Groggy Squirrel Review
It wasn't until they caught with us on Twitter, with the very nice:
@squirrel_comedy - @GFIcomedy @adelaide_fringe OMG The @falsettosocks are in Australia?!!! But not listed in the @micomfestival guide? PLEASE come to Melb!!!!
... that I remembered that Groggy Squirrel had given the Socks a rave review back in Edinburgh 2008. As you can see it's a totally different show we're doing at the moment (whatever did happen to Kraftwerk, Mods & Rockers and King Lear?) but it's the same Socks, and this is a treat to read again.
Return of The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre - Lisa Clark
Do you want a truly joyous experience of non-stop fun and silliness that will have you whooping with laughter at the Fringe Festival? Go see The Return of the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. It will keep you giggling long afterwards, every time you think about it. There was a small amount of swearing, mostly ‘shit’ and there were some adult references like ‘Kraftwerk’ and ‘Emo’, but take they kids, the ones near me were almost wetting themselves with excitement thoughout!
The sock puppets bounced in to Aretha’s ‘Respect’ – “sock it to me, sock it to me…..”, introduced themselves and launched into their theme song “I’m a sock” where they crammed in every rhyme and almost rhyme to sock in the English language and rocking guitar solo. They played several instruments and the instruments all had the same name “Vicki the technician”. I was really impressed with not only the intellectual level of the show but the puppets’ awareness of the audience and ability to ad lib throughout.
The show played like the sock puppets were putting on an old fashioned two man – sock – vaudeville show. There were copious wordplay jokes, and wild costume changes (with comical backstage commentary to keep everyone amused while the puppets were off stage) including a mod and rocker outfit for the historical re-enactment of the Mods & Rockers brawl on Brighton Beach in 1964. And where would vaudeville be without a running gag. The sock puppets astonished me by introducing the Abbott & Costello ‘Who’s on first’ routine, I thought “Oh, they’re going to do that one, ah well that’s OK its pretty good”. But no, no, no the sock puppets took the gag and completely deconstructed it and it reappeared in surprising places throughout the rest of the show.
After a surprising guest appearance by cardboard cut out Kraftwerk and other silly shenanigans, that included “Mad dogs and Englishmen smoke out in the midday rain” and an excerpt from a planned Christmas special, the last part of the show consisted of a surprisingly detailed and wonderfully ridiculous version of King Lear, using other puppets and soft toys who have appeared earlier in the show. Even the subplots were enacted! King Lear’s daughters were called Gonorrea, Ronald Regan and Cor-Delia Smith (Goneril, Regan & Cordelia). The battle using all the puppets and soft toys has to be seen to be believed! This show was like Shakespeare in that it had something for everyone, High jokes, low jokes and stuff for the kids.
Finally after the puppets took their bows the amazing puppeteer came out to receive his well deserved cheers and wild applause. It must be exhausting work. Kev F Sutherland is a truly renaissance man, comedian, comic strip creator, writer, teacher (and though there is no mention in his CV) puppeteer extraordinaire. Seriously your festival will be made complete with a visit to the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets!
The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are at The Garden Of Unearthly Delights, Adelaide every night at 7.45 until March 18th. Tickets here.
"Roll up roll up" - Adelaide Advertiser review
"Head-slappingly funny" - Festival Freak review
Adelaide Waiting - new Socks video
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