The Big Bad Poo - First kids comics of term

The school term's up and running and, after a quiet month, my Comic Art Masterclasses began in earnest in the past week. The first full days in school were two days at Haberdasher's Monmouth School for Girls, prep school, the second of which threw up these, my two favourite front covers of term so far. The Year 3 class was so small I had ages to draw Winnie The Pooh demolishing a city. The Year 5 class, by contrast, was larger than I usually agree to (40 kids), but we had time enough, and the end result was grand.

The Year 6 class at Monmouth introduced me to the concept of Vsco girls, and their catchphrase "Ssskkk and I oop". No, me neither. Having researched this a bit, as the teachers had to do too, it seems to be something like the Valley Girl caricature of the 80s, and girls perform parody versions of this character on Youtube and an App I've not come across called Tik Tok. I'm sure, in years to come, my unfamiliarity with Vsco girls will make me seem as out of touch as a High Court Judge, but there we are.

The Chagford Film Festival, last week, brought me down to the wilds of far flung rural Devon where I did an afternoon class at the village school, followed by an evening class in the local hall, both of which were great fun. The evening class was a mix of kids and adults, and one of those ones where there's no photocopier so, sadly, they didn't get a comic to take away, but made all the components all the same.

Prema Arts in Gloucestershire, where I've done quite a few classes now, had decided this time to restrict the class to adults and to charge the highest ticket price yet (an eye watering £25 I believe). Probably coincidentally I had a class of just four, who made a fine end result between them. Bizarrely they all seemed way better qualified than me, with one already being a childrens book illustrator, one a costume maker for movies and TV shows, and one a model maker and animator who's worked for Aardman and is now studying illustration, so I hope my class was able to add to their wealth of knowledge. They seemed happy.

The celebrities these seven groups chose to star in my demonstration strip were Tina Turner (bizarre choice from Year 3 pupils there), Boris Johnson, Elvis Presley, Ed Sheeran (twice), Justin Bieber, and their teacher and cover star Mr B.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

Venice Biennale 2019 - art for Instagram

Having returned from Venice we’ve already made a mental note for next time - we need four days. Travelling on Tuesday (arriving in the evening) and travelling home on Saturday, meant we had three full days for taking in the art, and it’s not enough. That’s one day for the Giardini, one day for the Arsenale, one day for various pavilions scattered across town, and not enough time. I’m looking at the Biennale map and there’s fifteen or more pavilions that we didn’t get to, let alone those museums and random exhibitions that you bump into along the way. And shops and bars, we really should make time for those. And the Lido, never been there yet. Honestly, after our third year of visiting we should realise these things by now.

These small considerations aside, it was a great short holiday in Venice, and we saw tons of stuff. Though I did find myself worried that the Biennale experience does tend to become an Instagram event. That is to say, there is so much stuff to see in so little time that it is inevitable that it becomes superficial. You find yourself whizzing past works, and remembering those pieces that made a good photo. I’ve just put the Blurb book together and, coming in at around 200 pages, that suggests there was a lot of photogenic art in town this week.

Scouring the memory, the work that has remained most memorable would be: 

The Iran Pavilion, in the academy of music. The artwork itself was okay, but lost in the competition against the architecture and the soundscape. Whereas lots of (too many) exhibitions play “the sort of sound you hear in exhibitions”, usually an ominous rumbling noise, an off-tune radio, or music played backwards, the Iranian pavilion was in a genuine music school. Not only was it the most impressive Venetian interior you’ve seen, with courtyards overlooked by serried ranks of classical verandas, peppered with sculptures, and dotted with doors and windows of wholly unnecessary detail and diversity (and murals, and whatever you call murals when they’re on the ceilings, and all at least 300 years old), but also there was music. From one room we could hear a pianist rehearsing Romeo and Juliet (aka the Theme from The Apprentice) while simultaneously from another someone was rehearsing something equally classical on the trumpet. The sort of visual and aural experience you simply can’t contrive, dwarfing the efforts of most of the thousands of artists and curators who’d spent so much time putting this city wide event together.

Azaerbaijan - a fabulous wide-screen animation that was a classical tapestry brought to life.

