouse Detective), Dorian GrRRay(Barnes)...Ev'rRRything's being made up for teenagers' tastes!
for all the people defending shakespeare, you need to learn to take a joke, i'm an english major and i too enjoyed shakespeare in highschool, but he doesn't need you to defend his reputation, his plays have stood on their own merits for the past 400 years and will continue to do so
Shakespeare should be a personal experience. It should not be taught or tested on because each person takes away from their plays something different. Like most good poetry, Shakespeare is rather subjective. Although, this did make me laugh, especially after high school taught Shakespeare. :D Stress reliever? It helps that Colin Firth is acting.
I don't think that Shakespeare should be taughteither, certainly not in secondary schools, when i learnt Macbeth in school about 5 or 6 years ago the story was almost completley overlooked, one small section was anylised and that was it, thisisnt what Shakespeare is about. btw apparently there are loads of shakespeare references in Blackadder series 2, so dont think that the people that make blackadder are shakespeare haters lol, im pretty sure theyre fans.
hahaha, i searched this because my ENGLISH teacher told me to. LOL he likes Shakespeare a lot and actually so do I, but this is still hilarious!! and gotta love rowan atkinson :P
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Fuck you Shakespeare your stories, plays and other crap are shit, I hate learning em. Why cant we learn something interesting and not something that confuses me to no end and makes me want to kill someone
TheTotalAbyss....my, your name seems to be an apt description of your mind....and in case you were too much of a cock licking asshole to understand that, ill put it in laymans terms.....you....are.....stupid....now squint your eyes and see if you have enough brain cells to figure that out.
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YESSS thank you this made my day fuck you shakespeare i dont wanna memorize part of ur stupid fucking play after i finish the macbeth unit im gonna take a shit on his shitty book.
LOLOL "trying to find ONE joke in midsummer night's dream?" gold.
i discovered shakespeare outside of the class-room, in college (as a CS major no less). high schoolers rarely have any business reading shakespeare (or beowulf, or 19th c. american realism, etc etc). all great shit, no doubt, but it's hard to make it in any way pertinent to largely petulant teenagers.
Hate to burst your bubble but in the majority of highschools over here in the UK weve done and still do shakespeare. Merchant of Venice and MacBeth if i remember correctly. I found it engaging and quite pleasant.
"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." - Possible my favour quote from MacBeth.
Macbeth is ten times better than Gentlemen of Verona (glad they put that in) But I think a joke in Midsummer Night isn't that hard to find. There is the "wake when some vile thing is near" and then Lysander walks in, and the whole "I shall die before I desert you" speech Lysander gives just before being charmed.
Though I will admit the tights thing is not fun...
lol! funny video. english teachers like shakespear b/c he was smart...that doesn't mean we think he's the god of writing or something. he was clever, but honestly, i think Shakespear gets a bad rap b/c of Romeo and Juliet (quite possibly the stupidest play i've read by him). everyone reads that and thinks everything he wrote is like that or hamlet, and it's NOT! but i digress. give old willy a chance. (and a midsummer night's dream may not have jokes, but read much ado about nothing)
i have read much ado about nothing and unfortunatly watched the film all because of my english teacher again, if anything in my opinion the jokes r so dull its depressing
well i don't know about dull, but to each his own, i guess. one commentary put it like this: there's about 400 years of static between the original meaning and our inturpritation. human nature doesn't change much, but language does. the sharpness of the wit may be lost to many b/c of that static, but it was funny then and if someone could recreate the story for a moder plot (which several plays have been models for modern films/books) the cleverness would be realized again. just my view.
Either you didn't pay attention to the reading or you aren't too bright. You were off a bit, It's not all English teachers who like shakespeare -- it's all smart people.
"The problem with stupid people is that they don't know they're stupid. If they did, they would change."
I absolutely guarantee you that twilight star you think about every night while you masturbate is a big shakespeare fan.
"they don't teach Shakespeare properly in American schools" - Mischa Barton
postscript. I guess you mustn't know this, but the word "square" went out in the 70s, and only dipshits who think they're not squares but actually are use it today.
history degree and on the lecture circuit...but i still find it dull...flowery..but dull....except henry v...that speach!!!and the scottish play aint bad either and...oh that bloody man....
First of all, that quote is patently untrue, and assumes that all people are so wrapped up in impressing others like your quasi-intellectual self, or care overly much about human affairs.
Secondly, you dealt with him in the most unenlightened way imaginable.
No, it doesn't, it assumes that people want to be good people. The quote has nothing to do with whether some people think other people are stupid, just whether they actually are. It does not mention impressions at all.
