I hope that you’ve all see impressionist Jim Meskimen’s Shakespeare video where he goes through Gloucester’s Richard III speech in no less than 25 celebrity voices.
Did you know that he just released a part 2?
So. Funny thing happened last night. You may have seen on Twitter posting these links with wild abandon, trying to drum up some notice (and doing a good job of it, given the references from people like talk show host Craig Ferguson).
Well I managed to get his attention when he posted a blog comment here (Hi, Jim!) and he asked for ideas on what Shakespeare he should tackle next. Got any good ideas? The Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It came immediately to mind.
But then I thought, I wonder if he’s limiting himself to soliloquies? It’d be great to see him do an entire scene of half a dozen characters, all interacting. True it wouldn’t showcase the 20+ voices he manages in the sample clips above, but it would be a new angle on the material. Especially if he could get creative with the video editing and be in a different costume for each character :).
If you had Mr. Meskimen’s ear, what would you like to see him do next? It might just happen!
Very impressive. How about this for next time? Macbeth — Act III, Scene IV.
I think a scene would be fun. It'd be a very different experience. I'd go with the opening of R&J. Starts with two characters and then builds.
As far as another monologue is concerned, I'd say Crispin's Day.
Tyler Moss
The Shakespeare Forum
theshakespeareforum.com
Lessee…Claudius in Act 1 of Hamlet comes to mind, as does Mark Antony in Julius Caesar.
Well, that's boneheaded of me – completely missed that he did Mark Antony. Never mind that…
This guy is amazing.
I like how he matches the content with the impersonation. So I'll second the Seven Ages of Man speech, because it would give him a lot to work with.
By the way, the first speech he did is from the play Richard III as you say, but the speaker is Clarence, not Gloucester.
I am with Duane on this one. The Seven Ages of Man is five minutes long at the outside, and while it is fine as soliloquies go, I think our man is ready for greater challenges.
I think he deserves an entire scene, ideally with men, a woman, and a ghost, so I propose the banquet scene from Macbeth. The fact that it happens to be one of my favourites is strictly a coincidence.
Hamlet's story at the beginning of Act V, Scene ii ("Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting…") could be fun (probably best to just cut Horatio's lines). It even has the word "impression" at the end, like in the Richard III speech.