The Philippines pavilion - big tanks of stuff receding into the depths through an arrangement of one way mirrors and lighting. Was it more set decoration than art? I don’t know, it worked.

A two-screen video by Stan Douglas about a space traveller who gets duplicated. Shown on screens that showed a similar film but mirrored from the other side, it was possibly more an episode of the Outer Limits than the sort of piece one usually sees in a gallery, but again it worked.

The Russian Pavilion, Heather’s favourite. Elaborate, painterly, atmospheric and classical, including full size figures that jumped up in the air every 5 minutes. Again more set decoration than work with something to say? Hard to say.

Canada won the prize for country who really didn’t understand how the Biennale works. Their installation in the Giardini mostly comprised a 90 minute movie. A 90 minute movie? They were one of 28 different countries with individual pavilions in the Giardini, which is open from 10am till 6pm. Who the hell do they think has 90 minutes to devote to any one pavilion? 

USA - Interesting to see the reviews, in the Guardian and the NY Times, raving about this as the high spot of the Biennale. I commented that it was the exhibition most like what you’re expect to see in a regular gallery. A reminder that there were so many areas where, had they been the only art we’d seen that week, we’d been raving about them for days after. But as it is, the next pavilion came along and before you knew where you were you’d forgotten what you’d seen. 

Also from the reviews, which I didn’t read until we were home, I discovered that the boat stood beside the Arsenale’s outdoor cafe was a boat in which 800 migrants had died trying to cross the Mediterranean back in 2015. No signage told us this, and had I not read the reviews I’d have been none the wiser. An impressive and controversial piece, if you got the press pack. But if you didn’t, it was rather an ironic selfie experience that will have been Instagrammed infinite times by people woefully unaware of how inappropriate that was.

Belgium - amusing figures in their own fanciful universe. Might have been less impressive if they weren’t the first pavilion we saw.

Hungary - 3D models of photographic contraptions that looked like they’d sort of work (I love it when there’s a work you can’t describe and that you didn’t get a photo of. You had to be there).

Venice's installation was one where you had to take your shoes off (always a worry) then had you wading through a plastic tunnel, through which you could feel Venetian water. More theme park than art piece? After a while you do stop caring and just enjoy yourself.

Japan had a big inflatable traffic cone sticking through the floor that made noises when you sat on it; Germany was really really German, ie there was nothing about it you could even describe but it definitely involved concrete; Brazil did a good dance film, with non-conforming dancers from diverse backgrounds making a point about their country not being represented by their government, one of many politically straightforward pieces, but one that made its point more touchingly than most; A big robot arm constantly swept up a tankful of blood, not far from a marble throne where an air-filled hose whipped around every few minutes; Poland’s artist had turned a private jet inside out, one of those conceptual sculptural pieces that impresses because it’s so large, very much an Instagram moment; and there were a lot of miniature roomscapes, ie dolls houses by any other name, good for a snap but a bit of a cliche. Oh and Britain’s pavilion was easily the most forgettable. 

Overall we found the work thinner on the ground than in 2017, with the Arsenale being less packed (with art that is, it was way over-filled with punters, many of whom looked like they’d got their tickets with a cruise ship package and had no idea what they were looking at. In the most impressive Phillippines pavilion visitors book someone had written “Is This Art?”. Sigh.) and possibly fewer exhibitions across town, though maybe we just missed more. Certainly what we saw was good.

There were only a couple of poor exhibitions, falling into the Foundation Level “will this do” category, or the Advert Masquerading As Exhibition section (and, you know, some of those things aren’t bad. There’s a sculptor who does bronze figures with half their body missing, whose work is essentially an advert for luggage, and he’s quite good fun), and mostly the experience was satisfying to the point of being overwhelming. At the end of every day we were well and truly “Arted Out”, and glad of the fact that there’s sod all to do in the evenings in Venice, cos we were knackered.

The Venice Biennale remains the greatest art experience I’ve ever encountered, very much visual art’s equivalent to the Edinburgh Fringe, with as many idiosyncrasies and foibles. And we love it. I come home bitten to buggery by mosquitoes, but as sure as ever that we’ll be back.