It's not even slightly controversial to say that anyone who sincerely realizes they've been living foolishly would then want to change that. I'd rather someone who can't correctly harvest concepts from words didn't tell me about enlightenment as if they've found it.
Aww, a namecaller is accusing others of unenlightenment! How cute- your little profile summary beats any onlookers to the punch, they'll find they've been dealing with the formidable Youtube Correcter.
It's easy to confuse cynicism with wisdom- but you've learned that amateur tidbit. Try having an opinion, and you may risk looking foolish, but you'll also have balls and a heart.
I don't pretend this is university. This is youtube. I don't care how I deal with idiots on youtube. Case in point.
I understand that, and that's the problem. Great teachers and a more patient society would get any kid with the slightest bit of intelligence or even just a spark of passion to love and be changed by Shakespeare's stuff. It actually is brilliant, that's not just something old white men say for fun.
Sorry buddy, intelligent people enjoy intelligent things. Shakespeare isn't a household name four-hundred years after his death because a few people had a taste for him.
Why must you learn about the thermodynamic laws in high school physics? Newton did not change gravity, but changed human books when he discovered it. So does shakespeare touch everyone with a keen eye who reads him, without touching them.
Funny video, but it's too bad this is actually how a great deal of people feel, some stupid resentment towards the greatest writer ever as if he's the reason his stuff is taught poorly by flawed teachers who can't get kids excited to be reading brilliant stuff.
Rowan Atkinson is just great! It would be pretty sweet to tell some of the old guys what they are doing to the future. Of course, Shakespeare left a worthy legacy.
hahahaha i guess someone out there done what i've always dreamed of. nah, shakespear's work is remarkable. but right now im doing an essay because of him. so i guess the punch for the essay is even. lol :)
It's from the 'millenium special,' called Blackadder Back and Forth. On Dec 31st 1999, a modern Blackadder and Baldrick try to win a bet by embarking on a historical scavenger hunt, if you will, in a time machine. I highly reccomend it - Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and other former cast members are in it as well.
Hey, the shin-kick for Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet was unfair. Kick Branagh's shin, not Shakespeare's. I bet you even Shakespeare would get to the three hour mark in that film, and be like, "Goddamn! Hey, my good man, I got shit to do tomorrow. I can't spend the rest of my life watching this! I only have 56 years in total, and i think I lost five of them just sitting here!"
well, it is fair though because Branagh folows the full Shakespear's text..the thing that he was saying is that the play is too long to be played for!
Ah, I wouldn't mind dousing one of Churchill's cigars or putting stone in one Patton's boots. I mean, I respect them greatly, but little shaking of their pedestals wouldn't hurt them.
Could it be because "Shake-speare" is a pen-name for someone other than a boring money lender with no connection to the plays, sonnets, and epic poems? Read about the 17th Earl of Oxford's life, and the plays come to life in an amazing way!!!! CHEERS
kingklick28 every school criteria studies shakespeare & it isn't his fault you nearly failed english,maybe if you studied harder & not go galavanting around then you would've got good grades in english.When I did english I passed with flying colors & I studied shakesperae's work for one term for two years & I understood what he was saying in his works.
I have his whole works in one book which I can proudly say I cherish & love.
I think his point is that often an otherwise talented or capable English Language student who finds little or no relevance to the modern world in Shakespeare's works, can have their chances severely hampered by the fact that a third of the mark scheme in some GCSE courses is dependent on the study of a four-centuries old poet. : )
I don't live in America & we don't have GCSE. What we have is completely different,what we have is called NCEA but alas I do see you're point WombleMan. The education system could alternate between different poets & not stick to the same one for a a whole term or the english techers could make english seem interesting so therefore the students wont fail english :)
That IS because we, and contemporary literature, are the product of that "four-centuries old poet"! Had he never existed would literature have evolved in the way it has?
That is true, and it is very important to study his work if you want to study how Literature developed. However, he is much, much less relevant if you simply want to learn how to write modern-style text.
To learn to make a combustion engine, do you first need to learn to make a steam engine?
I'm not saying he shouldn't be in the curriculum, he certainly should, but not with so much weight placed on the study of something so irrelevant compared to say... Tolkein or Orwell?
i have an a level english exam tomorrow afternoon and part of it is answering an essay question on one of his plays, to make it worse its a closed book exam so i hve to know quotes off by heart from the pile of tripe!
