Socks Shakespeare Edfringe Preview OJS BIrmingham report

A very good preview at the Old Joint Stock in Birmingham last night (May 19) of Socks do Shakespeare. This year's pattern of not-too-many Preview shows, with enough time to write and rewrite inbetween them seems to be working to our benefit.

Last night was part of the OJS's Cabaret Festival and, thanks to the warm weather, didn't draw the biggest crowd ever (30 or 40 punters by the look of it), but they were almost all new to the Socks and thus perfect for trying out new gear and not letting it get off with an easy ride.

It seems we have a lot of good material. And, though it's clear where the structural stuff is needed, we managed to busk it successfully. So we had material that built very well to the "break up" moment of the show just before the finale, but we still need that moment properly written, and we could use running joke and call-back material better woven through, which will come next. Here's the running order from last night with notes.

Audience IN music (brand new) - Edited together montage of Romeo, Henry 5, Two Gentlemen, Loves Labours, As You Like It, King John & Allusion (recorded vocals for Allusion last thing before setting off for gig). Works well, but needs remixing for variable volume and to front-load shorter versions of songs.

Opening gags - Doublet to Hose routine. All good before the song.
I'm A Sock
Shall I Compare Thee - Excellent
That One About (brand new) - Excellent. Applause for punchline.
Met In Theatre - Getting better, still not as good as prop (ad libs to audience about this get lots of laughs, which routine doesn't)
Brush Up Shakespeare - Good
An Actor Prepares (new) - Excellent. Why had I not put this in the show before? First time we've ever done it live and it's perfect.
Hey Nonny Nonny + gags (brand new) - Excellent. Perfect linking routine.
Girls & Boys (shortened) - Good. Got laughs in lots of places for the first time.
King John Rossiter (brand new) - Very good, short but funny
Cymbeline (2nd time out) - Getting funnier, needs rewriting at the start, laughs all come in second half (it is only 90 seconds, 45 of which are excellent)
Insults routine (brand new) - Excellent. Good laughs throughout and good linker.
The Porter - Excellent
Oh Mr Porter - Very good, gets laughs where it should.
Richard III - Parts one and two both now Excellent. For the first time, part 1 was funnier than part 2
(Note: Costumes: By this stage we've hardly used costumes, and they're appreciated when introduced properly. Integrate them better)
Othello - Not so good. By this stage we've built up the speed of the show, heading toward climax, so this piece is now too slow and cluttered.
Iago's Song (speeded up) - Much better. This will go better earlier in the show, with a greatly reduced Othello.
Shakespearian Word Association (brand new) - Very good, will become excellent when it's in the right place.
"Falling out routine"  - busked tonight, needs writing, still worked very well.
Romeo & Juliet - Excellent as always, though parts were a bit messy through sloppiness or laziness. Remember to keep it tight and not lose gags to less-good or indulgent ad-libs.
Sweary Poppins - We'd actually crossed the 60 minute mark, but I felt they deserved a bonus. Show may actually need a closing song (may not though)

All in all a really encouraging preview. Sunday in Brighton (where we already have more advance sales than we ended up with at OJS) will be a good test. Rewriting today.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend 
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre
July 17 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern 2pm

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe , Kings Arms Salford 7pm

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

11 hours and £1500 later - travelling to Ireland

1pm: "After only 5 hrs delay we're boarding @Ryanair FR505 from @OfficialBRS From @bhx_official ! May be late for work"

There is stiff competition this week between Ireland and Romania. Forget the Eurovision Song Contest, in my little world this is a much bigger contest. The two countries are bidding for the title of Most Unnecessarily Complcated School Visits of the year.

Bucharest, which was a wonderful trip, at a school who have been lovely and helpful throughout, has been having fun with paying me. First I had to provide a Certficate of Tax Residency from HMRC, which I applied for. After a couple of weeks HMRC replied to tell me I'd applied incorrectly (the form asked which period I wanted this to cover, I gave the period I would be working in Romania, they replied that you couldn't apply for a period in the future. But we eventually got that through, after I'd returned). Then this week they tell me I've got that Certificate in my own name, but I've billed under my company name, so I need to bill again under my own name. Then they send me a form which they'd said, while `I was there, that I didn't need to sign, which I now need to and... blah blah blah, more to-ing and fro-ing of paperwork than any visit ever.

But Dublin is rivalling all that with its travel complications. 

It all started with a school in Wexford who want me to come. I'm delighted to, but in order to get there, i need to fly to Dublin so the only sensible thing is to organise a Dublin school in the same visit. That way I can land at 9am, drive to a Dublin school for the day, then I have time for my 2 hour drive to Wexford ready for the following day's school.

So I put out the shout to schools, and i get a booking. It'll be Thursday in Dublin & Friday in Wexford. I book the flights and they're dirt cheap, only £35 return.

Then I get a reply from another school, who can take me on the Tuesday. Bonus. Even if the Wednesday is left empty, it's worth me moving my flights and having 4 days in Ireland for 3 days work. I move my flight, at a cost of £30. 