Further reading: These Galleries have most artists at the Venice Biennale - Artsy

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

September, a month with not much to say

I've really not been inspired to write much blog-wise throughout the entire month of September. It's not like it didn't have as many days in as every other month (okay technically it has one fewer than average, but still) and I didn't do something every day. It's just that, when you've finished a month at Edinburgh and when your month includes the highpoint of Venice, there doesn't seem a lot left to say.

Gigwise - the Socks played just once in September, for Hazel's Mum's birthday party, in Allerwash. You can see the set-up above. We did an hour of request material, lots of which hasn't seen the light of day for years - like I Change The Key and the Saint Patrick routine, which may both find themselves revived soon. A fun gig, and so weird to go from 30 shows in one month to just one the next. I'm not the only act to experience that.

Schoolswise - another slow start to the term. I had a class in Weston, working with locals, which didn't happen cos no-one turned up, then two classes as part of Chagford Film Festival, and an over-priced under-attended class for adults at Prema in Gloucestershire. Hardly a punishing schedule.

However fishing for schools for the next year has been much more fruitful. I've sat for days on end, first emailing every school in my list (something which runs the risk of having your email stopped for 24 hours because you've sent too many in a day, oops. The lesson you learn is you must send to no more than 500 addresses in any 24 hour period), then scouring the interwebs for more emails. I have, in the past couple of weeks, found the emails, for the first time, for such areas as Cornwall (who responded in the biggest numbers, as if nobody ever emails schools in Cornwall), Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dudley, Plymouth, North Somerset (but, ironically given they're my nearest schools, they all bounce even when mailed individually, so I can't play any of them), and a few more. About 15 schools have replied having been emailed for the first time, which is making my 2020 diary look nice and full.

I did a driving training speed awareness course, which you don't want to hear about, and we had a fair bit of sorting out to do for the building work that's being done on our house. It's the most extensive work we've had done for ages, bigger even than the porch that was done two years ago, and the negotiations that have been needed between the four collaborating flats has been harder work than before. But you don't need to know about any of that either.

And I got back on the eBay. Having been obessively shovelling my comic collection onto the auction site for the first 6 months of the year, I took a break over August, then resumed this month. So far I've taken about 700 quid and shifted about a quarter of the comics I've put up there. Most, like for example Batman Legends Of The Dark Knight, turn out not to be wanted by anyone, as is usually the case.

Meanwhile the selling of Windmill Gardens goes as slowly as ever. We reduced the asking price to £375,000, which has seen four viewings since, the most in any month since it went on sale, so hope springs eternal. And we bought a new lawnmower for Kibworth (which we'll hang onto obviously, in the hope of eventually getting a garden of our own) having bust the last one on the jungle-lengthed grass that had sprung up over the summer.

And I really wish I had more to say about September. A month taken up, largely, with admin, and four days in Venice (and days out in the likes of Exeter and Cardiff, as per usual). Here's some of the nonsense I've put on Facebook in that time...

A photo I've never seen before, featuring me aged 10 or 11. Can you spot me?

Got an Only Connect for you. What's the connection between these four records?

James Bond - Iggy Pop
Dizzy - Vic Reeves
If I Was - Midge Ure
Jet - Paul McCartney

(Answer: James)

Paradoxically, on the very day The Testaments by Margaret Attwood gets released, we just gave up on the last season of The Handmaids Tale.

Every week nothing happens, reeeeeaaaaallly slowly. And in such low out-of-focus lighting that, I swear, if it got any darker it might as well be radio.

Sorry Handmaids Tale. Your first 2 series were great honest.

My contribution to the Rees Mogg meme, you're welcome.

Sept 11: While people are remembering the Twin Towers bombing, 18 years ago today, who still remembers what happened 17 years before that (on Oct 12th 1984)? The Brighton Bombing.

Slightly closer to home for most of us, it seems to get way less coverage that the American event. And what did we do to prevent it happening again? That's right, we talked, we co-operated and we came to an agreement, the Good Friday Agreement.

Thanks heavens no-one would dream of doing anything politically that would put that at jeopardy, and lead to this sort of thing happening again. Would they?

While we're all busy doing amateur-hour Who Do You Think You Are? I'm a Tinker.

