Friday 29 June 2012

"Bumhole" - Russell Kane

This exchange, tonight on Twitter:



Live At The Electric (who, according to this piece on the British Comedy Guide, have been getting very poor ratings): Want to watch an unseen Russell Kane bit from last night's show?

Me: Ratings-wise, wasn't it all unseen?

Russell Kane: nearly 2 million aggregate figures. Silence, bumhole!

I'm just saying, wouldn't that make a cracking quote for the posters?



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



The Socks at Mother Shipton's Cave

The Scottish Falsetto Socks are in the middle of a two night run at the Harrogate Theatre (on a double bill with the marvellous Ali Cook) and have taken the time to visit a local landmark, Mother Shipton's Cave in Knaresborough...



Do feel free to retweet this or any other Socks videos to your friends, it can't hurt. Meantime, if you're not a devoted Socks fans or comedy obsessive, the next few paragraphs won't interest you, thanks for your time.

Thursday night was the first of two previews of Boo Lingerie at the Harrogate Theatre, and a first outing for almost all of the material performed. The audience's patience was greatly appreciated given the rawness of the stuff, and the hit-or-miss nature of finding out, in public, whether things are as funny in practice as they seemed when you first dreamt them up. Here's the running order we gave them last night, with some notes. Tonight the order has been changed, some substitions made, and a lot of chaff trimmed.


Running order, Boo Lingerie Preview, Harrogate Thu 28 June 2012 

Opening Song - Horror "fire' song. It's rare for us to start a show without the traditional I'm A Sock song, and this isn't as strong. It doesn't set us up as funny from the start, doesn't define the characters enough, so will now be appearing later in the show. Tonight we'll open with I'm A Sock.

Poe routine - not the best opening routine. Gets one more try tonight then might get trimmed down to just one line.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire running gag. This starts well and runs through the show. With development it'll survive.

Boo Lingerie song. Not bad, try it again tonight.

Burke & Hare. Lots of good laughs in this, lots trimmed before tonight, possibly moved to the finale.

Poetry Olympics. Not bad, back tonight.

4 Horsemen. Not bad, back tonight.

Wicker Man & adlibs. Can only get better, back tonight.

The Beetle. This puzzles a lot of people and is too long. May try again tonight if time.

Magic Routine. From the touring show, this is so strong and on-topic that it stays in the show.

Scary Vicar & Friends. Best laughs of any new material of the night, back again tonight (when it'll probably die on its arse of course)

Walk On Wild Side + Always A Woman + Sweary Poppins - three standards from the touring show, included to beef up the safe laughs. One or two may get done again tonight.

Frankenstein/ Danny Boyle. Starts well, song very good, then needs cutting and rewriting. Will appear earlier in the show tonight (not finale material)

So, let's see how the show progresses. Tonight I aim to try out the Bucket List routine and GaGa Rasputin (which went well in Brighton), possibly losing The Beetle in the process. Let us see how things go. Work, as they say, in progress.

UPDATE: 21.08 Friday The Socks have just finished Harrogate 2, it was a triumph. Changing the order, and going on first (before Ali Cook, last night he opened and we closed) made a world of difference. Here are my notes:

Opened with I'm A Sock. It has 8 or more good laughs in the space of 2 and a half minutes. Unless we have something better than that to open the show it'll have to say. With an opening like that, every subsequent bit of material gets a 100 times warmer reception than it got last night.

Intro stuff was trad lines, then Lincoln Vampire stuff. Good. Then...

Boo Lingerie song. Memo to self: this song is only funny if the audience know that the show is called Boo Lingerie. If they don't, it's pointless. Might still work.

Poetry Olympics - some laughs, some groans, stays for now.

Poe - some groans, some people asking "what was that?", and it went wrong halfway through. Cutting room floor material.

Horror "fire" song - Too frenetic and loud to get laughs. It may have to go.

Bucket List - went brilliantly. First live outing and, with a bit of editing, this could be good.

