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In a new feature, 'Feat of the Week,' our pals over at the Universal Record Database (where everyone can set a world record) will be hand-selecting one awesome world record to highlight.

shake weight soliloquyThe title character of Shakespeare's Hamlet has been interpreted in various ways on film, but always with an underlying intensity. First came Laurence Olivier, who scored a Best Actor Oscar in 1948. There was the Oedipal, retrospectively disturbing Mel Gibson version in 1990. Then we had the peroxide-dipped angst of British luvvie Kenneth Branagh in 1996's epic four-hour slog.

But soft, dear reader: you may wonder in what garret doth the Hamlet of the internet age brood? Relax. URDB has found him. On September 30, during a live record-setting event at Joe's Pub in New York, Thomas Anawalt took to the stage and delivered an impassioned rendition of the Prince of Denmark's most famous soliloquy. While shaking a Shake Weight.

Just try to rip your eyes away from this compelling performance:




With his official world record for Fastest Time To Recite "To Be Or Not To Be" Soliloquy While Shaking A Shake Weight now standing at three minutes, 28.10 seconds, Thomas has set the standard for a new generation of meme-happy Hamlets. If you are prone to dramatics and fancy toning your biceps, try beating this record. Not only will your acting skills be showcased to the world, but as an added benefit, your too, too solid flesh will melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew.




Post text by Ella Morton, a writer, actor and the host of Rocketboom NYC, a weekly web show about New York's vibrant people and places.