Looks like, going down our family tree, we've been travellers. And in particular, on the east coast of Scotland, Tinkers. So stick that up your pipe and smoke it.

NB: Don't ask me to do any day-to-day metallurgy, cos it seems to have faded with the passing generations.

I'm nostalgic for all the years Annie Lennox and Kate Bush kept winning cos there weren't any other women (and Bananarama didn't count). Won't be a problem any more, now women have been abolished.

This week's victory for feminism. Next stop: no need for token women on comedy panel shows.

I'd like you to call me they. For I am Sam Smith and also Tom Petty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB-5XG-DbAA

What is this travesty? I come home to find BBC has wiped the Radio iPlayer and replaced it with this hideous app. Where’s the home screen? Where are the schedules? And what happened to all the shows I downloaded last week?

Not happy with #bbcsounds at all!

Just watched the Batman Lego Movie, and I've got to say it's the most enjoyable Batman movie I think I've ever seen!

The relationships - Bats & Joker, Bats & Robin, Bats & Alfred, Bats & Barbara, Bats & his parents - are better written than in any of the other movies. Plus it has Daleks, what's not to love?

https://www.netflix.com/title/80131731

And you wonder why sometimes Venetians might get a bit tired of tourists? This happened on the day we arrived in town.

(To the tune of Spitting Image's 'Never Met A Nice South African').

Re: The undoing of the Prorogation:

Suddenly Boris Johnson wakes up, goes to the bathroom, and finds all of Parliament in the shower.

(Dallas. We were doing Dallas.)

_________________________

Got an Only Connect for you. What time of day* connects these four records?

It's Only Love - Lenny Gamble
Highrise - The Trainspotters
I Wanna Be A Winner - Brown Sauce
Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - Bombalurina

(The answer was breakfast, cos I thougt they'd all done the Radio 1 Breakfast show (as Tony Blackburn, Mike Read, Noel Edmonds, and Steve Wright. Then I was reminded that Bombalurina was Timmy Mallett and felt a fool)

Happiness is reading a comic strip you wrote 26 years ago, and finding out it's not at all bad. Ace Rimmer in Ace Of Black Hearts from Red Dwarf Smegazine. Niiiice.
https://archive.org/detai…/red_dwarf_smegazine-1993-03/…/n21

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

Socks Roll Up Superheroes Tour 2020

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre 2020 ROLL UP SUPERHEROES TOUR!

Hi,

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are touring into 2020 and we’d love to come to you, will you have us back?

We’re taking out a Double Bill of our last two Edinburgh shows - 2019’s circus-themed ROLL UP! And 2018’s award-winning SUPERHEROES. Neither has had a proper tour yet, so we’re taking out a 90 minute show, with 45 minutes from each.

Superheroes won the Bath Comedy Festival Best Joke Award last year and enjoyed a successful mini tour in Denmark, but has only played in half a dozen towns in the UK to date. Roll Up previewed through the Spring but the full show is only now making its tour debut, following the Socks’ biggest sellout Edinburgh Fringe ever.

The full show is coming out for a guarantee of just £400 against a door split. 

After May we’re also booking one-hour previews of our new Edinburgh show POP, if that’s more your style.

The Scottish Falsetto Socks’ comedy shows are suitable for age 12 and over. We supply posters and flyers.

Hoping you can take us on board and that we’ll deliver a sellout audience to you. Please get in touch 

All the very best

Kev F Sutherland

SCOTTISH FALSETTO SOCK PUPPET THEATRE

Martha, Mary and Jonah - new Bible strips

I'm back on the drawing board and it's the most marvellous feeling. These two jobs were awaiting me from just before the return from Edinburgh, and it was the most satisfying thing to be able to turn them round in two days from start to finish. They're the artwork to be given to two prize-winners in a Bible Society schools competition that I helped judge.

A young lad called Joe did a brilliant Jonah comic strip, in commemoration of which I've written and drawn my own version. Yes, that's Ken Reid's Jonah out of The Beano 60 years ago. This strip's not for publication, so I figured an homage was the way to go.