4 Horsemen - good. Keep improving the performance, can only get better. Great applause at end.

Wicker Man / audience improv - need more audience interaction throughout. This developed very good rapport with elements in crowd that stayed to the end.

Scary Vicar & Friends - very good. Needs editing but lots is good, good laughs & applauded ending.

Gaga Rasputin - Wanted to try this. Not funny enough I think.

Frankenstein - Cut this off halfway through, just tried intro & song. Starts well but would need ending rewritten. Song good.

Ended with Magic & Sweary Poppins, both excellent obviously, perfect end to show. Only did 50 minutes as we were opening, so had to miss out Burke & Hare and The Beetle, both of which are still in the running for Edinburgh. Also didn't do Walk On Wild Side or Always A Woman, which we did last night, which is testament to how well it was going. Laughter and audience interaction added minutes to the show making a lot less material go a lot further.

My thoughts go out to the audience who had to watch Thursday night's preview, they got the short end of the stick. Tonight is how you want a preview to go. Now we have just a month to write a bit more, trim a lot more, and have the best brand new hour-long show anyone's ever. We continue...



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Monday 25 June 2012

Titus Andronicus - new from the Socks

Brand new from the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, their version of Titus Andronicus. A new piece that hasn't made the cut for the forthcoming Socky Horror Show Boo Lingerie.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Three Weeks Edinburgh Quick Quiz



Three Weeks Quick Quiz


The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre have become Fringe legends since their debut in 2007, and now they are returning with not one but two shows a day - a Socky Horror Show every night, and for the first time a kid-friendly hour in the mornings. How will they surive, we asked them in the ThreeWeeks Quick Quiz.

TW: Tell us about your 2012 show in no more than 60 words.
SFSPT: That's not fair, we have two shows a day so that's only 30 words each. And we've just used twenty of them. Dammit, twenty-one. Twenty-two. Okay, this isn't going well, quick, think. (Thirty) I know it's thirty! Shut up! (Thirty-six) That is not helping, idiot! (Forty) Er, double act..uh... Socks...um, help, funny (Fifty) That bloody does it! Come here you little


TW: Tell us about another show or performer you’re looking forward to seeing this year.
SFSPT: Morgan & West the Time-Travelling Magicians went to Adelaide with us earlier this year and they're excellent. And time-travellers, so they'll probably manage the two shows a day thing better than us.


TW: How will you be preparing for the Fringe this year?
SFSPT:Practising not using sweary-words ready for our first ever family-friendly show which we'll be doing in the mornings. We then have to remember all the sweary words again for the show at night. Don't swear in front of 7 year olds, do swear in front of drunks, that's easy to remember. Surely nothing can go wrong.


TW: What advice would you have for someone coming to the Fringe for the first time?
SFSPT:Come in 1984, it's way quieter. The time-travelling magicians told us that.


TW: If your show was an Olympic sport, what would it be and why?
SFSPT:We actually entered the Poetry Olympics once. We were in the Synchronised Not Waving But Drowning. B'doom-tish. We're on all month, try the fish.


Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre – Boo Lingerie! Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1-26 Aug, 10.40pm.
&
Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre – Chunky Woollen Nits,  Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-26 Aug (Thurs-Sun), 11am.

Saturday 23 June 2012

New family-friendly Socks Chunky ad (for iPhone)

Fresh from the artwork mill, an ad for the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's family-friendly show Chunky Woollen Nits at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Friday 22 June 2012

Keep Calm and OMG Panda! - comics by kids in the Comic Art Masterclass

Heavens to Betsy, haven't I been busy with a run of Comic Art Masterclasses, at schools in Bourne in Lincolnshire, and Blaby & Countesthorpe? Take a look at the front covers below, ye mighty and despair.



The celebs suggested by the kids for the "steps on a worm" demonstration this time were Keith Lemon (twice), Barack Obama, Jesse J and two brilliant wild card suggestions, Leonardo DaVinci and Willie Carson.

See these and many more in my Comic Art Masterclass archive.

