Spectre Theme - Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre

Brand new from the Socks, their take on the theme tune for the new James Bond film Spectre. As you no doubt know, Sam Smith sings The Writing's On The Wall in the new film. Why isn't the song called Spectre? The Socks know. Click to play, please enjoy.
 

 

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 22 - Clevedon Theatre Shop
Oct 23 - Salford Kings Arms
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 Aberystwyth Arts Christmas Special

Socks t-shirt transfers (Boo Lingerie & Socks In Space) - only £4

Available for the first and only time, here are iron-on transfers for the t-shirts from two legendary Scottish Falsetto Socks shows - 2012's Boo Lingerie, and 2013's Socks In Space.

As a result of over-ordering prints and under-ordering shirts, we have a handful of transfers waiting to be pressed onto the garment of your choice, and they're only £4 each (plus £1.50 postage).

You can have a pair (one of each) for £7 inc postage, or either one individually for just £5.50 inc postage.

Pay by Paypal to sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk remembering to include your name, mailing address, and which design you want.

Be quick, you're looking at the entire stock in the photo above.

 

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 22 - Clevedon Theatre Shop
Oct 23 - Salford Kings Arms
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 Aberystwyth Arts Christmas Special

Minging Detectives t shirts clearance sale - everything must go

Roll up! Roll up! Get yer last few Socks' Minging Detectives t shirts while they last!

Having proved popular at Edinburgh, we have a few of the limited edition Minging Detectives t shirts left (as you can see above), and this is your last chance to grab them. Now only £18/$28 inc postage (US rate applies worldwide).

The sizes remaining are S (2 left), M (1), L (2), Ladyfit M (1) and Ladyfit S (1). So there are no XLs or Ladyfit Ls left (and unless there's overwhelming demand, ie a big order, we're not planning to print a new run).

UPDATE - the XXL shirt mentioned in the first posting of this blog has now gone.

If you want to order one - EMAIL FIRST to check if your size is left (sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk) - then you'll pay £18/$28 by Paypal to sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk including in your order the size you want and your full address and a shirt will be yours.

Be quick, once these have gone, they've gone. However, as consolation, we have a goodly supply of Classic Socks t shirts, as per this design:

These classic design shirts cost only £15 inc postage to the UK ($25 to USA). Available in S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL, Female S, M and L sizes.

Simply pay by Paypal to sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk and don't forget to include a) the size you want, and b) your name and address, and c) mention "Classic design".

You can also find a bizarre range of Classic Socks design merchandise over at our WeeShoppie on Cafepress, including hats, pants, thongs, golf balls, jigsaw puzzles, clocks, mugs and a dog hoodie. You heard me.

 

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 22 - Clevedon Theatre Shop
Oct 23 - Salford Kings Arms
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 Aberystwyth Arts Christmas Special

Tom Hardy's LegEnd - new video from the Socks

A new skit from the Socks, as they play Tom Hardy and Tom Hardy in LegEnd (click to play). Do please enjoy. (You do realise this now means we've got to watch the film which got, as you can see from the poster above, two stars from the Guardian). 

 

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 22 - Clevedon Theatre Shop
Oct 23 - Salford Kings Arms
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 Aberystwyth Arts Christmas Special

Police & Thieves - Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre

Anyone who came to see the Socks in Minging Detectives this summer should be familiar with at least part of this medley of songs on the subject of cops and robbers, beginning with Police & Thieves, which played the audience into the room every night. For fun, you might care to listen to the video but not watch it to begin with and see if you can guess what all the songs featured are.

Spoiler alert, here are those songs, in full...

