Friday 30 December 2016

My Comic Strip Review Of 2016


My traditional comic strip review of the year had to be drawn. And, though I seem to be a bit busier at this end of the year than usual (I'm dashing off for the final Socks gig of the year tonight in Reigate, and we're just back from our second visit to Kibworth in a week, inbetween which was a visit to Bodelwyddan, and Christmas itself), I've managed to get it done.


Other notable high and or low points of 2016 include a cancelled flight and an entertainingly delayed and diverted flight (you had to be there), and Mum's 80th birthday. Brexit and Trump occupied a lot of thought but how does it impact my life? Maybe we have to wait till 2017 to see. The biggest thing I've omitted is that Hev was rushed to hospital with an infection that had come dangerously close to blood poisoning. Luckily that was got through, and a few things have changed since, but I didn't put it in my rather vain review of the year, maybe I should have.

I travelled a lot, but I've done this so much now, that it hardly even seems remarkable at the time, let alone at the end of the year.

The Peoples History Of Pop stuff was fun, even if only a minute of me made the BBC 4 screen. I did a long interview in front of the Conan mural in my old bedroom for BBC East Midlands Inside Out which seems to have been binned, but I got mentioned in the Telegraph. So there's that.

I redesigned most of my website, using Wix, and got my adsense account back (since which I've earned an average of 1p a day, whoopee).

The creative explosion that ended up with Socks Do Shakespeare was something I'm very proud of. This year The Now Show dropped Mitch Benn - Earth's best parody songwriter - from its roster and replaced him with a different person each week, almost every one of which made me realise how bloody good I am at this. The Shakespeare parody songs I wrote, mostly in April, only a couple of which ended up in the show, the rest of which comprised the audience-in music and some slightly-watched Youtube videos, are all bloody good. Watch them and tell me if I'm wrong.

Here's the table of stats that give all the more insight into a fascinating year I'm sure you'll all agree. (In short, I did the same as I do every year, and lots of it).



2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
School days   
92
117
120
97
82
124
109
Flights (return)   
14
7
14
18
12
23
?
Socks shows   
65
55
71
76
110
64
?
Caric gigs       
6
7
8
20
8
13
?
Nights away   
90
90
79
74
123
?
?
Socks vids       
56 (40+ Trials)
41
37
55
81
36
?


Here's to an equally unpredictable 2017. Here, should you be interested, are the previous comic strip Reviews Of The Year I've drawn...

2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010





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 Do Shakespeare 2017 TOUR
Feb 15 - Buxton Pavilion Arts Centre Studio 
Feb 17 & 18 6.50pm - Kayal, Leicester Comedy Fest
March 9 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
March 15 & 16 - Dram! Glasgow Com Fest
March 23 - The Bill Murray, London
Apr 6 - Victoria Theatre Halifax
Apr 8 - Rondo Bath 
Apr 13 - Hexham Queen's Hall 
Apr 22 - Swindon Arts 
Apr 27 - Stroud Subscription Rooms 
Apr 28 - Merlin Theatre Frome 
Apr 29 - Perth Concert Hall 
May 1 - Chiddingstone Castle Kent 
May 5 - Artrix Bromsgrove
May 6 - Stafford Gatehouse
May 13 (4.30pm) & May 14 (5.30pm) Komedia Brighton
May 19 - Carriageworks Leeds
May 26 - Aberdeen May Fest
June 2 - Eden Ct Inverness
June 15 - Crescent Arts, Belfast
June 17 - Dalkey Festival, Dublin
June 24 - Ludlow Fringe

Hogmanayness - Scottish Falsetto Socks new song & video


Click to play the Socks' latest new composition, one I'm rather pleased with, Hogmanayness. Written and recorded on Boxing Day, I uploaded a first draft version of the video to Youtube that night, then managed to finish the better version the next day. I do hope you like it.


Some people who seem to have enjoyed it have already retweeted it. Not that I want to be tripping over dropped names here but, coughs modestly, retweeted by Ian Rankin and Val McDermid. Yes, be impressed.



Socks Do Shakespeare 2017 TOUR
Feb 15 - Buxton Pavilion Arts Centre Studio 
Feb 17 & 18 6.50pm - Kayal, Leicester Comedy Fest
March 9 - Aberystwyth Arts Centre
March 15 & 16 - Dram! Glasgow Com Fest
March 23 - The Bill Murray, London
Apr 6 - Victoria Theatre Halifax
Apr 8 - Rondo Bath 
Apr 13 - Hexham Queen's Hall 
Apr 22 - Swindon Arts 
Apr 27 - Stroud Subscription Rooms 
Apr 28 - Merlin Theatre Frome 
Apr 29 - Perth Concert Hall 
May 1 - Chiddingstone Castle Kent 
May 5 - Artrix Bromsgrove
May 6 - Stafford Gatehouse
May 13 (4.30pm) & May 14 (5.30pm) Komedia Brighton
May 19 - Carriageworks Leeds
May 26 - Aberdeen May Fest
June 2 - Eden Ct Inverness
June 15 - Crescent Arts, Belfast
June 17 - Dalkey Festival, Dublin
June 24 - Ludlow Fringe

Sunday 25 December 2016

Elf, Dylan, apostles, plagiarism - more Facebook jottings


Okay, I've put the Elf on a shelf. What do I do now?


************


So, I watch Bob Dylan singing Must Be Santa, Google Ads decide I want to learn Hebrew. In French. Those algorithms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8qE6WQmNus

***************

Got an Only Connect for you:
Jeffrey Hardy = Missing
Leonard Skinner = Poisoned
Joe Spivy = Poison Ivy 
Bunkmate = Malaria

The connection is..?

*********************


Wow, just been blocked by someone called Nick Price (fellow comic, I thought) when I called him out for nicking other peoples photo art and re-posting it on Facebook without credits. I know he'd reappropriated some work by Vincent Bal. But I don't know who the other artists are. Nick replied claiming that he had definitely done these himself. Had he?

The hand-plant is by an artist called Troqman. It appears on his facebook page, with lots of similar works on his website.
http://www.troqman.com/

************

Having enjoyed Muslims Like Us on BBC2, I've done a bit of light reading (ie Wikipedia) on the Shia/Sunni split. Does seem, objectively, to be making a bit of a mountain out of a molehill. One line from the Hadith of the pond of Khumm puzzles me: "Allah... has told me that no apostle lives to more than half the age of him who had preceded him". No apostle lives more than half the age? Then what happens if an apostle goes on to have apostles of their own? (Oh god, I've got to google the actual meaning of apostle now)

Yeah, that's what I thought. An apostle is just a messenger, one who spreads your word. So, surely, anyone who spreads the word they receive from that apostle becomes that apostle's apostle. But, if the Prophet's right, that apostle is only allowed to live to half the age of the apostle who preceded him. By the time that message gets three generations on, you'll be relying on the version you get from a three year old. Nightmare. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostle



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.




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