I'm Kev F, the comic writer and artist who works for The Beano and Marvel comics and Doctor Who - and how many other people can boast that? If you would like to bring my Comic Art Masterclass to your school or art centre, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, note tied round a brick, whatever works. Click below to see more, including video and contact details.



RECOMMENDED COMIC BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS for Comic Art Masterclass students, teachers and librarians


Kid Afro Spaghetti - comics by kids in the Comic Art Masterclass

My oh my, I've been busy with a run of Comic Art Masterclasses, at schools in Bourne in Lincolnshire, and Blaby & Countesthorpe in Leicestershire. Take a look at these front covers below, ain't they grand?



The celebs the kids suggested for the "steps on a worm" demonstration that I do this time were Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole (twice), Bob Marley, David Walliams, The Queen, Harry Hill and (wild card of the week) Barbra Streisand. Turns out the kid suggested her because he liked the Duck Sauce record, had no idea who she actually is.

See these and many more in my Comic Art Masterclass archive.

I'm Kev F, the comic writer and artist who works for The Beano and Marvel comics and Doctor Who - and how many other people can boast that? If you would like to bring my Comic Art Masterclass to your school or art centre, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, note tied round a brick, whatever works. Click below to see more, including video and contact details.



RECOMMENDED COMIC BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS for Comic Art Masterclass students, teachers and librarians


Thursday 21 June 2012

New ad for Boo Lingerie (for iFringe)

The Socks have just had fun designing a new mini ad to appear on iFringe, the Fringe iPhone app. How's it looking?



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Tuesday 19 June 2012

Socks homepage tweaked

Small tweaks to Socks webpage, how's it look? Tell us if you spot any glitches.



Oh, and if you wanted to do us a big favour, you could click on a banner ad when you look at the website. It doesn't cost you anything, but it might generate a wee bit of money for us. Which would be nice.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Saturday 16 June 2012

Socks all over Chortle

Our thanks to the wonderful Steve Bennett of Chortle, who has picked up The Socks' Argyll & Bute video and stuck it on the front page. Watch it soon, it won't stay topical for long...



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Friday 15 June 2012

Argyll & Bute NeverSeconds Song - new from the Socks

Brand new from the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, their musical tribute to Martha Payne's NeverSeconds blog and the Argyll & Bute story of the day...



Anyone watching this in a few months, possibly even a few days time, will wonder what on earth it was all about. But for a short while it was a cause celebre. Maybe you had to be here.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Dear Berol, about those markers....

Dear Berol,

You make the single best flipchart marker in the world, and I should know, I use it all the time. The Berol Colour Marker in Black beats every other pen I have ever used. It is water-based so is perfect to use in schools (with pupils who will get it all over them and be able to wash it off, unlike spirit-based markers) and it doesn't soak through the flipchart pages (again unlike spirit-based markers).

But I seem to be unable to buy them from you. Why?


Let me explain who I am. My name is Kev F Sutherland - hi - I write and draw for comics such as The Beano, Marvel comics and Doctor Who Adventures (see my work at comicfestival.co.uk) and, most relevantly, I go around schools teaching my respected and renowned Comic Art Masterclasses. (See me in action here, including a clip of me using Berol Colour Marker Black pens on BBC 1's The One Show  with Gyles Brandreth).

Your pens are an invaluable part of my class, and my constant quest to improve the visual and literacy skills of school pupils in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales (and even Abu Dhabi would you believe) through my Comic Art Masterclasses. Their water-based black ink and their chisel tip makes them the most impressive and expressive tool one can use on a flipchart. You can see above some of the many flipchart pages I have left behind at schools, all produced using your pens.