But also the amount of enjoyment people have at his plays. Doesn't make me feel any better as we never get to see the plays at school. Just the underwhelming scripts and if we are lucky the terrible movies made of it where they are either too long or miss good parts out.
ah, this brings back so many good memories. This introduced me to Blackadder when I saw it at the Millenium dome when I was 8. Best part of the whole dome if you ask me :P
Oh, come on, you know this... he's the fellow who invented the ball-point pen.
mceka 4 weeks ago
Love Rowan. Saw this when I was a kid and always remembered how funny it was. Never realized it was Colin Firth! Shakespeare literally wrote the language we use today. If he had given up and not written his plays, the world would have changed in so many different ways. You can say you don't like the subject or the play or the sonnet, but don't say that you dislike the actual man. He spent his life inventing the language you speak in your daily life. After 500+ years, that is incredible.
kaylee0nichole 1 month ago
Oh yes thank u Mr.Bean.I hate u Shakespeare,I never want 2 c u again
sawdoctors 1 month ago
Poor Shakespeare,he meant well.Shakespeare can't help it if teachers don't know how to teach his plays,poems and sonnets.I defy anyone to not be excited by the speeches made by Henry V;the dialogue between Richard III and Anne and of course Hamlet,"To be or not to be...."Lets all read more Shakespeare!!!!
1815ish 2 months ago
Well, the tights are pretty cruel, but in general, young people just need to get their heads out of their rear ends and recognize genius when they see it. God forbid something tax their short-winded attention spans or actually ask them to THINK. And it's a self-perpetuating cycle: People convince themselves Shakespeare is boring, and that sentiment works its way into pop culture, which makes new generations think it'll be boring, so they never even REALLY give it a chance.
Ashiman12 3 months ago
@Ashiman12 I am studying English literature and I do recognise how talented Shakespeare was, and the first few times I read his works I did enjoy them, but you can't deny that his works are ridiculously overused in school. It's as if people know that kids know who Shakespeare is so refuse to use anything other than his plays or poems to teach. There are more brilliant authors out there. And 'pop cuture' is also responsible for the stereotype of all kids being ignorant dumbasses. Which we're not.
LizzyJH 2 months ago 2
@Ashiman12 That's true, but it's like in the old days in China where people had to learn classical Chinese literature. Yes, we cannot deny that the writing is beautifully done, the stories are wonderful, and the language used is exquisite, but nobody can blame people for finding Shakespeare or pretty much classic literature with language that we no longer use nowadays boring.
Bluey306 2 months ago
i love shakespeare but he did get what he deserved
49jovigirl 3 months ago
What is this? Is this Blackadder? If so... Which season?
martinjohanneslarson 3 months ago
@martinjohanneslarson
Blackadder: Back and Forth
It was a film rather than a series
XOXheartAmy 3 months ago
Our teacher showed this to my Shakespear class the yesterday everyone clapped at the Kenneth Branagh comment XD
mechanicalkatz 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
marjan-siklic-1.blogspot.com/
marjansilkic2 4 months ago
Mr. Bean dont give a fuck
Sacrifice117 4 months ago
My audition monologue is from TGOV...
GoMegdotcom 5 months ago
Big love for Colin Firth
LittleMissEncore 6 months ago
Mr. Bean!!!
cheetahmags 6 months ago
A Midsummer Night's Dream is hysterical... :/
lunaticorthelover 6 months ago
@lunaticorthelover Exactly. He's commenting on society's witless youth.
LaBelleParisienne1 5 months ago
THAT is for Ken Branagh's endless uncut 4 hour version of Hamlet.
callycap3 6 months ago 11
is that collin firth?
ryan651 7 months ago
@ryan651 yes thats him.
goodintentions29 7 months ago
hilarious comedy gold
RazzaBeeDaSilva 7 months ago
@ninestraycats
yes, it is hard to make shakespeare pertinent to largely petultant teenagers, however in Australia at secondary school, we have to study a Shakespeare every year. In my 6yrs, I studied: "A Midsummer Night's Dream","Much Ado About Nothing", "The Taming of the Shrew", "Romeo and Juliet", "Othello", AND "Hamlet".
thejuggernaut546 8 months ago 3
1.06 'Aw' Hahaahahaha! Brilliant!
bornasahollywoodstar 8 months ago
haha i just read hamlet in my AP lit class and they showed this to us:)
SylviaDana94 8 months ago
Theres one very special girl that i really love and i really do miss her after watching this. Sigh, it just reminds me of the time where i stood beside her and talked to her about this.
trinex7 8 months ago
"Who's Ken Brannagh?" love that
MrTomte09 8 months ago
FUCK i needed this in tenth grade
jkakob 9 months ago
@MrMagicalJosh What an coincidence!
Lytton333 9 months ago
@MrMagicalJosh Aye.. not as good as yours eh..?
Lytton333 9 months ago
Have you any idea how much suffering Mr Bean caused?
