Brand new from the Scottish Falsetto Socks, they look at the Daily Express and its favourite news item (as featured in a recent blog). And say hello to the new Sox News set, hope you like it. If you're lucky it might reappear.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 14 - Camden Head, London
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 7 - Butlins, Bognor
June 11 - Camden Head, London
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Assembly Rooms
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
July 18 - Leeds Carriageworks
July 19 - Cradley Heath Comedy Festival
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014 

St Andrew - new Scottish Falsetto Socks video

Brand new from the Socks, a complete and 100% accurate slice of Scottish history, the story of St Andrew. Enjoy.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 14 - Camden Head, London
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 7 - Butlins, Bognor
June 11 - Camden Head, London
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Assembly Rooms
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
July 18 - Leeds Carriageworks
July 19 - Cradley Heath Comedy Festival
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014 

Take A Leif - new song from the Socks

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre sing a cautionary song to Justin Bieber, all about one of his predecessors Leif Garrett who, I've only just noticed, shares an easily confusable arrangement of the letters i and e in his name, a gag we totally forgot to put into the song.

In fact we wrote and recorded this video last week and I failed to post  it up here on the blog. It already feels out of date just a few days later, so I can only apologise to posterity who must be wondering what a Justin Bieber was (or alternatively why people are singing such nasty things about President Bieber all those years ago).

A quick topical song is one of those things that so easy to write and which, if I had a regular gig on a weekly topical comedy show, would be a great skill to utilise. But topicality really is the route to obscurity, as these songs I've spotted from a year ago testify. Does anyone know why I would have bothered writing (and the Socks recording) songs about footballer Eden Hazard, and the closing of Blockbuster? Seemed a good idea at the time.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 14 - Camden Head, London
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 7 - Butlins, Bognor
June 11 - Camden Head, London
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Live
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014  

Address to the Haggis on Chortle

And the Socks Address to the Haggis has made it onto the front page of Chortle, which is nice.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 14 - Camden Head, London
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 7 - Butlins, Bognor
June 11 - Camden Head, London
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Live
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014  

Sci Fi Genres - Scottish Falsetto Socks live in Bath

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre played their full theatre gig of the year last night at the Rondo Theatre in Bath. Here's the tiniest of clips from the show, giving a taste of just how smashing the Bath audiences are.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 14 - Camden Head, London
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 7 - Butlins, Bognor
June 11 - Camden Head, London
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Live
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014  

Am I Addicted to Facebook?

When did I start getting so addicted to Facebook? Time was, and I know cos I just looked at my Timeline from this month in 2010, that I would use Facebook purely for self promotion. Whether or not this is a good thing, and many would say it's not, it shows a dedication and single-mindedness that I find myself envying.

Back then I would post up the latest Socks video, the news of a forthcoming Sitcom Trials script selection, and comics from a Comic Art Masterclass, then I'd move on and get on with producing stuff. There, in the top right hand corner of my Facebook page, would be that picture of a globe and beside it would be a red blob bearing the number "99+". It was only when someone drew my attention to it that I realised these were comments that I should be responding to.

I responded to the Messages. They were after all respresented by a voice bubble icon, and anyone who knows me knows that I respect the voice bubble. And they were messages for me which, though slightly more ephemeral and unreal than actual emails, deserved a reply. I'd got work from Facebook Messages so I wasn't about to go ignoring them. But the things with the Globe icon, what were they?

Well at some point the Globey iconey things became my first thing to look at whenever I opened up the computer. Never mind reading the news in the Guardian or checking my emails, I was looking at my Facebook commenty things. And why? Because someone was commenting (often inanely) on some comment (always inane) I'd made on something I had liked (flatulently) or shared (pathetically). And when you've started replying to things, you can't resist scrolling down the page to find more fresh things to comment on. It feels like you're joining a conversation, and who's to say it's not?