But now I am told I can no longer buy these pens in boxes of 12, despite the fact that YOU STILL MAKE THEM! Yes, you may not realise this, but your factories make these pens and then refuse to sell them. The only way I can buy a Black Berol Marker is buy also buying a box containing 11 other colours that I don't need. This is crazy. If I want to buy an HB pencil, I'm not also obliged to buy every other thickness. If I want to buy a printer cartridge for my machine, I'm not also obliged to buy cartridges for 11 other machines that I can't actually use. If I want to buy a tin of beans, nobody forces me to buy 11 other assorted tinned vegetables for whatever bizarre reason they might think that a good idea. But if I want to buy a Berol Colour Marker in Black, I also have to buy a blue, which might, I concede, be useful; a red, which I'm sure I could find some use for if pushed; then a pale blue which no-one can see from across the room and trust me I've tried, then a yellow - a bloody yellow! Who the hell wants a yellow??? Ditto orange and all the other joke colours you've thrown in.

I want a black, and as it happens I want quite a lot of them. So where can I get them? You make them. They're sitting in your warehouse. So just after they roll off the conveyor belt but just before someone bundles them into the box with all the other unnecessary colours I don't need, is there any conceivable way someone could pack some into boxes of 12 and sell them, preferably to me?

Surely I can't be the only person to make this request. I hope it reaches you safely and please help me give you money in exchange for the excellent things you manufacture if you possibly can.

Yours, having to rely on Staples pens (and surely you don't want THAT???)


Kev F Sutherland
COMIC ART MASTERCLASSES

Neverseconds-Gate: Argyll & Bute Ukraine football connection?

Neo-Nazis
Argyll & Bute Council


The news today has been full of Martha Payne's brilliant school dinners blog Never Seconds, in which she photographed her school dinners every day. A splendid blog that was raising money for charity and actually helping improve the food at her school suddenly found itself banned by Argyll & Bute council who've taken it upon themselves to censor a 9 year old schoolgirl and forbid her taking photographs in school. This seems unusually heavy handed, as does the statement they have issued on the subject. And it was seeing this statement online that caused me to spot an odd similarity. Doesn't that Celtic Cross look uncannily like the one used as a symbol by neo-Nazi football supporters in the Ukraine, as revealed by BBC 1's Panorama last month? Are they related? We should be told.

NB: This post is purely for satirical purposes and is not meant to cast aspersions against the perfectly innocent symbol of the Celtic Cross which has been used in Scotland, Ireland and Europe by non-Nazis for many hundreds of years.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Wednesday 13 June 2012

Bucket List - new from the Scottish Falsetto Socks

Brand new video from the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. Here they have a look at the concept of the Bucket List. Click to play, enjoy...



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



In praise of Ents24 - Edfringe ticket prices update

Good old Ents24. The online events listing service have upped their game in recent months and seem to offer a comprehensive joined-up gig listing which no-one else can compare with. Quite how they do it I don't know, but they're now the go-to guys for the Scottish Falsetto Socks Gig Guide, and by default have now turned up as the Socks' Facebook gig guide. And just last night I spotted that the times and prices for our Edinburgh Fringe shows were listed incorrectly (our £5 preview shows, for exaple, were listed as full price), so I emailed them and by this morning they'd put it right.

So, apropos of nothing, well done Ents 24, keep up the good work.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's Previews: Harrogate June 28/29Rondo Bath July 9 • Beverly Puppet Festival July 13 • Tring July 19 • Manchester July 20 • Nottingham + Guildford July 21 • Derby July 22 • Bedford July 27 • Edinburgh Fringe August 1-27. Spread the word.

"Superbly written, crafted and performed show" ★★★★½ The Punch, Adelaide 2012
“An absolute winner” ★★★★ Chortle
 "For sheer energy and laughs per hour, these comic stockings are the biz denier miss it." - ★★★★ The Scotsman
"I experienced streaming tears of laughter and almost fell off my chair clutching my aching sides" ★★★★★ 5 STARS Broadway Baby

Manchester Boo Lingerie Preview July 20

Attention Socks fans in or around Manchester, there's a chance to see a preview of the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's new show Boo Lingerie at the Lass O'Gowrie in Manchester on July 20th as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe. Book now.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Edinburgh Fringe predictions revisited

Here's how the Socks appear on the Edinburgh Comedy Festival website. Sweet...