A girl called Grace had written a poem based on the story of Martha and Mary which, I confess, wasn't one that I remembered. It's actually just a throwaway half page story in the Gospel Of Luke, but some people have made it into a thing. So I read it again, and here's my take on it. Quite what everyone else is supposed to take away from the story I'm not sure. As you can see I've homaged the Martha outfits from Handmaids Tale*, as apparently those characters' servile role is based on Martha from this anecdote. Again, the morality of this is a minefield that I have yet to fathom.

(*NB: I have actually used the more distinctive red Handmaids costume, not the khaki Martha costume from the TV show, cos it looked better. Just to confuse matters.)

I'm hoping there'll be more Bible news forthcoming. We do now have a 100 page Tales Of The Bible book produced, which I'm dying to see out there in the public arena. Under his eye.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

Roll Up! - Edfringe reviews

Never forget the review left by the punters on edfringe.com.  They are the equivalent of a Visitors Book for the show. Once again I'd come home without looking at these. And what do you know, they're almost universally positive. (I think you'll spot the odd ones out).

Julie Phillips4 days ago

What a great show. Throughly entertaining. 5*

Simon Phillips6 days ago

Really enjoyed this. Great comedy to finish a day at the Fringe.

Chris G8 days ago

Not a classic year for the Socks I thought. Is it my imagination or are they getting more vulgar and less witty? It was still inventive and funny, though, and the only show on the Fringe likely to reference Archie’s pal Jughead....

Fiona A8 days ago

Never fails to make me laugh. I never thought socks would make me laugh so much. Indeed the venue is too hot and the fans are noisy, but for an hour cast that aside and enjoy the silliness and let your inner child loose.

John Dewhurst10 days ago

This must be one of the worst venues on the Fringe. In a black space which was far too hot. I was on front row so had a fan near me. My friends were further back and the heat spoilt it for them. 
I enjoyed the show and thought it clever and witty. Some good songs including a great parody of Lady in Red.
How the puppeteer worked in those conditions was beyond me.

A12 days ago

I'm afraid I feel like I've just watched an entirely different show to other reviewers. Went with a completely open mind, fully ready to embrace the silliness but sadly didn't laugh once.

Kathleen Noonan17 days ago

Absurdly silly and soooo funny!! Hard to believe the delivery of this is all down to one man ……………….and a pair of socks. Brilliant!

Marie17 days ago

I love this show. Been following the Sox for years now and its funny, topical and downright smart every year. The songs are excellent and well accompanied on guitar by one of the sox. I don't know how that sox plays such a mean guitar.... Don't just read about it - Go see it 

BTW - Toasty venue this year so keep that water nearby.

Doug Adamson19 days ago

The Socks were once again able to produce another new show which has managed to deliver the laughs in the only way they know how... in a high paced delivery which at time almost doesn't give you time to breath in between one liners, puns and other punchlines.

This years' show felt to have more of an narrative thread with well placed call backs to deliver on the toes (not the nose) punchlines. The musical numbers were as ever well written and showcase the writing ability of the solo performer who despite working those socks single handled manages to bring two similar looking but different characters to life. 

Well worth your time and a show not to be missed.

debbie alsop20 days ago

Been to see the Socks for the last 6 years and the shows never fails, always the first show of the fringe for me, hilarious from start to finish would highly recommend seeing if you haven’t

Hazel Hall20 days ago

I have been following (in the footsteps of) the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre for several years now, as it would seem had many of the audience members on Tuesday night. Even in the queue outside the Dram theatre in the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose Socks fans - until moments beforehand strangers to one another - were sharing catch phrases (and so was I, and so was she). 

This year's show was yet another fast-paced hour of non-stop laughter for the audience as the Socks shared their attempts to perform circus acts on their wee tartan stage. There was plate spinning and cutting a sock in half, and a promise of high wire jinks. The ever-versatile Nicole Kidman made a guest appearance, and Greggs was honoured in one of several very silly songs.

None of us really know how it's done, so I won't pretend that I do. However, of all the Fringe comedy I have seen so far this year, it's the Socks who have generated the most laughter.