The trouble is, a lot of the trivia that gets chucked up on Facebook feels like it's informative, it's frequently articles the like of which I would read in the paper anyway. Have you read anything on Messy Nessy Chic or Buzzfeed? Tell me there's nothing there that's slightly interesting. And when I read an interesting article myself, I share it, making me a big part of the problem. I'm in a bit of a sharing feedback loop. Is it necessarily a bad thing, or am I worrying unnecessarily because, this being a quiet month for gigs and schools, I've been at my desk and laptop a lot more than in previous months, and am feeling I've wasted too much time on Facebook? Let me examine the mote in mine own eye. What nonsense have I liked, shared, and commented upon this month?

UPDATE: Today, since writing this post, I've tried to ignore Facebook. Now staring at this...

Today:
- I've commented on a links from Nevs Coleman who's leaving Facebook  for similar reasons that I would give if I had his willpower;
- I posted feeble gag "Last night I ate haggis wearing a tutu. That's a second class degree Burns Night."
- I've commented on the bad grammar in someone's post;
- I shared the article by Stuart Jeffires I'd just read in the (printed) Guardian;
- I've engaged in a conversation about how early you need to check in in advance of an internal easyjet flight;
- I made the side-splitting gag "Times leader columns have gone downhill." about a Justin Bieber rant someone had quoted;
- I thanked people who'd thanked me for last night's Socks gigs & I asked my Mum, via her time line, how last night's Burns Supper went.

Yesterday (during which time I went into Bristol to the museum and the shops then went to Bath and performed the first full Socks gig of the year, a triumph now you ask):

-

Kev commented on a link. 4:42pm

Mac at 30 www.stephenfry.com Though anyone who has seen or read The Agony & The Ecstacy of Steve Jobs will tell you, this is only half the story: http://mikedaisey.com/Mike_Daisey_TATESJ_transcript_2.0.pdf

Kev commented on a link. 4:25pm

12 things not to say on Twitter in 2014 www.theguardian.com Or, alternatively, this person is an arrogant cock who can't stand people without English degrees from Oxbridge being allowed to write anything ever. We can't all invent a new vocabulary every week. (Oh hang on, it's Daniel Maier, I like him, Ok, he's being ironic, I'll forgive him).

Kev commented on a status. 4:15pm

James Delingpole Keep going James. What's the worst that could happen? http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/24/two-jailed-twitter-abuse-feminist-campaigner

Kev commented on a status. 4:12pm

Alex Collier Never been caught out by this easyjet/Ryanair cut off thing. They announce the gate 40 mins before take-off and start boarding sometimes half an hour before take off. I've arrived 5 mins before boarding and sailed through, which is great if you get bored in airport queues but not worth risking at busy times (busiest time is 4.30 in the morning at the start of school hols. The queue in Bristol airport can be literally miles long*)

Kev commented on a status. 10:49am

Jamie Smart You should try using iMovie. And if you do, invent another colourful metaphor for me, you're good at them.

And on Friday?

Kev shared a link. 10:42pm

The Cure Shreds My new favourite thing is Shreds. Here's The Cure. Watch the drummer.

Kev posted a link to Heather Tweed's timeline. 9:22pm

Bristol 1950s and 60s www.flickr.com Fabio doodads

Kev shared a link. 1:33pm

The Death Of Batman 2002 fan made DVD www.ebay.co.uk You're kidding. Not a single bid for this classic? Someone's not reading those reviews.

Kev commented on a link. 9:49am

Canada 'bans Marmite and Irn Bru' www.bbc.co.uk To the shame of my nation, Irn Bru contains an ingredient called Ponceau. Who knew?

Kev shared a link. 9:46am

UK Newspaper Front Pages | Paperboy Online Newspapers www.thepaperboy.com Daily Express continues its brilliant ongoing gag by having the same photo of Madelieine McCann in its front cover for the 250th time http://www.thepaperboy.com/uk/front-pages.cfm

Kev shared a link. 9:44am

LEIF GARRETT I WAS MADE FOR DANCING Last night's Top Of The Pops 1979 reminded me, Justin Bieber IS Leif Garrett. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GVugJj7BUs (Someone should show Justin Leif's Wikipedia page. It can't hurt).

