I’m a TV detective who asked for the facts;
I’m that ill-received video: Rebecca Black’s;
I’m a series of films where Ice Cube mainly acts;
And I’m Crusoe’s manservant he saved from attacks.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Asher. See comments for answer.

I’m the portion of time that you currently spend;
I’m an answer for roll call; a gift for a friend;
A grammatical tense that is spoken or penned;
And a vote that will only affirm you attend.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Asher. See comments for answer.

In the before-times, when social contact was allowed, one of my favorite things to do was to gather with friends and do readings of Shakespeare’s plays. We would choose a play in advance, meet together at an agreed-upon time, divide up the roles, and read the play out loud from beginning to end.

When the world shut down, I was part of four such groups, each of which met on a monthly basis. This seems like it would mean a weekly reading for me, but in practice, the dates tended to cluster, and I often attended several in one week.

Since the COVID shelter-in-place, all four groups have shifted online, and I now participate in regular readings via Zoom. To be clear, this doesn’t come close to replacing getting together with friends and reading live, but it does replace not having a reading at all quite nicely.

And it occurs to me that there may be some folks within the sound of my voice who might be looking for something fun to do with friends from a distance. If a Shakespeare reading sounds like fun for you, I want to show you how easy it can be to put together.

First, find some friends who like Shakespeare and want to do this. One person should have a Zoom account so they can create a room, but if that’s not available, there are alternatives like Google Meet that can also work.

Last year, I put together a resource page for groups who want to meet live to do Shakespeare readings. That’s not an option right now, but the page is just as useful for online readings.

You can choose the play in advance, or wait until everyone has met and choose a play based on the recommendations for the number of readers you have.

There are 24 plays that have sections on the page, and each play section links to the Folger Digital Text for that play, so everyone will be using the same text. Each section also contains divisions to assign roles from the play to 2 to 12 readers.

All that remains is to randomize who is assigned each reader number, which can be quickly done at this website.

So, if you’re looking for a fun way to connect with your long-lost Shakespeare-loving friends, online Shakespeare readings just might be the thing to try!

I’m a station where passenger trains are directed;
A computer to get to a network connected;
At the top of your field, the degree that’s collected;
Or an illness progressive where death is expected.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Neel Mehta. See comments for answer.