It is suggested that Shakespeare may have intended his audience to connect Yorick with the Elizabethan comedian Richard Tarlton who had died a decade or so before Hamlet was first performed .
Richard Tarlton is a celebrated performer of the pre-Shakespearian stage .
It is suggested that Shakespeare may have intended his audience to connect Yorick with the Elizabethan comedian Richard Tarlton , a celebrated performer of the pre-Shakespearian stage , who had died a decade or so before Hamlet was first performed .