Kev commented on his own link. 9:36am

Kev F comic art: Comic Art Masterclasses - to Norfolk & beyond kevfcomicart.blogspot.com Noooooooooo! Fife Libraries be getting an email today.

Kev commented on a status. 9:23am

Jamie Smart I say office. (Wish I had a funnier answer)

... and so on.

Finally I posted a link to this blog. Will I manage to do less of this and get more work done having shamed myself with this bout of naval gazing. I would like to think so. But those two unexamined comments I see in the red blob beside the white globe are so so... now there are three comments waiting. Damn...

What I did this week - Pottering

So, what did you do this week? Some weeks it's easier to look back on and measure and some less so. This is one of those ones where I'm thinking the latter. So, just to remind myself...

I wrote ten Pansy Potter strips, on spec. At time of writing I don't know whether I'll get the go ahead to draw them*. If I don't, I essentially wasted a day. The previous week I wrote, and laid out in my characteristic biro scribble style (which takes many times longer than a type script but far better gets the joke across for this kind of comic strip, I feel) a set of Keyhole Kate scripts which didn't get commissioned, amounting again to another day down the Swannee.

Last Friday the Socks played their first gig of the year, their triumphant Address To The Haggis in Glasgow, and tomorrow (Saturday) they do their first 90 minute show of 2014. Those are the sort of landmarks that make sense and are memorable.

The rest of this week, however, has been "time at my desk". Which, when it's not producing a particular thing for an obvious deadline which subsequently appears and that we can all enjoy, is nebulous and frustrating to look back on. (I realise, saying that, that I may have summed up many people's entire jobs, but what can I say? I like to produce things that appear in public, and a week working in private is an odd thing to me).

On the mundanest level I contacted a lot of schools. This is something I do sporadically, finding the contact details for schools in areas around the country, and emailing them about the Comic Art Masterclasses. This week I've been reaching out to new schools in Scotland and East Anglia, (resisting the temptation to title that blog post "Norfolk an idea") and have taken a number of bookings for the year. This has, of course, been one of those weeks when I haven't visited a school, so I don't have the kids comics to look at (though I have two day's worth still to post up from the schools I've done this month, still to share with you, you lucky people). Basically I've done secretarial work for the best part of three days.

Creatively I need to write some stuff for the Socks to help their pitch to TV. I bought a new camera at the weekend to help with that process and still have that to get on with.

I also wrote, in one page rough outline at the moment, a Doctor Who story which I think is rather brilliant. Of course even if I fully plot it and script it, it can never be made. It's a very visual TV script that would work neither as audio, novel or comic strip, and therefore something in the back of my mind is reminding me there's no point finishing it because it would be a lot of time wasted. But it would be a demo script, I remind myself. And suddenly I'm having one of those conversation that I have with myself when I'm not on an immediate deadline, and such are the internal workings of the mind of a writer.

And don't get me started on the time I've wasted on Facebook**. Facebook has become the biggest thief of time in recent months and I'm not sure why. It is undeniably addictive.

Oh yes, and when I start to wonder what's happened to the work I would do in the evenings, I suddenly recall, Hev and I just finished watching Breaking Bad. On Wednesday night we watched the final three episodes of the Final Season, having watched the preceding 3 episodes on Tuesday night, and the first 2 on Monday night, the DVD having arrived in Monday's post.

We had such withdrawal symptoms that last night we watched the DVD extras, which are amazing.

Today (Friday) I look forward to having something great to report from my day's work. Onwards and upwards.

* UPDATE 29/1/14 - Nine out of the 10 Pansy Potters were accepted and I've just drawn and delivered them. My first art for the Beano in over 5 years. Hooray! Also today's Beano features my name on the Bananaman strip drawn by Wayne, the first time my name's appeared since 2009. Ironically the script (Derailed) was delivered as a typescript and has been totally re-written so it bears no resemblance to the one I sent in. Literally not one word is the same. Still, baby steps.