Sound Of Da Police - KRS One (though to be honest, I took the whole "Woo woo that's the sound of the police" line from Goldie Lookin Chain, see below)
Police & Thieves - Junior Murvin
I Fought The Law - Bobby Fuller Four (again I was more familiar with The Clash's version)
Bankrobber - The Clash
Whodunit - Tavares (a record I bought at school, not their best known)
I Shot The Sherrif - Eric Clapton (I know, it's originally Bob Marley)
Gangsters - The Special AKA (with a bit of Al Capone by Prince Buster in there)
First Of The Gang To Die - Morrissey
Informer - Snow (and if he sings anything other than "Leaky Bum Bum", I can't figure out what)
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
PC McGarry No 452 - Camberwick Green
Police Officer - Smiley Culture
Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy
Stool Pigeon - Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do - Goldie Lookin Chain
Bang Bang - Cher (written by Sonny Bono, who knew?)
The Laughing Policeman - Charles Penrose
Scooby Snacks - Fun Lovin Criminals
Scooby Doo Where Are You? - TV theme (composed by Ben Raleigh, who died in a kitchen fire. The things you find out, eh?)
Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson
Somebody's Watching Me - Roachford
Private Eyes - Hall & Oates
The Z Cars Theme - written by Johnny Todd, I learn
We Are Detective - Thomson Twins (a truly dreadful song I'm delighted to introduce to a new generation)

Did you get them all? Then you quite possibly have a record collection that's both as eclectic and as dodgy as mine.

 

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 22 - Clevedon Theatre Shop
Oct 23 - Salford Kings Arms
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 Aberystwyth Arts Christmas Special

St Andrew live - new video from the Socks

A forgotten gem finally makes it onto Youtube in the form of St Andrew, a favourite sketch from the Socks' 2014 Edinburgh show ...And So Am I which we haven't uploaded until now. We do hope you'll enjoy it.

We never put it into the subsequent touring show because it felt a bit too Scottish, but looking at it again it's nothing of the sort. Jolly good fun. Remind us to retweet the ass off of it every St Andrews Day.

 

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 22 - Clevedon Theatre Shop
Oct 23 - Salford Kings Arms
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 Aberystwyth Arts Christmas Special

It's Nice That - Kev F talks comics, a video lecture

Back in March I gave a short talk on comics, as part of It's Nice That's Nicer Tuesdays lecture series. Now you can see it in full on video. Click to play.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here. 

Uptown Funky Alien - new comics by kids & some flipcharts

I don't often get the excuse to draw Dicky Mint from Ken Dodd's Diddymen, so imagine my delight when the year 3-to-6 pupils of St Anne's Primary in Bewdley came up with the title on the above right. Bruno Mars with tentacles, however, I do every day. These are of course the covers of the comics the kids have gone away with from some recent Comic Art Masterclasses.

And these two, from Bradford On Avon, were both first person titles that cried out for voice bubble logos. I like to vary the logo designs, which I draw very quickly by the way, sometimes getting the luxury of break time in which to do them, but at least half the time having to draw the entire cover during the two hour class. Sometimes you end up with covers you could play snap with.

And here we have an almost-lost gem, from a one-off Comic Art Masterclass I did as part of Bedford Fringe at the end of July (prior to doing a Scottish Falsetto Socks preview gig in the same venue later that night). And a flipchart. Given the chance to name a celebrity to tread on a worm (see blogs passim) these 5 classes chose Simon Cowell (again, he is nominated in 75% of classes and ends up being chosen 15% of the time), Barack Obama, Jack Whitehall, and two names I've never heard before: Judge Rinder (a TV judge, real name Robert apparently), and Svina Schmidt (a racing car driver, who further research tells me is actually spelled Sabine Schmidt).

Talking of flipcharts, you know, I love getting set up before a class and having time to draw a nice flipchart, which I then leave behind for the school, library or whoever to cherish. Here are some more I rattled off this summer.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here. 

Socks Autumn Minging mini tour - dates and details

The Socks have a mini Minging Detectives (and best-of-the-rest) tour going this October. Want to know where and when? Here's a series of tinyurls for you to retweet, and ads for you to bandy about.