Endless hours of repetitive third-rate slapstick.. Or wondering if that awful police sit-com would ever be de-commisioned?
Lytton333 9 months ago
Okay, I run a Shakespeare website, including a database of all his plays and sonnets, and I thought this was HILARIOUS.
ExeuntPursuedByABear 9 months ago
Fuck organizing writing into steps and overly complicating things with pointless hard to define words describing idiotic stories such as tragedies. This Shakespeare fellow was awfully good at spitting complete shit out of his mouth and somehow the idiotic school officials of today think it is pertinent in ones future to quote something out of a book written in the Elizabethan era. Seriously i dont see the benefit of learning this shit at all.
utube2344 10 months ago
@utube2344 I teach Shakespeare to 6th graders and they love it! Shakespeare ROCKS!! The two written works that are referenced the most in modern pop culture: the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare. That is why students need to learn his stuff in school. So that they are culturally literate!
MsGreenTeach 9 months ago
AMEEN TO THAT!!! gahh...is anybody else currently suffering with a Shakespeare essay??
MrBoombastic91 10 months ago
If I didn't suffer countless hours in school trying to understand the vocabulary I might have actually respected Shakespeare's work hmmmmm maybe in an alternate universe
AnahSkywalker 10 months ago
@MrMagicalJosh I thought Romeo and Juliet is probably one of the worst of his tragedies.
In general I thought his tragedies were better than his comedies, and R&J was in my opinion the weakest one of all.
Of course being forced to analyze it and pick everything apart the way your teacher wants you to (or according to some established convention) does NO justice to his work.
nerdbomb07 10 months ago
I don't think he hit Shakespeare quite hard enough for that first one, dozens of people I know would go straight for the groin. With that said, I am certainly surprised more teachers don't try to explain some of the jokes, or at least help students get them, would certainly make it a lot more interesting to read and keep their attention longer.
Fureak 11 months ago
Is that Colin Firth playing William Shakespeare? I didn't know he was in Blackadder.
hellopolly87 11 months ago
its the essays that come with his plays, this cheers me up when its that time of year
RossNroll6 11 months ago
Shakespeare's stories are ok, it just annoys me how our teacher considers him the greatest writer of all time. I mean, come on, he is great, but I can name a dozen novels better than Hamlet...
Bradatimrkonja 11 months ago
Shakespeare was shit.
I have completely missed the point with the fascination.
His stories are weaker than one of those shoddy American soaps.
markgg1 11 months ago
@markgg1 No he wasn't. The writing was great, it's just the fact that we have to slave over his works in school that makes me resent him. I don't think you can actually, seriously, diss the works.
SpiirytStarrchild 11 months ago
@SpiirytStarrchild maybe Im just traumatised
markgg1 11 months ago
is this part of a movie
leafman13318 1 year ago
@leafman13318 Part of a film based on the Blackadder sitcom - called "Blackadder: Back and Forth".
jhfh3112 11 months ago
loooooooool
snacin95 1 year ago
I actually do like shakespeare but this is brilliant, I was the smug one in english who always knew what he was on about...probs explains why I wasn't too popular,
gadfageyar 1 year ago 19
poor Will
Chefodeath 1 year ago
I love Shakespeare, but I loved this as well. Good fun.
arwentheelf02 1 year ago 2
I'd quote a part of this, but it's ALL GOOD, start to finish...wow, that is HILARIOUS, as a long-time theatre person who's acted Shakespeare and an English major...
BRILLIANT!
I've never seen this show (sorry, TV in the States is CRAP!) but heard about it, if it's all as hilarious as THIS...
For every schoolboy and schoolgirl, eh? I LOVED Shakespeare and still do...I was that one annoying kid who when everyone else says "What is he SAYING?!" would smugly say "It's EASY!" *punch!* ;)
obiwanobiwan13 1 year ago 2
Although I don't find Shakespeare torturous, this is still really bloody hilarious!!! Thanks for posting!!
stephowrites 1 year ago 2
1:02
Shakespeare can't be a crRRap, Edmund! There are lots and lots of crRRaps these days *and* there will be more: High School Musical, Jonas, Skins, Twilight, Sherlock Holmes(Downey - which can't be equal even to Basil the GrRReat Mouse Detective), Dorian GrRRay(Barnes)...Ev'rRRything's being made up for teenagers' tastes!
hugh0221 1 year ago
that guy who punched him looks like mr. bean
ozzyfan307 1 year ago
@ozzyfan307 That's because the guy who played Blackadder (the guy who threw the punch) is Rowan Atkinson, the same guy who played Mr Bean
LollypopKay 1 year ago
@LollypopKay ohh cool
ozzyfan307 1 year ago
@ozzyfan307 it is mr. beans rowan atkinson
blahblahrainbow 1 year ago
Im reading twelfth night and this made me feel better.