**UPDATE: Dammit! I just did it again. Looked at Facebook, swearing I would just read any responses to my very important posts (a concept that only exists in my mind) then found myself scrolling down until I found a post I could add a smart-arsed comment to. Pathetic! (The comment was "Whisky Ga-Gore", a brilliant joke I'm sure. And a minute of my life I'll never get back).

Comic Art Masterclasses - to Norfolk & beyond

Hi everyone, I'm Kev F Sutherland, the comics writer and artist who's worked for everyone from The Beano to Doctor Who Adventures via Marvel Comics, Match and dozens more over the last two decades. Now, when I'm not writing Bananaman and drawing Bash Street Kids Adventures, I bring my famous Comic Art Masterclasses to schools and libraries, and in 2014 I'm hoping to reach parts I've never reached before.

In a morning or afternoon session I can teach pupils of any age 7 and upwards how to tell stories in pictures and, by the end of the workshop, they go away clutching a comic book containing a strip by every single one of them plus an individual comic strip by me.

My Comic Art Masterclasses have been to schools all over England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland and as far afield as Jersey, Norway and Abu Dhabi. (If you're reading the hyperlinked version of this, do follow the links to see me in all these places). Here's the video of me in action.

I'm available at a cost that's little more than a supply teacher, and I can work my magic with up to 60 pupils in a school day. However, because I'm based near Bristol, there are some parts of the country it's harder to get to than others. So, while I'm happy to hear from any school anywhere at any time, (do please get in touch), I'm also looking to arrange a few mini-tours to help make travel more sensible. So I'm looking to come to schools in:

East Anglia - March 24th - 28th
Fife - April 1st - 3rd
East Anglia - April 14th - 17th
The North Of England (Liverpool to Hull) - May 19th - 23rd

If your school or library is in those areas (large and vague as they may be) and would like to take the Comic Art Masterclass on any of those dates, I can do so for a lower price than if I had to make a one-off cross-country trip. So please get in touch if you're interested and I'll quote accordingly. With visits already planned to Glasgow, Falkirk and Toulouse, you can see distance is no object.

I look forward to teaching your pupils my fine and oft-neglected artform. All the very best till then

Kev F Sutherland
COMIC ART MASTERCLASSES
comicfestival.co.uk

Address to the Haggis - Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre

Here are the Socks, performing their legendary rendition of Burns' Address To The Haggis. This is a new studio version, the live version from Friday night in Glasgow may yet emerge. Enjoy, and feel free to use this at your own Burns Supper.

This is the first piece produced using the Socks' new DV camera, which should see an improvement in sound and picture quality over previous videos. Let us know if you can tell the difference.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 14 - Camden Head, London
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 7 - Butlins, Bognor
June 11 - Camden Head, London
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Live
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014  

Socks Address The Haggis

"Sonsie - rhymes with Beyonce" The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre give the Address To The Haggis (photo courtesy of Alan Anderson)

Thanks to the Prince & Princess Hospice Glasgow for having the Socks do the Address to the Haggis last night at the Hilton. Loved it and, luckily, so did the (count em) 600 punters. The Socks performance was projected on the big screens behind us and I'd love to get a copy of it. We'll see. In the meantime I got some photos of the amazing Karen Dunbar, Alan Anderson, Peter Martin, Viv Lumsden and Libby McArthur. Yes, I know. Socks were on that Burns Celebration bill. Braw.



And here (above) is Karen Dunbar doing her amazing Tam O'Shanter. Brought the house down, to a standing ovation, the most incredible performance. I've found a clip of Karen doing it on TV a few years ago, which is very flat compared to the electric rendition she gave last night. If you ever get the chance to see her do it, you simply must.

Fun notes from the night: Talking to River City star Libby McArthur, who gave the Response to the Laddies speech brilliantly, I learn that she was a teenage pop star, being a founder member of the band Sophisticated Boom Boom, who had a few John Peel sessions and appeared on The Tube. This is them doing their biggest almost-hit Courage.