Grant Woolcott20 days ago

Having watched youtube videos in fits of giggles, I was excited to experience my first LIVE evening with the socks. 
Well it didn't disappoint.. a few were injured by the sheer thunderous bad puns, the rest slayed by some not so slick costume changes and flying body parts. It was amazing.

Sat not knowing if it was funny or the worst pun, but the laughter in my gut would not wait for me to decide. I thoroughly enjoyed it, tropical experience aside from the venue.

Not a dry arse in the room (due to heat) and many tears of laughter...

Do Not Hesitate to check these mad foot apparelled loonies out!! You will not regret it..

Paul Stewart20 days ago

Just the funniest, most joyful hour I have spent in a long time. Too many comic gems to count! A guaranteed shortcut to hysterical laughter.

 

July 31st -  August 25th 2019, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm #Edfringe

Roll Up! - the show itself, a breakdown

Another Edinburgh Fringe ends and once more I find myself looking back over the show analytically. Having been unsure how good Roll Up! Was when we started the run, by the end it had really come good. This meant that whoever saw it in the first week and a half saw a show that flagged halfway through, that got criticised by The Daily Mail for not being as good as previous shows (which I found quite flattering, since it means they’d seen the previous shows), and had one audience member overheard as they left saying “well that got a bit dark.” The darkness lifted after the running order had shuffled and the performance became more assured. As for whether we’ll tour it the jury’s still out.

Here is what Roll Up!, in its final state, comprised.

Opening gags - Strongman, Billy Smart, Paul Daniels - all good

I’m A Sock - Good as always. I have tried opening shows without it and it never works. This song is variable because regulars often go quieter during it, cos they’ve heard it. However the newbie who reviewed us for the 730 Review loved it and praised it for “brazenly and amusingly acknowledges the show’s gloriously silly premise with true metatheatrical verve”. So there.

Greatest Showman music gag. This was falling flat for well over a week though lack of punchline. Then, in the last week, I came up with the Secret Of Comedy line, and it killed. Perfect.

Three Rings gag. Another late addition (coming sometime after Aug 13th, midway) this routine gets some laughs, and sets us up for good callbacks later.

Variety gag - another new one, went well, especially the 3 Rings callback it contains

Music Hall Song. Excellent. It’s gone well all through the run, possibly even better when set up by the stronger material preceding it. 

Burlescue gag, into Performance Artist Routine. Excellent. Kept the momentum going after song.

Philip Astley routine & music. Excellent, all the better when set up by preceding material. In week one we were getting to this point and the audience, and I, weren’t confident that this was a very funny show. I could tell some people weren’t on board, or whipped up to enthusiasm, by now.

Gags: Sock De Soleil, Stilt walking, Funambulism - a good threesome, that settled into place after an edit after week one.

Improv Section: Clown’s Accent (settled into place halfway) and Circus Improv Routine. This was a highpoint. In the previews this was often the first funny bit of the show. But if we’d got them on board by now, this was the best fun. Lots of interesting suggestion kept it fresh, but we managed to make lion taming and human cannonball funny and original on at least three attempts apiece.

Stuck In The Middle routine - a bit of new material inserted about halfway through that worked surprisingly well, calling back to the Jokes For Old Folks running gag (that starts in Philip Astley) and includes Send Him Up gag, which came from an adlib and stayed.

Nicole Kidman - excellent from the start, at its best from halfway when it had been so well set up (by the Clown’s Accent improv bit, which tells us to expect a female Australian). 

Australian Accent Song - very good, better once it was edited down in week one. I still found it funnier than many of the audience did. The Steve Irwin line got a groan 100% of the time, and the Mel Gibson one got the biggest laugh almost as often.

Linking routine to Lady In Pants - the only bit of the show that I could never make funnier. So it remains so-so, and very short. Mentions that Clown with funny accent (from Clown Accent routine) has been knocked out & clothes stolen, a useful bit of plot that helps when Clown appears later. Functional, but never quite funny enough.

Lady In Pants - Brilliant. Audience consistently finds it funnier than I do. (NB: This, and Greggs Song, were both resurrected from an un-made Socks sitcom script I wrote ten years ago. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that before. They were part of a totally different storyline and had never made it even as far as a Youtube video, let alone into a show.)

