In Brighton this weekend the Scottish Falsetto Socks presented their latest pair of previews of the new show, Superheroes, to a cracking response from two lovely crowds (at 3.45 and 5pm on Saturday and Sunday respectively, on two of the hottest days of the year so far, so many thanks to everyone who came). We had some very strong new material, and kept chopping out the weak stuff, all of which served to remind me that we still have to get the whole working together to make a perfect show.
Saturday’s audience was about 50% Socks fans, and Sunday’s was nearer 10%, meaning Sunday’s were a far more stringent test of what was genuinely funny material, as people who’ve never seen the Socks before really need won over and keep entertained, whereas fans let you glide by on charm and familiarity, and confidence that there’s good stuff ahead.
All of which serves to make me extra critical of the material, but also confident that we’re going in the right direction and that we already have some brilliant stuff in this show which, when it’s completed, could be our best yet.
Between Saturday and Sunday I chopped the script up quite a bit - literally, I was using nail scissors and gaffer tape to do it. Below is the running order we ended up with on Sunday. Lost from the previous day’s show had been the Awards gags (some nice puns riffing on the fact that we’ve won the Bath Comedy Festival Best Joke Award, but they don’t fit and hold the action up), and the new Black Panther song (which will go into the pre-show music, and onto Youtube, but isn’t funny enough for the live show). Also lost a callback to the Cosmopolitan routine which wasn’t funny enough. Lost from the last preview, in London, was the Steed and Mrs Peel song.
SUPERHEROES RUNNING ORDER, Sunday May 27 2018
(All items good as before unless mentioned)
Opening Batman/Robin/Flash - just quick gags and straight into…
I’m A Sock song
Cosmopolitan routine / Bob Kane
Motion Capture
NEW Hulk Ang Lee routine - good, should get better
Plot/ Maguffin / Cock Robin (this last gag only stays in the show cos it won a prize, and leads to…)
Spiderman song - this really must go. Working on song and routine to replace it.
Science/Faraday/Sagan
Brother 1
Racist Brother Song
Batman/ Teeth / Urine/Nuts/Crazy - this now has a callback later but needs its storyline to be concluded
Avengers
Avengers Reel - now re-recorded, with a verse removed, and the keys changed. Much better.
NEW Dr Strange / Wong / Thanos routine - good. Needs better ending & integration with the rest.
Fantastic 4 appeal - good but needs integrating into plot, callback later
NEW Thanos / Who’s On First - needs work
Superman / JorEl / Kents / Glasses
Dead Ringer song
Brother 2
Science gags
NEW Joker 2 - good, needs integrating
Harley & Ivy
Daredevil - only laughs coming from costume, need integrating into plot
Brother 3
What I’ve Learned
All By Myself song - too long, needs editing to half its length
NEW Finale - good lines but needs to be a much more satisfying conclusion.
So we have a good plot structure (the superheroes unite to fight the supervillains), and we have possibly our first ever proper subplot (Racist Brother), but the whole hour needs to flow better, with all the characters’ stories tying together in the finale. And it still needs a couple of zinger routines and songs that’ll put it up there with our best shows. Hev & I busked ideas in the car on the way back from Brighton and already have some nice ideas for Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Supergirl that will be getting their first airing in Bristol on June 16th.
Keep watching Youtube for those outtakes and experiments.
To Infinity War parodies - and beyond!
The next Edinburgh Preview of the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre: Superheroes is at Zion, Bristol on June 16th. Book tickets now, and spread the word!
The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW!
*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018
Previews:
June 16 - Zion, Bristol
June 20 - Ludlow Fringe
July 11 - NeathJuly 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One
- with more preview dates to be announced
EASTER EGG. Here's a bonus for those of you who've scrolled down this far, an exclusive glimpse of the Socks work in progress. This is the script, being edited with gaffer tape and nail scissors, on the floor of our hotel in Worthing (nearest we could afford) on Sunday morning. Hi tech or what?
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