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea - http://tinyurl.com/soxwells
Oct 10  Royal Spa Leamington - http://tinyurl.com/soxlemo
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre - http://tinyurl.com/soxharro
Oct 22 - Theatre Shop Clevedon
Oct 23 - Kings Arms Salford - http://tinyurl.com/soxsalf
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre - http://tinyurl.com/soxhali
Oct 30  - Canterbury Festival - http://tinyurl.com/soxcant
Dec 11 - Aberystwyth Arts - http://tinyurl.com/soxaber

Aug 5 - 30  10.30pm Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe
Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 22 - Theatre Shop Clevedon
Oct 23 - Kings Arms Salford
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 - Aberystwyth Arts

Unboxing - Scottish Falsetto Socks new video

Unboxing is a thing. And now the Socks have had a go at doing it. Do please click & enjoy. Please RT if you like it.

 

Oct 1 - Granary Theatre Wells Next The Sea
Oct 10 - Royal Spa Leamington
Oct 13 - Harrogate Theatre
Oct 23 - Salford Kings Arms
Oct 26 - Halifax Comedy Festival, Victoria Theatre
Oct 30 - Canterbury Festival
Dec 11 Aberystwyth Arts Christmas Special

Pug Dog Doing A Poo (& other delights) - comics by kids

Here are some almost-lost classics for you, comics produced by the pupils in my classes at a series of Intu shopping centres at the end of July and start of August. The classes were slightly unusual arrangements, only an hour-long apiece (though I managed to stretch a few of them out to 90 minutes, which enabled me to come up with these covers in 4 of the 6 shopping centres I visited). Because we didn't have the usual facilities, the pupils went away with their caricatures by me, and with the strips they'd drawn, but without the finished photocopied comics. So these covers exist in isolation, and luckily I took a photo of them all on the day. The two above are from Intu shopping centres in Braehead and Derby.

Totally by coincidence, the kids in the shopping centres in Trafford and Uxbridge both came up with toilet related titles (because there was no printed comic for them to take away, neither class could have seen the other's finished comic). In upmarket contrast, their chosen celebs treading on a worm were Issac Newton and Albert Einstein.

This couple of covers also come from before we set off to spend the month of August in Edinburgh, from sessions in Darlington Library. Then, no sooner had I got to Edinburgh, than I was off to Greenock and Port Glasgow for these two workshops, both on the day of my opening night, as it were.

Pug Dog Doing A Poo and Fat Bob? Well done Greenock and Port Glasgow, well done. The kids from these various classes, when asked which celebrities they'd choose to tread on a worm (in my famous demonstration strip which, once seen, is never forgotten) chose Stephen Hawking, The Queen, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Harry Hill, Simon Cowell, Johnny Depp and Lewis Hamilton.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here. 

Obama Finds A Sausage Unicorn - comics by kids in Edinburgh

Throughout the month of August I was performing with the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre every night at 10.30, and spending the daytimes promoting the show. And yet somehow, somehow, I managed to squeeze in a series of Comic Art Masterclasses in libraries and schools. Here are the covers of the comics they all went away with.  Wester Hailes Library is not in the most attractive part of town but was a lovely class in a smashing new library, and Central Library itself is a magnificent building, whose class was sponsored by Tesco Bank no less.

I can safely predict I'm one of the very few Edinburgh Fringe entertainers who ventures as far afield as Oxgangs and Muirhouse. What, you haven't visited Muirhouse Library and its delightful adjacent shopping arcade? You haven't lived. Once more the kids produce cracking comics exceeding your expectations.

And from Muirhouse it's over to the Pan Loafy side of town, to Morningside and Newington if you don't mind, for the final comics of the Edinburgh season. And a delight they are too.

County Evil comes from a group of young adults in care with whom I worked just before we set off for Edinburgh, Obama from Balerno High School's summer classes.

When asked to choose a celebrity to tread on a worm (see blogs passim) these groups opted for Barack Obama, Michael Jackson (twice), Lionel Messi, Will I Am, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Roald Dahl.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here.