And courtesy of Alan Anderson, who gave a sterling Toast To The Lassies, we all learned that Karen Dunbar once had a job as a face painter. Earlier in the afternoon Alan had asked Facebook friends for ideas for face painter gags and I was rather pleased with the ones I came up with:

I took my kid to the face painter. I said can you make her look like she's a lion? So she made her look like Tony Blair #facepaintergags

So he paints my kids face orange with black stripes and makes her neck five feet long. I said are you having a giraffe? #facepaintergags

I ask for a clown. He paints an exact copy of my kid's face on another kid's face. No, not clone! #facepaintergags

... so I gave him a Picasso. He's got a nose on the side of his face now. #facepaintergags

Went to the face painter. He took my money and just ran off. Turned out he was a two faced painter. #facepaintergags

I said can you make my kids look like something from the jungle? He turned them into Ant & Dec. #facepaintergags

Then he starts painting my kid to look like Mo Farah. I thought, he's about to do a runner. #facepaintergags

He starts painting a BA Hons Degree certificate on my kids face. I thought, that's a first. #facepaintergags

He starts doing Violet Carson off of Coronation Street, really low down on the kid's face. I said, no I wanted a hyena. #facepaintergags

He starts painting a badger, then another badger, then another badger. I thought, he's going to do a set. #facepaintergags

Alan, understandably, didn't use any of those gags. The Socks might have the start of a new routine though.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 8 - Butlins, Bognor
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Live
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014  

Me in the Hull Daily Mail

I didn't manage to see the print version of this, which had lots of pictures from the show. But here's my first press appearance of 2014, from the Hull Daily Mail.



The Flame-Haired Dynamo at Hull Truck Theatre: The Marvel-meets-Roy of the Rovers cartoons of Kev Sutherland
By Hull Daily Mail | Posted: January 01, 2014
As Hull Truck Theatre hosts its Christmas fantasy show The Flame-Haired Dynamo, which runs until January 11, Ian Midgley talks to artist Kev Sutherland, the man charged with creating the comic book world of its goal-scoring hero.
TO BE honest, Kev Sutherland never used to read Roy Of The Rovers. He was more of a Marvel man. Growing up in Leicestershire, his boyhood daydreams were fuelled by the adventures of Spider-Man, the Hulk and the weird and wonderful cast of characters in British sci-fi comic 2000AD, led by Tharg The Mighty from the planet Quaxxann.
He was not a particular fan of Roy's on-pitch antics at Melchester Rovers – for him, the footballing story lines were a little too "ordinary".
Yes, Roy may have been kidnapped numerous times by South American gangsters, faced endless promotion and relegation dogfights and even lost a leg in a helicopter crash, but the Melchester icon just did not have the same appeal as superpowered mutants in spandex and capes.

Read more: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Flame-Haired-Dynamo-Hull-Truck-Theatre-Marvel/story-20386470-detail/story.html#ixzz2qZ8soMxg

