1 Mercutio: "Beginning with an inexplicable surge in sales to Sydney schoolchildren, the frenzy for 'Harry Potter' books is spreading internationally."
2 Mercutio: "Author J. K. Rowling, who had given up writing after poor sales of her first three books, is now considering a fourth in the series."
3 Ophelia: Wow, Will. You've started a worldwide phenomenon.
4 Shakespeare: And yet nobody will ever associate the name of Shakespeare with children's literature.

I dithered on the punchline for this one, I really did. I was torn between:

• And yet nobody will ever associate the name of Shakespeare with literature.
• And yet nobody will ever associate the name of Shakespeare with children's literature.

The first one is funny because it's not true in reality. The second is funny because it is true in reality, yet an absurd thing that nobody would ever think to say.

In the end I went with absurdity over contradiction.

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2023-01-14 Rerun commentary: Now I'm imagining a world where William Shakespeare did write children's books.

Hmm. Actually, that reminds me of something...