CptFatal95 1 year ago 2
ahah! I would have done the same! :P
michel5135 1 year ago 2
you know who I would love to punch from history?
Captain Cook.. for stealing my dream of sailing to the nether-worlds.
beradification 1 year ago
what is this from?
23maddiec 1 year ago
"It's just a biro... LMFAO a biro yeah right
oh and just one more thing *SMACK*
LMFAO OMG i was dieing of laughter when i watched this
SwarmingHalo 1 year ago
for all the people defending shakespeare, you need to learn to take a joke, i'm an english major and i too enjoyed shakespeare in highschool, but he doesn't need you to defend his reputation, his plays have stood on their own merits for the past 400 years and will continue to do so
projectbeard 1 year ago 2
I have to write an essay on Othello right now, all I want to be doing is my maths/physics/philosophy...I'd even do economics.
hayeder 1 year ago
Shakespeare should be a personal experience. It should not be taught or tested on because each person takes away from their plays something different. Like most good poetry, Shakespeare is rather subjective. Although, this did make me laugh, especially after high school taught Shakespeare. :D Stress reliever? It helps that Colin Firth is acting.
Hopeless03 1 year ago
I don't think that Shakespeare should be taughteither, certainly not in secondary schools, when i learnt Macbeth in school about 5 or 6 years ago the story was almost completley overlooked, one small section was anylised and that was it, thisisnt what Shakespeare is about. btw apparently there are loads of shakespeare references in Blackadder series 2, so dont think that the people that make blackadder are shakespeare haters lol, im pretty sure theyre fans.
bobbydylanio 1 year ago
I'm supposed to be writing an essay on King Lear, right now...
JRCamo 1 year ago 3
he hating shakespear had game......if he was here right now he would have all the ckicks.
dollarbill11 1 year ago
Edmund, you should have stabbed him to death with the biro while you had the chance. The ginger, slap-headed c*nt.
cottonwhiskersuk 1 year ago
I love Shakespeare but this was damn funny. Nice one.
Thusyanthan 1 year ago
i agree with the kicks... meant to be doing Shakespeare homework now lol
BULLsEYE091 2 years ago
hahaha, i searched this because my ENGLISH teacher told me to. LOL he likes Shakespeare a lot and actually so do I, but this is still hilarious!! and gotta love rowan atkinson :P
oxbrittanyx 2 years ago
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Fuck you Shakespeare your stories, plays and other crap are shit, I hate learning em. Why cant we learn something interesting and not something that confuses me to no end and makes me want to kill someone
TheTotalAbyss 2 years ago
TheTotalAbyss....my, your name seems to be an apt description of your mind....and in case you were too much of a cock licking asshole to understand that, ill put it in laymans terms.....you....are.....stupid....now squint your eyes and see if you have enough brain cells to figure that out.
Nelsonhojax15 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
YESSS thank you this made my day fuck you shakespeare i dont wanna memorize part of ur stupid fucking play after i finish the macbeth unit im gonna take a shit on his shitty book.
utube2344 2 years ago
LOLOL "trying to find ONE joke in midsummer night's dream?" gold.
i discovered shakespeare outside of the class-room, in college (as a CS major no less). high schoolers rarely have any business reading shakespeare (or beowulf, or 19th c. american realism, etc etc). all great shit, no doubt, but it's hard to make it in any way pertinent to largely petulant teenagers.
ninestraycats 2 years ago 42
fuck teenagers. let them be obsessed with their mediocrity.
MountAnalogue 2 years ago
@ninestraycats Shakespeare's jokes are often rude ones which is why teachers avoid drawing attention to them.
heliotropezzz333 1 year ago 3
@ninestraycats Ain't that the truth. Cramming culture down teenager's throats, just makes them resent it all the more later on in life.
PrometheanRunGood 1 year ago
@ninestraycats
Hate to burst your bubble but in the majority of highschools over here in the UK weve done and still do shakespeare. Merchant of Venice and MacBeth if i remember correctly. I found it engaging and quite pleasant.
"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." - Possible my favour quote from MacBeth.
hungoversundays 10 months ago
@hungoversundays
I think a lot of Western High Schools still do. So does mine.
superfakerbros 9 months ago
rowan atkinson!
hardyz1803 2 years ago
Macbeth is ten times better than Gentlemen of Verona (glad they put that in) But I think a joke in Midsummer Night isn't that hard to find. There is the "wake when some vile thing is near" and then Lysander walks in, and the whole "I shall die before I desert you" speech Lysander gives just before being charmed.