"Looking back at the football comics of the Seventies and Eighties, they were very gritty and mundane," says artist Kev, 52.
"To me, they were very reminiscent of the back streets of Sheffield or Oldham. And the crowds in the background were not a pretty bunch. You could almost smell the Hai Karate.
"I preferred the shiny, muscular figures in superhero comics, with spaceships flying around in the background."
But that doesn't mean Kev does not appreciate the artistry of footballing magazines such as Scorcher and Tiger, in which Roy first appeared. As a man who went on to draw comics for Marvel, not to mention The Beano, Doctor Who Magazine, the Red Dwarf Smegazine, Viz and Oink, he knows quality craftsmanship when he sees it.
That is why he drew heavily on those iconic drawing styles when he was asked to create a fictional new comic character for Hull Truck's festive Christmas show The Flame Haired Dynamo.
The Dynamo of the title is Titch McCreavie, a Boys' Own hero of Roy Of The Rovers-proportion. And when grown-up Chris McCann finds his life falling apart, without a job, money or luck, he retreats into the fictional world of his boyhood comic books in a show that has been described as a cross between A Christmas Carol and Back To The Future.
For the Flame-Haired Dynamo show, Kev, who has drawn iconic characters such as The Bash Street Kids, Dennis The Menace, Roger the Dodger and Minnie the Minx, was asked to draw 50 panels charting McCreavie's fictional adventures, which could then be brought to life onstage.
Kev said: "I got involved because I came to Hull Truck a short while ago to do one of my comic art master classes. Nick Lane, who directs The Flame Haired Dynamo, saw me and thought he could use me in the show.
"Dynamo is basically looking back to the footballing comics of the Seventies and, in the show, they come alive.
"Although I didn't really read the football comics, I did inherit two years' worth of Scorcher comics from my cousin, so they were a great source of inspiration.
"Looking at them now, the art was actually very good. they were very well drawn. But there's no real equivalent of them today.
"Kids don't really have comics like they did in the Seventies and Eighties, it all been superceded by Xboxes and video games.
"Just looking at the old Scorcher comics made me realise that later generations don't have that connection with comics like I did and my mates did.
"Of course, there's still Batman and Captain America and things like that, but there's no modern equivalent of Roy Of The Rovers.
For Kev, whose only previous venture into footballing culture was drawing Match magazine's Galaxy Wanderers, delving into Titch McCreavie's world was "a joy".
"It was huge fun to do," says Kev.
"I tried to create a pastiche of the old football comics. It was like being an art student again, studying how they did it and then trying to recreate it.
"I had to take photos of the actors in the rehearsal rooms and then create the characters for the comic that looked like them.
"The story has these great bullet points where the actors disappear into the comic book world and the characters come alive.
"I haven't seen the show yet, but I'm really hoping to catch it. I've heard it great. I can't wait to see my artwork onstage playing its part."
The Flame-Haired Dynamo runs at Hull Truck Theatre, Ferensway, Hull, until Saturday, January 11. Tickets cost from £12. Call 01482 323638. Visit hulltruck.co.uk for information.
Comic book masterclass
BORN in Aberdeen, and brought up in Leicestershire, Kev F Sutherland was always destined to be a comic book illustrator.
Growing up on a diet of Marvel and 2000AD adventures, with favourites including Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four and The Savage Sword Of Conan, his first published work was in Oink satirical magazine.
He has since gone on to pen Dr Strange, Star Trek and Werewolf By Night for Marvel, Ickle Bitty Werewolf On Bash Street and The Bash Street Zombies for The Beano and Tarquin Hoylet, He Has To Go To The Toilet for Viz.
As well as a comic book cartoonist, he has also worked as a stand-up comedian and is the founding member of The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. He regularly runs comic book masterclasses around the country.

Read more: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Flame-Haired-Dynamo-Hull-Truck-Theatre-Marvel/story-20386470-detail/story.html#ixzz2qZ8yecN0

Shia - new video from the Scottish Falsetto Socks

At last the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre have recorded their first new video of the year, a trubute to the legend that is Shia LaBeouf. We hope you enjoy it.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Spread Eagle, Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 8 - Butlins, Bognor
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Live
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014 

In praise of Staples

Belatedly I'd just like to take a moment to sing the praise of Staples. I was worried that the pen that I use for all of my caricatures, their own-brand Staples Duramark chisel-tipped black marker, had disappeared from their stores. Outlet after outlet, which had once had them proudly on their shelves in boxes of 12, now seemed to have none at all. Or those they did were in packs of 4 or, horror of horrors, multicoloured packs (the fate that has already, irreversibly, befallen my favourite flipchart marker from Berol, see blogs passim*).

And increasingly I was finding none on show anywhere. And so I asked. Well, I say asked. I bleated. I whined and whinnied, passive-aggressively, in public, on Facebook and Twitter, like a spoiled brat who'd been denied a second pony. And what do you know it worked.

Not only did I receive a pack of complimentary pens just before Christmas, with the lovely handwritten note you can see above, signed by "The Whole Staples Team", but also I was very helpfully given the SKU code (the code is 370090, though don't ask me what SKU stands for). With this code I can get any store to find the pens in stock if they're not on the shelves - it's worked twice already - without having to search for its name and scour catalogues.

