"This show is a total must" - ★★★ Get The Chance

A nice review from Get The Chance, our first this Edinburgh, that definitely reads like a 4.

REVIEW: SCOTTISH FALSETTO SOCK PUPPET THEATRE, ROLL ON, EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL, BY HANNAH GOSLIN

At half 9 at night, the last thing you would be expecting to see is a sock puppet show. I love a good puppet, but I equally love an usual concept. Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre (SFSPT) sure are the unusual.

Opened to the world of adult puppetry and it becoming more familiar a concept, we have all heard of the adult themed ‘Avenue Q’ and a few years ago, ‘Hand to God’. Even cartoons have become more adult friendly, opening up a whole new world in performing arts.

And while I hesitate to compare SFSPT to such shows (a joke in the performance itself reflecting this), it is agreeable that this concept Is not as unusual as it may once were. Yet I was still pleasantly surprised and excited.

Puppetry come comedy, the FSPT does not rely on humour alone to get by. There is a theme, and it is ever changing (as we hear from its 15 or so years of its presence). This round is Circus themed –with The Greatest Showman being so prevalent in the last year, SFSPT draw upon this to create a narrative, but feels free to go a little off course, ad lib where necessary and it is all just as funny as the original plan. We are at times asked to use our imagination, thinking of a sock puppet out of shot on a tightrope or completing an another amazing feat.

They keep the information present – keeping to events and news from the last year, even making jokes and making it clear that some of the audience may find some too obscure, we cannot help but love it and definitely feel included.

With only one man, two puppets, and maybe around 5 character’s, it is a feat of genius and skill at set and ‘costume’ changes with one hand- a magical experience we all wish we knew the answer to. He manages to give each character its own personality, even with their interaction with one another being quick. Of course there are times when a Australian accent is suddenly Scottish and he soon realises it. But this only adds to the humour – there is no masking mistakes, only inclusion of them.

The narrative went a little off course and dark humoured, but you know what, I was not mad at it. I was sufficiently entertained, laughed my socks off (pardon the pun) and had a really interesting and splendid time.

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre is not exactly breaking theatrical boundaries, but my gosh was it a lot of fun. If you fancy something unusual, ridiculous (is a good way) and a good laugh, then this show is a total must.

Until August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm, every night of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019. On sale now!

Andy Serkis plate spinning, and other improv

From Tuesday's Roll Up, here's Andy Serkis Plate Spinning, that night's improv bit.

Of late, this section has had:

Monday - Naked Lion Tamer

Tuesday - Andy Serkis Plate Spinning

Wednesday - They asked for Lion Tamer again, which we got bumped up to Robot Lion Tamer. A rubbish joke about being binary almost made it good, but not the best.

Thursday - Elephant on a ball. Had it been a more receptive audience, I think my elephant on a Michael Ball would have killed, incorporating as it did a callback to the "gags for old folk" joke.

Thursday's crowd were dangerously close to being "That Night", ie the night where they sit in silence despite your best efforts. They were certainly hard to make laugh, and half the audience remained stony throughout. But I knew the show was going well, so had to assume they were smilers who laugh silently to themselves.

Until August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm, every night of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019. On sale now!

Naked Lion Tamer - new live video from the Socks

Brand new clip, from Monday night's improv bit in Roll Up!, with the Socks doing a Naked Lion Tamer. Click and enjoy.

We've recorded Monday's and Tuesday's shows, knowing they had sellout crowds, and the results aren't bad, though I'm sure better nights lie ahead.

There's a shorter version of this clip, with subtitles, on Facebook, if the link works.

Until August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm, every night of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019. Sexy new venue, sexy new timeslot. Book now!

Sellouts and fans

Another sellout on Tuesday night, making four so far. I'm not kidding myself that this will continue on Wednesday, when the 2 for 1 offers end, but it's fun while it lasts.

The heat in the venue is being addressed by putting in more fans, which is good. The downside is that my poor long-suffering technician Florence is sat in front of two aircon machines and a giant fan, as a result of which she can't hear me. So I'm now going to have to bellow any sound cues to her, and as for getting my voice balanced against the music, that's up to getting it right in the sound check and hoping for the best. Let's face it, the new spaces at Patter Hoose aren't ideal, but everyone's pulling together and doing their best to make them bearable.

The audiences, meanwhile, have been great, and Roll Up has been going marvellously. I filmed Monday and Tuesday's shows, cos I knew they were sellouts, but I think I'll have to film some more to capture a really perfect balance. Problem will be putting the camera at the back of the room, cos it can only capture pictures. The sound it gets will be 90% fan noise.

We've seen the first art of the season, the excellent Thomas Young show at the Talbot Rice (of which the above photo shows none, of course). It tells the story, then demonstrates it in a kind of Dadaist performance all on video, of mistranslations of a Chinese song, and of the influence of Adult Contemporary pop on Hong Kong Culture. Also a 'silent' performance of a Tschaikovsky symphony, with the orchestra muffled, in surround sound. You have to see it really.

Also the first author reading of the season, Paul Baker talking about his excellent book Fabulosa The Story Of Polari, which I read last month. We only learned about the reading cos Jeremy Dixon, who we know from back home, was visiting and mentioned it. I even got to ask a question, bona.

It's been a sociable time, with Hazel & Tim coming to the show and a drink afterwards on Tuesday, Jeremy coming round Monday, various groups and meet-ups after shows, and tomorrow we go up Glen Esk to scatter Mum's ashes. Such fun.