Though I will admit the tights thing is not fun...
Utopiansybill 2 years ago 20
Is that Colin Firth?
torristria 2 years ago
Yes it is.
estaloka 2 years ago
Come ooon, I always enjoyed Shaky's works at school:)))) That dude's a f*cking genius
BloodroseBathory 2 years ago 2
I have to write 2500 word on Othello and Much Ado About Nothing. I would have done that.
alyna91 2 years ago
we're doing macbeth now, i want to punch shakespeare aswell
AnonymousNI 2 years ago
Should be required viewing for English teachers everywhere.
TheGetawayGuy 2 years ago 2
well the first time I heared about it, it was my english teacher who brought it
SadiqAmeenAbed 2 years ago
I was a fan of the blackadder series but to be honest this back and forth episode was rubbish. this was the funniest part of it.
lardonirdesco 2 years ago
Totally true
jleque16 2 years ago
YEAH, and about time XD
WkD1100 2 years ago
knock his block off! y is it all english teachers like shakespeare? and hes right, there isnt any jokes in a midsummer nights dream
OMEtwerd 2 years ago
lol! funny video. english teachers like shakespear b/c he was smart...that doesn't mean we think he's the god of writing or something. he was clever, but honestly, i think Shakespear gets a bad rap b/c of Romeo and Juliet (quite possibly the stupidest play i've read by him). everyone reads that and thinks everything he wrote is like that or hamlet, and it's NOT! but i digress. give old willy a chance. (and a midsummer night's dream may not have jokes, but read much ado about nothing)
Lady4HisMajesty 2 years ago
i have read much ado about nothing and unfortunatly watched the film all because of my english teacher again, if anything in my opinion the jokes r so dull its depressing
OMEtwerd 2 years ago
well i don't know about dull, but to each his own, i guess. one commentary put it like this: there's about 400 years of static between the original meaning and our inturpritation. human nature doesn't change much, but language does. the sharpness of the wit may be lost to many b/c of that static, but it was funny then and if someone could recreate the story for a moder plot (which several plays have been models for modern films/books) the cleverness would be realized again. just my view.
Lady4HisMajesty 2 years ago
Aren't any jokes, not isn't any jokes. Maybe you should have paid attention, then you'd know why they like him.
vibins360 2 years ago
i never sed i didnt pay attention so before u go correcting my words, learn how to read
OMEtwerd 2 years ago
Either you didn't pay attention to the reading or you aren't too bright. You were off a bit, It's not all English teachers who like shakespeare -- it's all smart people.
toReasonWhy 2 years ago
fyi i am smart. Its squares who like shakespeare
OMEtwerd 2 years ago
"The problem with stupid people is that they don't know they're stupid. If they did, they would change."
I absolutely guarantee you that twilight star you think about every night while you masturbate is a big shakespeare fan.
"they don't teach Shakespeare properly in American schools" - Mischa Barton
postscript. I guess you mustn't know this, but the word "square" went out in the 70s, and only dipshits who think they're not squares but actually are use it today.
toReasonWhy 2 years ago
frankly it is degrading talking to a mong like u, so u can take ur quotations and political correctness and shove it up your arse
OMEtwerd 2 years ago
Comment removed
jammygamer 2 years ago
truely a dagger through my heart that
OMEtwerd 2 years ago
yet should only be used at the start of a sentence.
dermot4987 2 years ago
history degree and on the lecture circuit...but i still find it dull...flowery..but dull....except henry v...that speach!!!and the scottish play aint bad either and...oh that bloody man....
leedswiggy 2 years ago
First of all, that quote is patently untrue, and assumes that all people are so wrapped up in impressing others like your quasi-intellectual self, or care overly much about human affairs.
Secondly, you dealt with him in the most unenlightened way imaginable.
LambChowder1 2 years ago
No, it doesn't, it assumes that people want to be good people. The quote has nothing to do with whether some people think other people are stupid, just whether they actually are. It does not mention impressions at all.
It's not even slightly controversial to say that anyone who sincerely realizes they've been living foolishly would then want to change that. I'd rather someone who can't correctly harvest concepts from words didn't tell me about enlightenment as if they've found it.
toReasonWhy 2 years ago
...no one likes a smart ass!
leedswiggy 2 years ago
wince
LambChowder1 2 years ago
Aww, a namecaller is accusing others of unenlightenment! How cute- your little profile summary beats any onlookers to the punch, they'll find they've been dealing with the formidable Youtube Correcter.