So, with the greatest of thanks to Staples, I'm already back in the swing of caricaturing (having done one party and two schools so far this year I've drawn around 250 faces already) and looking forward to more of it as the year progresses.


First caricaturing gig of the year. The kids keep saying I look like Doctor Who. I have no idea why.



* Berol followed up my enquiries about their hard-to-find pens by offering my Comic Art Masterclasses as a competition prize to schools, and sponsoring my appearances across the country. I wonder who else fancies taking up that option..?

Odin help us - The Avengers & the state of comics

Too old to read comics?

Here's the fate of comics today in one experience. Yesterday I bought the first of a new part-work advertised on TV, the Marvel Mightiest Heroes graphic novel collection. From the point of view of someone who's worked most of his life in comics and been a comic fan since earliest childhood, and who now spends half the year teaching kids how to write and draw comics, this publication was a most exciting one for me.

Instead of selling toys or figurines, this publication was selling full length graphic novels, in a set of collectible volumes, a perfect opportunity to get a new generation of readers interested in my earliest favourite artform, and all for just £1.99 a book. Excellent.

Well not quite. For starters this first issue is £1.99, but within the next few issues it will go up to £9.99 at which point I would expect all readers to stop buying (Marvel graphic novels being available in larger volumes for lower prices in regular bookshops anyway).

The next problem with this collection came emblazoned on the cover. "This book contains material unsuitable for readers under 15 years of age". Pardon? An Avengers comic, unsuitable for under 15s? It's a kids comic. It's not Jaws or the sodding Exorcist (forgive me for examples of adult-oriented reading coming from my own childhood). It's the Avengers. A comic book about men and women in tights fighting aliens with silly names and blowing things up. And you can't read it until you're 15?

Fifteen is when you should be growing out of it and reading proper challenging grown up writing. By the age of fifteen I'd been reading Marvel comics for ten years already (I started reading Marvel comics in the weekly reprint comics Fantastic and Terrific when I was 5 years old) and had discovered a wider range of advanced graphic material (Claire Bretecher, Asterix, Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Star Reach & Jim Steranko's Chandler at the time - Alan Moore et al had yet to appear when I was 15) plus of course books without pictures. And now we're suggesting the Avengers is only suitable for the over 15s? Odin help us.

The final nail in the coffin for this publication, a smartly presented 100 page glossy full colour hardback book of the highest quality, came when I read it. Oh dear. Do you know what? Mostly it's not very good.



The first part of the book is a reprint of Avengers No 1 from 1963, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It's a game-changing epochal moment from the history of comics, and provided the foundation for one of the biggest selling film franchises of this decade. But it has the most atrocious and risible dialogue imaginable, ladled over a feeble plot of mind-numbing inconsequence, and Jack Kirby's art, especially to the untutored eye, is unimpressive. I'm a comic historian so I know how much better his work gets, and I can see it in context. But for the first time reader, I cannot see this fifty year old reprint working its magic on a new generation.

The 50 year old reprint is followed by a more recent reprint, Ultron Unlimited by Kurt Busiek and George Perez. And perhaps I should be ashamed of myself as a disgrace to my artform, but after 5 pages of resumes of soap opera characters in silly costumes, about whom I knew little and cared less, I literally threw the book onto the bed and declared out loud "wait a minute, I'm too old to read this shit."

I originally grew out of reading Avengers comics when I was 17 or 18 and I went to Art College, around which time Alan Moore's V For Vendetta and the heyday of 2000AD comic was underway, and the term "graphic novel" was on the brink of being mentioned on Radio 4. I shouldn't have looked back.

Great unused scripts of our time No 97 - Keyhole Kate

I'm sure we all have a favourite line we wrote this week. This (above) was mine. (From a Bananaman strip, to be drawn by Wayne Thompson, to appear later this year in The Beano).



The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglae, as Rabbie Burns said (reminding me I have to swot up my Burns cos the Socks will be addressing the haggis in Glasgow in a week's time), and so it was with one of my writing ideas this week. Having been writing quite a lot of Bananaman scripts, which Wayne Thompson will be drawing, most of which have yet to appear (see below), I'm hoping to get something accepted by The Beano that I might draw myself. Competition is fierce, but it's worth a try. So it was that I had a stab at writing Keyhole Kate.