Sadly the Tuesday school has to cancel, which is a pain, and not something I can bill them for. I move the flight back to where it started, with another £30 charge. Yes, I've paid £60 to move flights that only cost £35 in the first place.

Then when I get to Bristol airport this morning (hi, it's Thursday morning as I write) I realise that, what with moving flights and all,  I've forgotten to pre-book my parking (for the first time in years) so this'll be my most expensive parking.

Still, all looks good for our 8am flight. Though, to be  honest, it is a little foggy out there. I was just admiring the effect of the airport being cut off by a wall of white when we got the message that our flight had been diverted. The fog wouldn't allow it to land in Bristol, so it's gone to Birmingham instead. And so, if we want to get on it, must we passengers.

So it is that it's 9.51am, and I'm on a bus that's crawling through Bedminster on its way to the motorway and thence to Birmingham airport to get a flight that, if we're really lucky, might leave Birmingham at 12.30, in which case I'd be in Dublin by 1.30, picking up my hire car by 2, and arriving at my school on the other side of Dublin on this side of 3pm. If I'm lucky.

I am assuming today's visit to St Kevin's College in Crumlin won't be happening. But by golly I should be in plenty of time to start work in Wexford tomorrow morning. Let us see how things go shall we?

Kev F, on a replacement bus, 9.54 am. 79% battery left on laptop.

11.30 - still on coach, just past the turn for Shilrey. School have suggested rebooking me for next Wednesday. New flights and hotel might scrape in at £120, which added to today's share of travel means I could still turn a profit on the trip. Though I would, as the saying goes, make more money auctioning dogs.

From today's @ryanair flight. Why's there a crucified Jesus at the end of the plane? Ah, get a photo of him anyway.

By 1.30 we were on the plane waiting for passengers to arrive. And half an hour later, or long enough for me to read two copies of Shortlist from cover to cover (wondered where all the female journalists had got to before realising it's a Bloke Mag. Who knew there was still such a thing. Do only men fly? Weird) we were still waiting. We eventually took off, and landed in Dublin at just after 3pm, which would have been just about time for me to finish teaching at St Kevins. In the meantime, via text, we'd arranged for me to visit them next Wednesday instead, so the day wasn't totally lost.

Now all I had to do was pick up my hire car and I'd be away. 3.30 I got to Thrifty to pick up my pre-booked car. 4.30 I finally drove away with my totally newly-booked car having found, after being shunted between Thrifty and their neighbour Sixt, through both of whom I'd somehow booked and amended the booking for this car twice already. And don't get me started on the insurance deposit they "don't take" from your credit card but they need to "secure" from your credit card. Can you imagine how much money they need to ring fence on your credit card?

€1600!!! That's well over a thousand pounds. If you don't have a grand free on your credit card - as two couples queuing in front of me (at the two desks of the two companies I had to wait at) didn't - you were stuffed. Added to this was a £300 deposit, and the comparatively meagre £50 for the car hire itself, and there's £1500 on my credit card that I can't use (for how long I can't imagine). None of us remember seeing that on the forms when we booked, and it certainly wasn't mentioned on the paperwork I had with me. (That's for the smallest car. People hiring people carriers were being asked for 3 grand security.) Very luckily I was able to do it, but you can be sure I'll be taking the bus when I come next week.

Following all that, the two hour drive to my hotel in Wexford, ready for tomorrow morning's school was a doddle. But bloody hell. Having expected to get to a school in Dublin to maybe start work by 10am, I ended up turning up for an 8am flight and getting to my destination at 7pm. I could literally have got to LA in that time!

I'm watching Eurovision and having a pint, and I don't care who knows it.

PS: Friday went swimmingly, I did my school and drove back to the airport and flew home with no problems. Once home I reached into my travel bag to get something and sliced the tip of my thumb on my upturned shaving razor. Very much one of those weeks.



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. After a morning or an afternoon every pupil goes away with a photocopied comic containing a strip by every single one of them, and an individual caricature by Kev F. Please email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video 

Two Gentlemen Of Verona - Even more new Socks doing Shakespeare

Will this flow of nonsense never abate? Here's another Shakespearian musical number from the Socks, again destined merely to be part of the audience in music, not even part of the show (but as I noted yesterday, I've been pretty busy on that too this week, and these side dishes are an accompaniment to the main meal, as it were. I kid myself that they're also a nice little teaser to keep the avid fans sated, though their viewing figures hardly suggest there are hordes gasping for our every utterance. Whatever, it's fun, do please click and play, and share if you like it.

So, so far the audience are going to be coming in to the sound of Romeo & Juliet (the theme I tag onto the end of most of these videos when I remember) + Just An Allusion, King John, I'm Henry The 5th, Love's Labours Lost, Two Gentlemen of Verona and (spoiler alert) As You Like It (probably uploaded at the weekend). A week or more's recording work, adding up to about 6 minutes of music. I did the same last year with that bloody Minging Detectives Reggae medley. Will I never learn?