Are You Smitten routine, good. Nice three gags in a row, and linking well to…

Clown Routine. Another one that the audience mostly didn’t find as funny as I did. But laughs improved after midway point and it was never actually unfunny (except to that person who must have thought this was where it got “dark”)

Clown monologue - worked well once it started to be “pants”. About halfway through the run.

Clown’s Killer Song - Excellent. The audience largely thought this was funnier than I thought they would, especially those who got the references to the Psychopath Checklist and the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Very Edinburgh Fringe jokes those, can’t imagine how they’ll go anywhere else.

Front of curtain lines - material delivered offstage, giving me time to re-rig Nicole, the Clown, and the Nicole costumes. Occasionally got a laugh, did the trick.

Pagliacci Routine - What I thought was the best written new routine in the whole show, only went down as well as I expected half the time. Some lines killed, but never every time. Sometimes the Pal Is Archie bit got a laugh, sometimes a groan, sometimes just confusion. Venn diagram usually got a big laugh and rescued it.

Magic Routine - Obviously a highpoint, and definitely got the most consistent laughter every night. But we knew it would because it dates back to the 2010 show and has been in our club set since. But only a handful of people seemed to have seen it and it was generally the highpoint of every show. The new Sawing A Lady In Half prop helped, totally remade just before our last two previews in July. The one it replaced was so battered it was probably inhibiting some of the funny.

Slight falling out routine. The closest we got to the classic Socks falling out skit came here, to set up the Greggs Song.

Greggs Song - perfect, and genius. I am most pleased with the costume and dance routine which, when they worked, were brilliant. However on three occasions a hand came loose from the sleeve, on one occasion both hands came loose (though we got good laughs from this on the whole), and on one night the whole costume fell off. (In the first week, because of the heat in the venue, I had a number of costumes falling off. Partly through the heat making the metal bands less tight, and partly cos my wrists were so wet with sweat. I’d stopped this happening by week two).

Part two - Nicole Kidman’s Woe Is Me scene. This has one funny line in, of which I’m extremely proud. The rest just set up the next bit.

Eurovision Song - very good. The Brexit sentiment may have divided the room sometimes, but always went well.

Greatest Show/ Greatest Story - the mixed scripts went well, as long as I made it clear. Got big laughs a few times.

Little Baby Jesus and Charlton Heston - Some good laughs, but always variable. The only guaranteed belter was Feeding The 5000, which ends the scene well.

Pontius Pilot - Silly but did the trick

Nicole Kidman and John The Baptist - okay, sometimes got a laugh.

Little Baby Jesus “just out of shot” - worked well, once we made it clear. Not well performed in the first week I fear.

Pontius Pilot as Nicole Kidman - brilliant, once I’d got it right. Because this involved re-rigging a prop that I’d just used, I sometimes forgot to do it, making this scene un-smooth and therefore not funny. When done properly it’s very good.

“Here comes the creepy clown” - Excellent. When the audience got it, this stretch started to be all about physical and visual humour, not gags, and that’s always the best. The callback to the Performance Artist routine, which I introduced in a week one rewrite, was most satisfying.

“Climb up the ladder / he didn’t do stairs” Death Of The Clown  - Muddled in the first week, very good by the end.

Nicole’s Trapeze Routine - Excellent by the end, messy to begin with. Double Pike was funny at last, once it found its place.

Punchline at the Doctor’s - Fabulous. I was amazed when this got the big laughs it did, and applause sometimes. Because it is, by definition, an anticlimactic ending, it was in danger of falling flat and disappointing the audience. And I think it did that a couple of times in the first week, because the scene preceding it hadn’t been done well enough. But as the climax of a really tight farce scene, it was spot on.

Adlib songs - good when we had time for them, sometimes excellent, occasionally meh. Only skipped (because overrunning) two or three times.

Sweary Poppins - Brilliant. Felt like a cop-out to me cos it’s an old song, dating back to our 2nd or 3rd Edinburgh show, and a regular staple in our club set. But most of the audiences were hearing it for the first time so they loved it. A great way to end the show after the faux anticlimactic punchline.

Thanks for watching, now to write that new show...

 

July 31st -  August 25th 2019, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm #Edfringe