It's easy to confuse cynicism with wisdom- but you've learned that amateur tidbit. Try having an opinion, and you may risk looking foolish, but you'll also have balls and a heart.
I don't pretend this is university. This is youtube. I don't care how I deal with idiots on youtube. Case in point.
toReasonWhy 2 years ago
Get in there!!! Thank you edmund!
HappyMuffin95 2 years ago
Well done Edmund!
WJC007 2 years ago
Hahaha quite true
flyingbeagles 2 years ago
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL XD
robidappi 2 years ago
I understand that, and that's the problem. Great teachers and a more patient society would get any kid with the slightest bit of intelligence or even just a spark of passion to love and be changed by Shakespeare's stuff. It actually is brilliant, that's not just something old white men say for fun.
toReasonWhy 2 years ago 3
um your mixing your passion and like with everyone elses.
not everyone likes shakespear and they are not required too. its called taste and changes from person to person.
firegoat 2 years ago
um no
Sorry buddy, intelligent people enjoy intelligent things. Shakespeare isn't a household name four-hundred years after his death because a few people had a taste for him.
Why must you learn about the thermodynamic laws in high school physics? Newton did not change gravity, but changed human books when he discovered it. So does shakespeare touch everyone with a keen eye who reads him, without touching them.
toReasonWhy 2 years ago
Funny video, but it's too bad this is actually how a great deal of people feel, some stupid resentment towards the greatest writer ever as if he's the reason his stuff is taught poorly by flawed teachers who can't get kids excited to be reading brilliant stuff.
toReasonWhy 2 years ago 4
Mr. BEAN!!!!!!!
SaoMir1 2 years ago
Rowan Atkinson is just great! It would be pretty sweet to tell some of the old guys what they are doing to the future. Of course, Shakespeare left a worthy legacy.
gdmadix 2 years ago
hahahaha i guess someone out there done what i've always dreamed of. nah, shakespear's work is remarkable. but right now im doing an essay because of him. so i guess the punch for the essay is even. lol :)
placebo4yo 2 years ago
I like Shakespeare :(
Papapop 2 years ago
What seasons this?
kremer08 2 years ago
It's from the 'millenium special,' called Blackadder Back and Forth. On Dec 31st 1999, a modern Blackadder and Baldrick try to win a bet by embarking on a historical scavenger hunt, if you will, in a time machine. I highly reccomend it - Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and other former cast members are in it as well.
scout2010 2 years ago
The complete box set of b=Blackadder just arrived from Ebay yesterday, and this was the first one I watched. Love it!
kremer08 2 years ago
Hey, the shin-kick for Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet was unfair. Kick Branagh's shin, not Shakespeare's. I bet you even Shakespeare would get to the three hour mark in that film, and be like, "Goddamn! Hey, my good man, I got shit to do tomorrow. I can't spend the rest of my life watching this! I only have 56 years in total, and i think I lost five of them just sitting here!"
Flowbee79 2 years ago
well, it is fair though because Branagh folows the full Shakespear's text..the thing that he was saying is that the play is too long to be played for!
xancer05 2 years ago
Its comedy, he's only joking ;).
kremer08 2 years ago
classic sketch...!
the mind boggles on how many other characters in history you'd want to do that to
Oscar301 2 years ago
Ah, I wouldn't mind dousing one of Churchill's cigars or putting stone in one Patton's boots. I mean, I respect them greatly, but little shaking of their pedestals wouldn't hurt them.
Flowbee79 2 years ago 3
Good Job! I totally agree! We students must suffer for another 400 years cuz of Shakespeare!
choji1212 2 years ago
Could it be because "Shake-speare" is a pen-name for someone other than a boring money lender with no connection to the plays, sonnets, and epic poems? Read about the 17th Earl of Oxford's life, and the plays come to life in an amazing way!!!! CHEERS
edboswell 2 years ago
*applause* thank you so much for that but you could have killed him before he wrote and spared us all the trouble.
anticliche321 2 years ago
"that is for every skool boy and skool girl for the next 400 yrs" hahaha
this is hillarious! (and true) :P
farrito07 2 years ago
Wowzy, Firth as Shakey!<3
If Shakey looked like that, well... :)
missbabyice 3 years ago 14
Love the ballpoint pen.
Friscalating 3 years ago 2
Go on, Blackadder! Teach him a lesson! I have to study his pointless ramblings all day!
sakajak 3 years ago 2
I forgive him for writing Henry V
workingclassbum 3 years ago
I love Shakespeare, but this is too good. My only reaction was LOL
SoarinKitty 3 years ago 6
aww colin firth as shakespeare! he's so lush without the beard! x
livdaprano 3 years ago 4
Poor Shakespeare :(
kingklick28 every school criteria studies shakespeare & it isn't his fault you nearly failed english,maybe if you studied harder & not go galavanting around then you would've got good grades in english.When I did english I passed with flying colors & I studied shakesperae's work for one term for two years & I understood what he was saying in his works.
