Fat & Greasy Citizens

Shylock finds himself in court...and loses, despite seemingly having the law on his side. Portia comes in dressed as a man, saying she is a doctor lawyer, and she exposes a loophole in Shylock's case that not only saves Antonio, but conveniently flips the whole thing that now Shylock is on trial for plotting a Venetian's death. Oh, and Act V has a wedding that literally no ones cares about now because Act IV is an antisemitic hellscape.

Fat and Greasy's 20th Ep! Merchant of Venice Act III sees Shylock reeling from his daughter's betrayal, but learning that Antonio's ships may be lost! He escorts Antonio to jail in hopes of collecting his pound of flesh. Meanwhile, Bassanio wins the hand of Portia but rushes off to help his friend Antonio. Portia decides she'll help by dressing as a man. You know, the usual Shakespeare stuff.

Fat & Greasy brings you act two of The Merchant of Venice, in which Shylock's daughter Jessica wants to elope with her love Lorenzo and not be Jewish anymore, so she leaves while robbing Shylock blind. Meanwhile, Portia is still pretty racist, but good news! Her very white true love Bassanio shows up to play her father's dumb casket game. It's a comedy! Kind of? Just don't call it a dark comedy, because Portia wouldn't like it.

Nuncleheads, it is Fn' Greasy Ep 18 in which we explore Merchant of Venice Act I in which we see Italian a**hole Antonio tell his pal Bassanio that he'd lend him money...if he had it. But he knows a Jewish fellow called Shylock in Venice that can help! Antonio will sweeten the pot with some classic antisemitism and Shylock responds with a playful contract: no interest, but a pound of flesh if you can't pay. Chuck and Gabe bring you the action!

It's a Shakespearean comedy, so everybody is getting married! The Mechanicals do their dumb play and everyone is happy. Chuck and Gabe still have a lot of questions. Will they find answers? Listen to the episode, you silly goose.

Fat & Greasy is back after a short break! In A Midsummer Night's Dream Act III, Bottom becomes an ass, Titania falls in love with him, and the Athenian men have fallen in love with Helena, all thanks to Oberon's love potion. Also, Chuck & Gabe cast Bill Cosby as Oberon and it's absolutely perfect.

Happy Solar Eclipse! The moon is a real c-blocker, and it's also a fairly consistent topic in Midsummer Act II, in which we enter the fairy world of Oberon and his wife Titania. They're fighting over an Indian boy (best not to think too much about it) and Oberon gets pissed when Titania refuses to give the boy up. Oberon decides he's going to get revenge on his wife by dosing her with a love potion. However, our young Athenian lovers are in the woods too, and Puck, Oberon's attendant, doses Lysander by mistake. He wakes to see Helena, who is decidedly not Hermia, and hilarity ensues. Chuck and Gabe give you the hot takes.

In this episode, it doesn't take long for Chuck and Gabe to see that A Midsummer Night's Dream is a wonderful and beautiful play. This act sets up the duke's wedding, the love square between Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius, and the seemingly unrelated idiocy of the Mechanicals in a concise and entertaining way. Will there be an execution? It's Shakespeare, so who knows...

What's funnier than closing out your comedy with an impending execution? Nothing, that's what. Comedy of Errors ends with all the characters swarming back in typical farcical fashion. The Antipholuses' mother is revealed, Egeon is saved, and the Dromios walk off together in a touching way. Wait, were they the protagonists all along? What? WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

The "two sets of identical twins" gimmick pays off in this act, as hilarious misunderstandings and mistaken identity abound. Also, servants get beaten, so it's like what would happen if Seinfeld occasionally broke out into an MMA match. Chuck and Gabe are your hosts.

Ever wonder what would happen if Shakespeare wrote for an off-brand Three Stooges in the late 16th century? That's act three of Comedy of Errors, in which we have a long scene involving a man trying to enter a house. Chuck and Gabe discuss this and other zingers.

After the ending of Two Gentlemen of Verona, an open bypass surgery would be funny, but luckily Comedy of Errors delivers classic commedia laughs from the very start. Two sets of identical twins get separated as babies and one set tries to find the other after they're all grown up and funny mix-em-ups ensue. Is this a comedy of mistaken identity? You bet it is. Chuck and Gabe break it down.

Nothing really sticks the landing in a comedy like sexual assault, and Shakespeare famously ends Two Gentlemen of Verona with one. Yet, there is still talk of marriage by play's end. A hard pivot? Sure. Listen as Chuck and Gabe stand in awe by Shakespeare's majesty.

The problem with Proteus is that he loves too hard, so much so that all the love he had for Julia is now directed at Sylvia. As fortune would have it, Proteus's best friend Valentine is also in love with Sylvia. Chuck and Gabe make references to Emo Philips and Don Knotts, so they're as timely as ever!

It’s a seven-scene vaudeville-style corker from our William and it is a hoot. Chuck and Gabe discuss how Michael Cera would make a good Proteus. Do they also mention Andrew “Dice” Clay? Yeah! Why? Find out!

Despite his friend Valentine's insistence that young men must go off and see the world, Proteus says he has to stay put in fair Verona because he's madly in love with Julia, a local moron. Then, Proteus writes a letter! Chuck and Gabe try and unpack this staggering plot twist.

Looks like we made it. Look how far we've come, my baby. This act of Shrew ends the way you might expect: Kate is tamed. Did Shakespeare mean for this to be a comment on the society of the time? Or was this just a reflection of the masculine world he lived in? We don't know because he's dead. Queen Elizabeth I takes over as announcer and NOTE: this was recorded while Trump was still president.

Wow. Chuck opens this episode by saying this act is f***ed up and he is not wrong. After their expedited marriage, Kate is brought to Petruchio's weird dude manor and deprived of food (it's a comedy!). Then, Tranio finds a fake dad for Lucentio in one of those classic mistaken identity set-ups that MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.

Chuck and Gabe navigate trickier waters now as Bill Shakespeare's play gets uncomfortable in this act. Is there more gaslighting of Shrew's Kate? Yeah. Is it cruel? Yup. Is there wetting of holes? Definitely.

Chuck and Gabe discuss the introduction of the character "Kate" from Taming of the Shrew. Is this whole act sleazy and horny AF? You bet. Shakespeare's ode to gaslighting in this episode!

Our debut episode, and one of Shakespeare's earliest plays! And it shows! A play within a play, sexism, classism, and at least one insufferable character graces our stage. Chuck and Gabe tackle these hard issues. Or do they?