I paid a Shakespeare-expert teen girl a gold crown to approach the balcony at the gates at the end of the day and call up to Robin Hood, in her Loudest Shakespearean Voice, "Robin Hood, you're a hero! Don't be bitter!" He laughed his face off, as did the Mayor and some Merrie Men. The Queen asked Leycester why Robin Hood was bitter; he demurred and said he'd explain later.
In the Prising Open of the Gates this year, Act II is written to go like this: Friar Tuck says he has a joke, and tells a joke, and it gets a groan. Will Scarlet says he has a joke, and tells a joke, and it gets a laugh. Little John looks like he has a joke, but instead he says he has an announcement, and he introduces a new character. On Sunday, Friar Tuck said he had a joke, and he told a joke, and it got a groan. Will Scarlet said he had a joke, and he told this joke:
Will Scarlet: What did one carrot say to the other?
Jane the Phoole: I know not! What did one carrot say to the other?
Will Scarlet: "Let's go swimming!"*
I waited half a beat, observing puzzled silence with the rest of the crowd, and then thrust my finger at him and shouted, "You're fired!" Big Laff from everyone.
Then Little John jumped up on the deck and said, "I have...an announcement." I made a big theatrical sigh and said, "Oh, good -- I hate jokes." An Even Bigger Laff There! (It's funny, you see, because everyone expects jesters to do nothing but tell jokes, and I generally oblige by telling the worst possible jokes all the time, which is extremely irritating, especially to me.) And then the scene went on for nine days as usual, but at least Wm. Shakespeare (Jeff McLane) was there to destroy us all with laffs for the next fifteen minutes after.
* It was later revealed that the actor's sister told him this joke when she was an infant, and he hasn't stopped laughing since.
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