Happy Halloween! (Costume pics inside!)

For years we’ve discussed Shakespeare Halloween costumes, and I’ve never done one myself.  This year I decided to change that, and hit on the idea earlier this month when I spotted one of those “evil Jester” costumes.  “Perfect!” I thought, “I’ll write up a nametag referring to myself as a fellow of infinite jest, and hang a stuffed Piglet from my back to represent Hamlet, whom I hath borne upon my back a thousand times.  I’ll be Yorick!”

Mission accomplished.

“…a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.”

“he hath born me on his back a thousand times….”

Piglet, Prince of Denmark

How’d it go?  I didn’t expect too many people to get it, of course.  I got a lot of “Joker” and “Evil Jester.”

A few people read my nametags and just smiled and said, “Oh, ok!” but I don’t think that helped them.

One lady did in fact guess it! She turns to her husband and says, “He’s Hamlet’s friend, you know, the court jester, the guy whose skull he finds in the cemetary and he talks to it?”

What I did not expect was that my costume could end up insulting.  Picture this, a random somebody comes up to me and says, “Ok, so, what are you supposed to be? Why is Piglet hanging from your back?”  So then I say, “You know that scene in Hamlet where he picks up the skull and says ‘Alas, poor Yorick…’ and this poor schmoe looks at me and says, “…no.”  Awkward!  Then he inevitably turns to one of the other guys in the crowd and says, “Guess I was absent that day,” and get a laugh.  Wrong crowd. 🙂

I did tell people repeatedly, “I don’t expect anybody to get it, I did this for the fans of my web site.”  Hope y’all dig it!

P.S. – I know that when I wrote up the idea originally I said that the costume had a harlequin pattern, but when I got it home it was what you see above.  I think the costume comes in two different styles because at my kids’ Halloween party I definitely saw diamond harlequin pattern version.