This year's Edinburgh Fringe programme came out over a week and a half earlier this year than back in 2010, meaning I've already had time to lose a copy (well, left it at my Mum's house where I just stayed). So I can't give it a thumb-through and review as I was about to. I can say, however, that I'm very pleased with it and am now on tenterhooks to see how the daring experiment of not booking a display ad will affect my advance sales. (I note that my fellow Adelaide acts Morgan & West and Ian D Montfort also appear to have decided against display ads, unless I missed them on my first few thumbs-through, sadly I can't check right this moment*). (*Actually I could if I look at the online version, which I may well do.)

Looking back at my blog I see that, in 2010 (the last time the Socks took a show up), I reviewed the programme and, in the process, tried to predict who would be nominated for awards. Just how right was I? My predictions were:

Comedy Award Nominees
Sarah Millican
Alex Horne
Shappi Khorsandi
Jeremy Lion
Jason Byrne

Best newcomer
Gary Delaney
Nat Luurtsema
Andi Osho
Greg Davies

Scottish Act Likely to get a nomination
Susan Calman

And the results?

Comedy Award Winner was Russell Kane (not on my list)
Nominees were Greg Davies (correct), Sarah Millican (correct), Bo Burnham, and Josie Long (who I should have guessed as she was nominated the year before and will, I think, get nominated every year until she wins, as happened with Russell Kane and Al Murray before her)

Best Newcomer was Roisin Conaty (not on my list, nor were any of the nominees:)
Asher Treleaven, Imran Yusuf, The Boy with Tape on His Face, Gareth Richards, and Late Night Gimp Fight. And as for Scottish acts nominated in any category? I don't think there were any were they?

What would I predict for this year? Well Josie Long to win, obviously. As for the rest? When I have a moment, I'll get back on the case. Now, if you'll excuse me, the new show still needs some more work (he says euphemistically, it's currently a big jumble of stuff, with some nifty new songs, looking a bit like Frankenstein's monster, but made of scripts stuck together with sellotape and post-it pads. Getting there.)

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!



Tuesday 12 June 2012

Socks Edinburgh Fringe Previews - only £5

Word to the wise: when the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's brand new show, Boo Lingerie, opens at the Edinburgh Fringe this August, the first three nights are previews, with tickets at only £5. You might care to book now, these will (if the past 4 years are anything to go by) sellout first and sellout fast. Facebook listing, please Retweet



Aug 1, 2, 3 Previews: ONLY £5
Aug 4,5, 8,9, 13-16, 20 - 23: £9 (£8)
Aug 6 & 7 - 2 for 1
Aug 10-12, 17-19, 24-26: £10 (£9)






See all other Socks tour dates in the Scottish Falsetto Socks Gig Guide.

Sunday 10 June 2012

Brand new Socks BOO LINGERIE & CLASSIC t-shirts now available

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are producing not one but two BRAND NEW T-SHIRTs for 2012's Edinburgh Fringe. One for Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show, and one Classic design which is also the promo photo for the family-friendly show Chunky Woollen Nits. These are both limited edition shirts which are ready to go to print, order them now to be sure of getting the size and design you want

Here's the Boo Lingerie design...



And here's the Classic design...



Each shirt costs just £18 inc postage / $28US inc postage.
To order, simply pay by Paypal to sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk including in your order the design you want (either BOO or CLASSIC) plus the size you want and your full address.

Once the orders are in we'll be printing them to the sizes requested. Shirts will also be on sale at the Socks summer shows and at Edinburgh, but to be sure of getting a shirt in your size, it's best to order now.

Sizes are:
(Male) S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL
(Female) S, M, L Skinnyfit
Kids Age 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-11, 12-13, 14-15

All orders will be collated over next weekend and despatched during the following week. Any queries, email sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk . Anyone wanting to bulk buy, ask about a discount for orders of more than 10 shirts (mixed sizes are easy).


The Boo Lingerie design, simply ask for BOO in your order


The Classic design, simply ask for CLASSIC in your order

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!





See all other Socks tour dates in the Scottish Falsetto Socks Gig Guide.
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