Yesterday I wrote, and laid out in my characteristic biro-scribble style as you can see in the excerpt above, three single page Kate scripts. Car Keys, from which the above clip comes; Through The Keyhole, guest starring Keith Lemon and an endescope; and Safecracker. Sadly they won't be seeing the light of day because, as I should have realised, Keyhole Kate is a Dandy character not a Beano character, and as such already appears in the annuals. D'oh!

Back, quite literally, to the drawing board. Meanwhile, for my benefit mainly, here's a checklist of the Bananaman stories I've written so far:

Vom-Thing - a 4 pager for the 2015 annual
Dilemma - single pager for 2015 annual
Smoothie - single pager for 2015 annual

Invasion - Single pager, appeared in Beano Nov 2013
Trojan Queen - Double pager, appeared in Beano Dec 2013

The rest have yet to appear:

Atlantic Tunnel - 2pp
Bridge - 2pp
Our Boys - 2pp
King Kong parts 1 & 2 - 4pp in 2 parts
Miracle Banana parts 1 & 2 - 4pp in 2 parts
Genocide (renamed Annihilation) - 2pp
Banoffie Pie - 2pp

And the following are written but yet to be green-lit:

Creepy Pasta - 2pp
Damson In Distress - 2pp
Mail Train - 2pp
Robot Romance - 2pp
Teddy Bear - 2pp

37 pages of Bananaman? Why that's virtually a graphic novel, and certainly the greatest fun to write. But I don't think it's giving away too many industry secrets to admit it doesn't pay as well as drawing does, despite taking up quite a lot of time. So the quest to draw continues. Onwards and upwards.

 

And so the year begins

Back at my desk getting stuck into the year, and already we've done a bit of everything.



I mean hands up who's already done caricatures at a Bar Mitzvah in North London, done an interview about The Beano and the Flame Haired Dynamo on BBC Radio Humberside, arranged the travel for the Sock Puppets' first ever Burns Supper in Glasgow in a week or so (where they'll be addressing the haggis live for the first time), discovered they're playing at Butlins in Bognor in June (above), and delivered two new Bananaman scripts to The Beano and saved one of them from possible rejection by removing the word Genocide from it and, in order to do so, rewriting half the words in the entire script and firing it back by return of email?

What, just me then? Admittedly I did get into the office on Thursday and Friday of last week too, so I ought to have more to show for my time (does catching up on a fortnight's emails count for nothing? And registering our shows at this year's Brighton Fringe, that took an inordinate length of time). I wrote a blog that's had more than 1800 views (way more than my average, for no explicable reason). And I have uploaded some ropey home movies from the archives, for what they're worth. Stay tuned for the Socks' first video creations of the year.

To come this year I have more Comic Art Masterclasses in schools to look forward to (including a week in Toulouse, which is nouvelle), and a Socks tour which already has 22 full theatre dates notched up before Edinburgh with plenty more to be confirmed. Now if you'll excuse me I was hoping to get some blue sky thinking done, but all I can see out there is a lot of wind and rain. Here's to a good 2014 at our respective work stations.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Jan 25 2014 - Rondo, Bath
Feb 12 - Comedy Den Cardiff
Feb 14 - Leicester Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Mar 15 - Largs Barrfields Pavilion
Mar 20, 21 - Dram, Glasgow
Mar 22 - Croydon
Mar 29 - Kings Lynn Arts Centre
Apr 3 - Adam Smith Theatre Kirkcaldy
Apr 12 - Stroud Subscription Rooms
May 9 - Exeter Barnfield
May 17 - Brighton Komedia
May 23 - Keighley Exchange
May 31 - Aylesbury Limelight
June 8 - Butlins, Bognor
June 19 - Phoenix Arts, Bordon Hants
June 20 - Derby Live
June 21 - Halifax Square Chapel
June 22 - Derby (family show)
More dates to be announced
August - Edinburgh Fringe 2014