I have his whole works in one book which I can proudly say I cherish & love.
dragonchaos22930 3 years ago
I think his point is that often an otherwise talented or capable English Language student who finds little or no relevance to the modern world in Shakespeare's works, can have their chances severely hampered by the fact that a third of the mark scheme in some GCSE courses is dependent on the study of a four-centuries old poet. : )
WombleMan 3 years ago
I don't live in America & we don't have GCSE. What we have is completely different,what we have is called NCEA but alas I do see you're point WombleMan. The education system could alternate between different poets & not stick to the same one for a a whole term or the english techers could make english seem interesting so therefore the students wont fail english :)
dragonchaos22930 3 years ago
That IS because we, and contemporary literature, are the product of that "four-centuries old poet"! Had he never existed would literature have evolved in the way it has?
0Smashin0Bubble0 2 years ago
That is true, and it is very important to study his work if you want to study how Literature developed. However, he is much, much less relevant if you simply want to learn how to write modern-style text.
To learn to make a combustion engine, do you first need to learn to make a steam engine?
I'm not saying he shouldn't be in the curriculum, he certainly should, but not with so much weight placed on the study of something so irrelevant compared to say... Tolkein or Orwell?
WombleMan 2 years ago
TAKE THAT SHAKESPEARE!
thank you blackadder!
that punk made me nearly fail english!
kingklick28 3 years ago 6
AHAHHAH
PcKSnipE 3 years ago
yeah fucking kill him. stupid gcses
bigfluff73 3 years ago
*Punch*
Oh man i think alot of us would do the same thing if we were given the Chance :D
I know i would.
Eunos 3 years ago 14
Poor Shakespeare
psymaster1234 3 years ago
this is from the first episode i can remember watching
VJAZA9T2 3 years ago
What is this from? Was this a "Modern" Blackadder Episode? I would love to find the whole show.
TheOnlyAlexandra 3 years ago
It was actually a full length movie made years after the show was finished (the show only went to its fourth season).
RyuuzakiLawliet13 3 years ago 3
It wasn't a full length movie it was a half hour special that was made to be played in the millennium dome.
moo272 3 years ago 2
Haha, ah, thanks for the correction!
RyuuzakiLawliet13 3 years ago
it wasnt full length it was 30 minutes
c0nzo12 2 years ago
its on youtube now, its called back and forth
c0nzo12 2 years ago
Its called Blackadder Back And Forth
Clar1n3tN1c 2 years ago
HILARIOUS!
kariyakrazy 3 years ago 2
LMAO blackadder ftw :DD
bilesko 3 years ago
i have an a level english exam tomorrow afternoon and part of it is answering an essay question on one of his plays, to make it worse its a closed book exam so i hve to know quotes off by heart from the pile of tripe!
but watching that made me feel tonnes better
XxCrazygal2007xX 3 years ago 8
where is this from? From blackadder? Wich season?
filmiscool 3 years ago
blackadder back and forth, the movie
bobbydylanio 3 years ago 4
it's from the christmas special isn't it?
luigigirl77 3 years ago
My high school teacher showed us this before we read Othello.
arbitterm 3 years ago 5
LMAO! wish my teachers did that
XxCrazygal2007xX 3 years ago 3
LOL thats so funny if only Billy Shakie knew how much suffering he would cause LOL
Mikeacdc 3 years ago
But also the amount of enjoyment people have at his plays. Doesn't make me feel any better as we never get to see the plays at school. Just the underwhelming scripts and if we are lucky the terrible movies made of it where they are either too long or miss good parts out.
wingedserpant 3 years ago 4
Ah, my English teacher showed us this at school oh, that's a nice video, too bad it's not really part of history xD
NejiHyuuga231 3 years ago
lol, poor Colin Firth... :P
LadyKavanagh 3 years ago 4
Give him one from me Blacky!
OldNezza 3 years ago 2
Me too!
XxCrazygal2007xX 3 years ago
Shakespeare got pwned
ELIMINATORRRR 3 years ago
legend haha
drummerstev 3 years ago
So fucking funny
hoodmilk 3 years ago 2
ah, this brings back so many good memories. This introduced me to Blackadder when I saw it at the Millenium dome when I was 8. Best part of the whole dome if you ask me :P
DarbusTheDeranged 3 years ago 4