Until August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm, every night of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019. Sexy new venue, sexy new timeslot. Book now!

Socks on Sky News

Look at us all over Sky News. Actually quite a nice interview, and a song even. They wouldn't let us do Stick Your Brexit Up Your Arse unfortunately, which is why the Sock on the left has a guitar, but the music is an orchestra, because we replaced it with Annie The Elephant (an odd choice, not even in the show, but it was short and not rude so we went with it).

Again, will it deliver bums on seats? Unlikely. But was it fun? Yes it was. This year we've done guest slots (we chalked up another last night at Ben Dali's Not So Secret Cabaret, great fun), played at the airport, done more on-street videos than we've done for years, meaning we've squeezed our flyering time, and although we've had two sellouts already, we really need to get those numbers up for the shows to come. But it's been fun, and I'm feeling the spirit of the Fringe more than I have for a while.

Last night (Sunday) was a good show (despite the legend that First Sundays are bad), with the only calamity being I'd left the "head on a stick" prop in the flat, but the Socks covered for it okay. The Improv section was Lion Tamer again, so we asked for more variety and got Budgie Tamer which was slightly funnier. Jude and the family came, so did Stephen and Nick, and Helen and Alex from Notts Comedy Festival, so we were a big group for a drink afterwards which was nice. Venue still legendarily sweaty, I now take a full change of clothes. Luckily I have the most spacious backstage space ever, so that's a great help and consolation. (In previous venues I've had to change in the toilet through lack of space and time).

Onwards and upwards. Today, Monday, is the first day without a guest slot or filming to do, so maybe I'll flyer like I've not flyered yet this year. Stay tuned.

Until August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm, every night of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019. Sexy new venue, sexy new timeslot. Book now!

Midnight gig, family meal & another sellout

Obviously starting with the important bit, here's the brand new SOLD OUT board at the Gilded Balloon's Patter Hoose, and we're on it with Saturday being our second sellout of the season.

Full disclosure it was in fact a technical sellout, which means we were 5 short of a total sellout (which we'd managed on Friday) by dint of those press tickets and venue comps that don't get released till 8.30, an hour before curtains up. But a slot on the Sold Out board is good enough for me. Coupled with the fact that it was the best show yet, with the audience taking a little winning round at the start, but then when we had them they were the greatest, laughing right to the end. The Impov suggestion was Lion Taming (again, it is by far and away the most popular suggestion) but we varied it up with a play on what our rubbish roars sounded like, and the payoff of the Cher gag, which worked because it wasn't the only funny thing.

Then, with just time enough to change my sodden t shirt (yes my venue is still that hot, my tshirt is a saturated rag by the end) and to swap the Socks for the pair I do videos with (the Socks themselves are similarly unuseable until they've been dried out overnight), I did an extra gig. A ten minute slot at Vagabonds Of Comedy in the Counting House, at the request of Imaan Hadchiti (pictured) who I've known for years but, amazingly, never gigged with till now. A fun slot, marred only slightly for me by a comment from the comic on after me (a Liverpudlian whose name I didn't get) who mentioned that he was watching my set from the side so all he could see was "a fifty year old bloke"). I mean, I know technically he's shaved a few years off there, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to me by my now excessive old age. Gone are the days when people would assume I'm way younger than I am. Sigh.

Before all of which we had a bit of a family get together in a pizza restaurant in the West End. Irene and Diana & her family joined Jude et al and Hev & me for a lovely meal and chat. Diana's kids, James and Natalie, are nice and entertaining and we whiled away the time effortlessly, talking about everything and nothing. Hopefully I'll see them at the show in the week.

All of which excitement, which also included writing, recording and filming the Oor Wullie video, left little time for much else, yet somehow I managed to get nearly two hours of flyering in. In the blazing hot sun which we've enjoyed all week and which, the rain at midnight suggested, will be coming to an end soon. We're enjoying it while it lasts at what has been, so far (5 days in) a much more enjoyable Fringe than last year, and more fun than I remember for a few years.

Until August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm, every night of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019. Sexy new venue, sexy new timeslot. Book now!

Oor Wullie Song - new video from the Socks

Brand new from the Socks - the Oor Wullie Song. Recorded yesterday and shot on location in front of a couple of the statues on the brilliant Oor Wullie Trial in Edinburgh. Click and enjoy.

There's also a version on Facebook with subtitles. And if you want them, here are the lyrics.

OOR WULLIE

If it wisnae for Our Wullie, where would you be?
There’d be a hole in the Sunday Post, every Sunday
Cos he was created back in the day by Watkins Dudley D
And you canna last a week without Our Wullie

Wullie he is wonderful, Wullie he is braw
Cos he wears dungarees and is a bugger to his maw
And to Fat Boab and Wee Eck, PC Murdoch and his paw
And he sits upon a bucket, he’s Oor Wullie

If it wisnae for Our Wullie, where would you be?
You could read The Broons cos they are also quality
And both are in the Sunday Post it comes fae Dundee
And we thank the lord that they showed us Our Wullie

Wullie he is marvellous Wullie he is fab
Without him face it The Sunday Post could be awfy drab
But give someone the Fun Section and you make their heart glad
Yes you make em smile when you whip out Our Wullie

If it wisnae for Our Wullie, where would you be?
There’d be a hole in the Sunday Post, every Sunday
Cos he was created back in the day by Watkins Dudley D
And you canna last a week without Our Wullie

Until August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm, every night of the Edinburgh Fringe 2019. Sexy new venue, sexy new timeslot. Book now!