Lunatic lore has it that one night, while founder Joey Green ’80 was lying on Libe slope and overlooking the dim twinkle of downtown Ithaca, he was abruptly confronted by a large, frightening man. “Give me your wallet,” the man said, as he held out a rusty kitchen knife to Joey’s face. “Give me your wallet or I’ll cut your face off and wear it on my face.”
Joey—wise, handsome, popular Joey—had grown up on the streets of Miami, the global capital of crime during the late ’70s. He knew exactly what to do: With a glimmer in his eye he turned to the mugger and said, “You know what? I’ll do you one better.” The mugger was taken aback. What could this suave, sexy young man possibly give him that was better than the contents of his wallet?
Joey felt his body relax. “I’ll give you…,” he paused, “the gift of farce.”
And in that moment, the tetanus knife tumbled to the ground. The mugger clutched his heart, for it had suddenly been filled with a painful, stabbing heat that felt at once agonizing and arousing. Joey grinned. He had successfully transferred the power of parody, thus changing the trajectory of this man’s life. A life of crime, transformed to a life of comedy.
That young man’s name? William Shakespeare.
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