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

★★★★ "Eat your heart out, Olivier" - What's On May 2016 
★★★★ "Comedy genius at work" - Theatre Bath April 2016 

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend 
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre
July 17 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern 2pm

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe , Kings Arms Salford 7pm

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

Love's Labours Lost - more new Socks do Shakespeare

My God we've had a productive week of Socks stuff this week. That is to say I've been in the studio for three days, and I actually managed to follow up Derby's Preview show on Sunday by doing some writing that builds on what we've learned (as well as recording 4 videos for local TV, don't ask why). I have also managed to record a number of Socks videos, with new songs all of which will be going into the audience-intro music and not into the show itself. Here's the latest, Love's Labours Lost. I know, very silly and quite short, but there you are. It's done, and I hope you enjoy it. Click to play.

Also written in the last three days are the "That One About" poem, which I rather like; the Free Association short routine; The Insults short routine; and the Hey Nonny Nonny routine. I've also gone through the whole show, removing Forbidden Planet, inserting An Actor Prepares, shortening the Girls & Boys song (by 30 seconds), speeding up Iago's Song (now also 30 seconds shorter) and, significantly, writing in big bold letters the bits where something funny is needed. It's shaping up nicely.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

★★★★ "Eat your heart out, Olivier" - What's On May 2016 
★★★★ "Comedy genius at work" - Theatre Bath April 2016 

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend 
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre
July 17 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern 2pm

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe , Kings Arms Salford 7pm

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

National Lost Sock Day - 4 new videos from the Socks

Don't ask me why, maybe the Socks are just nice guys, but all it took was one request on Facebook and, free gratis and totally for nothing, they made not one, not two, not three, but four videos to promote Lost Sock Day on Made in Cardiff TV, Made in Bristol TV, Made in Leeds TV, and Made in Tyne & Wear TV. And here they all are, online now, for your pleasure. At time of writing, I have absolutely no idea what Lost Sock Day is.



(Cardiff and Leeds are still to go live, they'll be here as soon as they are).

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend 
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre
July 17 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern 2pm

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe , Kings Arms Salford 7pm

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

Forbidden Planet Rap - Scottish Falsetto Socks do Shakespeare

It's had two outings in the Preview shows and it's not really working live, so go on internet, you can have it. The Socks do the Forbidden Planet Rap, from Socks Do Shakespeare - The Cutting Room Floor. Click to play, and do please enjoy and share.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

★★★★ "Eat your heart out, Olivier" - What's On May 2016 
★★★★ "Comedy genius at work" - Theatre Bath April 2016 

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend 
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre
July 17 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern 2pm

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe , Kings Arms Salford 7pm

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

Derby Socks Edfringe Preview - breakdown

(Why yes, we did unveil some new props today, thankyou for noticing)

On the hottest day of the year so far, a sunny Sunday afternoon at 5.30, I was amazed we drew any audience at all, so I was delighted to have about 25 people in the Bean Caffe in Derby for a preview / work-in-progress show for Socks do Shakespeare. Having had such an easy ride with the sellout crowd in Bath last month, who seemed to laugh at anything and everything, a smaller number is always a harsher test of whether you really have material that works or not. Here's how it went.

INTRO gags and banter - good. Doublet was thrown away. Anything that leads to more interaction in this first stage is good and more is needed.

I'M A SOCK - always good.Tempted to try Shakespearian words, but could backfire. Didn't today.

HOSE - New today. Built well, first cracking punchline of the day.

SHALL I COMPARE THEE - Getting better every time.

MET IN THEATRE - Still getting its best laugh from the joke "all this prop just for that one gag?" Needs tightening.

BRUSH UP SHAKESPEARE - Good

CYMBELINE - New today. Slow start, got better & better, some great laughs.

GIRLS & BOYS - New today. Nice, but not sure it's funny enough live. Couple more tries to see.

RICHARD 3 - Great. Part 1 (with new costume) now as funny as part 2. Becoming high point of show.

FORBIDDEN PLANET RAP - Not working. You can't hear it, or it's too fast, with no comedy timing. Resigned to Youtube.

THE PORTER - Very good, some great laughs.

PORTER SONG - Also good, but have to make sure it's clear and audible or not funny.

OTHELLO - Trimmed even further, but by this stage in the show we're wanting more of the overall Sock vs Sock story arc to be biting. That's the bit of writing that most needs doing.

IAGO'S SONG - Too slow, and not funny enough. Might stay, if rest of show can maintain momentum.

ROMEO & JULIET - Brilliant finale as always, and growing lots of new ad-libs.

Thoughts: More interaction with audience needed. Need material to cover every single Shakespeare play still. And Sock V Sock story arc needs to dominate the flow of the hour. We're getting there. (Feels way better than Minging Detectives did by this time last year, or even by the start of August last year!)

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend 
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre
July 17 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern 2pm

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe , Kings Arms Salford 7pm

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe