In a clip from the Socks' first tryouts of material for Socks In Space at the Leicester Comedy Festival, a discussion about The Six Million Dollar Man that may, or may not, make the final show.
TOUR DATES Spring/Summer 2013
Feb 2, 3 - The Black Pearl, Malta Feb 8, 9, 10 - Leicester Comedy Festival, Kayal Mar 9 - Flavel, Dartmouth Mar 21, 22, 23 - Glasgow Comedy Festival, The Dram Mar 30, April 5 - Bath Comedy Festival, Ring O'Bells April 12 - Plough Arts, Torrington, Devon April 13 - Barnfield, Exeter April 27 - Gardyne Theatre, Dundee April 28 - Eden Court, Inverness May 1 - Swindon Arts Centre May 9, 10 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe May 25, 26 - Inverness Happy-Ness Festival May 29 - Theatr Mwdlan, Cardigan May 31 - Exchange Arts, Keighley June 1 - Junction, Goole June 2 - Barnsley Civic June 8 - Warwick Arts Centre June 25 - Leicester Square Theatre, London June 27 - Victoria Theatre, Halifax June 28 - Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol July 2, July 9 - Leicester Square Theatre, London July 14 - Sheffield, New Barrack Tavern 2pm (NEW) July 20 - Bedford Fringe July 21 - Derby Funhouse 3.25pm (NEW) July 22 - Clowns Pocket, Neath Aug 2-26 - Gilded Balloon, 10.15pm, Edinburgh Fringe Sept 7 - Derry Waterside Sept 21 - Braintree Arts Theatre
Further dates to be added, (plus regular appearances at your local comedy club, check listings for details and, if you can't find us, ask your local comedy club to book us, it can't hurt). Watch Facebook, here or ents24 for updates.
You see here front covers and some strips by pupils from year 6 and 7 in Malvern and Gloucester. The celebrities the four groups suggested for the "treads on a worm" demonstration were Will Smith, Megan Fox and, twice in one week, Winston Churchill. I know.
If you're developing a taste for this kind of thing, there's a whole archive of Comic Art Masterclass comics on my website, including these choice examples and many more...
If anyone wants me to come and show their kids how to do what I've been doing for a living for the last two decades in my patent Comic Art Masterclasses, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, smoke signals, the usual methods. Click below to see more, including video and contact details.
As well as writing and drawing for comics as diverse as The Beano, Marvel comics and Doctor Who, I specialise in teaching school pupils how to write and draw comic strips in my Comic Art Masterclasses (as you can see in the video below). And one big finding is how vital comics are as a tool in learning literacy.
Reverse Psychology and Super Dooper Pooper Loo, comics by pupils
from Borehamwood, Taunton, Kings Lynn, Croydon and Guildford.
Regularly in my work in both primary school and secondary schools, as far afield as Ireland, Scotland, Wales, all points in England, and even Abu Dhabi, I am told by teachers that I have got a pupil to write stories who doesn't usually write, and to read who doesn't usually read. How?
Well part of my impact is of course my novelty. A visiting artist is always going to be a break from the norm and combining, as I do, my expertise as a stand up comedian with my love and knowledge of comics inevitably makes a pleasant diversion from their usual teachers (who are all brilliant, need I mention?). And working, as we do, at a whirlwind speed, producing a comic book with the entire class in a morning or afternoon, they hardly have time to realise what's hit them before the fun's over. But entertainment is all well and good, so how does this manage to help them with literacy?
The answer lies on the comic strip page. And in particular with the voice or speech bubble. Comic books and comic strips, you see, are a very unfamiliar sight to most children in British schools today. They are familiar with many of the characters, from having seen them on TV and in films and games, but few are regular readers of comics, and those that are are limited to the juvenile reading experience of The Beano.
But when I scatter comics on their tables, as I do as part of the class (encouraging them to copy and to learn from the drawings they see), the excitement is palpable. The cries of "look at this" and "have you seen this?" are as delightful as they are inevitable as most of them are seeing the interiors of, for example, Marvel & DC superhero comics, for the first time. And with most comics giving you little change from three quid these days, this is little surprise.
And on all of those comic strip pages we see the single tool of the comic strip trade that was the reason I had the best reading age in my own primary school year, the voice bubble. I, like many young readers (particularly, though not exclusively, boys) learned to read visually. Children draw before they can write, and they learn to interpret visual images and work out what is happening in front of them visually, before they can read words or even understand spoken language. So what better way for them to learn to read than to read one picture following another on a printed page?
Then, once they've begun to read the story laid out in panels before them, what could be simpler than having a character's spoken words appear in a balloon, emerging from (or more accurately with a stem pointing towards) their open mouth? It was as a result of this simple device that, by the age of five, I was reading, and spelling correctly, words like Thermonuclear Device and Excelsior. Because I was reading The Hulk and The Fantastic Four. I could work out what was happening in the story, helped all the more by the fact that the stories contained unlimited violence, punching, explosions and big shiny spaceships and gruesome monsters - which are, for the record, a million times more interesting to any five year old boy than Janet, John and/or Spot The Dog - and then I could read the words, making sense of them by a simple joining of the mental dots.
The Living Moon Pie - comics by pupils from Cambridgeshire, Glasgow, Croydon, Largs & Henley.
Quite how anyone who had to learn by deciphering a wall of words alone managed I cannot quite comprehend. Sure there were picture books. But a) they were for kids (see Janet, John, Spot and for my money Gruffaloes and Hungry Caterpillars, which are fine for parents to read to kids but a yawn for kids to read themselves) and b) had pictures on one page and words on the other with no obvious link between the two. Inverted commas v the voice bubble is a battle the inverted commas are going to lose every time, surely.
So, I teach comics, and they help struggling readers with literacy. QED. If you want me, you know where to find me. My next aim is to begin producing the sort of comic books that I believe young readers want to read and that will be affordable to them. Stay tuned, we'll see how I progress.
In the meantime, there's a whole archive of Comic Art Masterclass comics as produced by the kids in my classes on my website, including these choice examples and many more...
If anyone wants me to come and show their kids how to do what I've been doing for a living for the last two decades in my patent Comic Art Masterclasses, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, smoke signals, the usual methods. Click below to see more, including video and contact details.
Curse Of The Singing Go Compare Man & other comics, by kids in Kent and Henley
The Socks have been making lots of videos so far this year. Some of which are getting healthy viewing figures, by our standards. Here, as of today's date, is 2013's Top 12. Let's see how they fare as the year goes on.
I've not been keeping much of a diary of late, while busying myself with Socks shows, schools and the boring business at my desk. So here are some of my tweets of recent weeks, for the record.
Feb 5 Socks play Leicester Comedy Festival Fri, Sat + Sun matinee http://tinyurl.com/SoxLeics 1st preview of new Socks In Space stuff + Boo! Book now
Feb 8 Search "Leicester Comedy" on Twitter, you find comedians plugging their shows. No punters, just comics. All on at 7.30 http://tinyurl.com/SoxLeics
Brand new from the Socks, a song about a very famous spaceship...
Since last week's excellent first Socks In Space shows at Leicester Comedy Festival, which comprised mostly Boo Lingerie material with about 15 minutes of new stuff, I've written some new space stuff that I think's not half bad. But we'll have to wait a short while to hear the new Melies Brothers routine tested out live, at which time we'll see whether the Fireball song works live. I have no doubt more even better material is just around the bend.
TOUR DATES Spring/Summer 2013
Feb 2, 3 - The Black Pearl, Malta Feb 8, 9, 10 - Leicester Comedy Festival, Kayal Mar 9 - Flavel, Dartmouth Mar 21, 22, 23 - Glasgow Comedy Festival, The Dram Mar 30, April 5 - Bath Comedy Festival, Ring O'Bells April 12 - Plough Arts, Torrington, Devon April 13 - Barnfield, Exeter April 27 - Gardyne Theatre, Dundee April 28 - Eden Court, Inverness May 1 - Swindon Arts Centre May 9, 10 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe May 25, 26 - Inverness Happy-Ness Festival May 29 - Theatr Mwdlan, Cardigan May 31 - Exchange Arts, Keighley June 1 - Junction, Goole June 2 - Barnsley Civic June 8 - Warwick Arts Centre June 25 - Leicester Square Theatre, London June 27 - Victoria Theatre, Halifax June 28 - Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol July 2, July 9 - Leicester Square Theatre, London July 14 - Sheffield, New Barrack Tavern 2pm (NEW) July 20 - Bedford Fringe July 21 - Derby Funhouse 3.25pm (NEW) July 22 - Clowns Pocket, Neath Aug 2-26 - Gilded Balloon, 10.15pm, Edinburgh Fringe Sept 7 - Derry Waterside Sept 21 - Braintree Arts Theatre
Further dates to be added, (plus regular appearances at your local comedy club, check listings for details and, if you can't find us, ask your local comedy club to book us, it can't hurt). Watch Facebook, here or ents24 for updates.
The Pope has just resigned. How could the Socks not have something to say...
(UPDATE) at 10am on Feb 14th, this video stands at 1999 viewers. Just saying.
And as if that weren't exciting enough, look, our Richard III video's made the front cover of Chortle:
And here it is on Blip TV (where they make money from the ads and we don't, must look into that):
TOUR DATES Spring/Summer 2013
Feb 2, 3 - The Black Pearl, Malta Feb 8, 9, 10 - Leicester Comedy Festival, Kayal Mar 9 - Flavel, Dartmouth Mar 21, 22, 23 - Glasgow Comedy Festival, The Dram Mar 30, April 5 - Bath Comedy Festival, Ring O'Bells April 12 - Plough Arts, Torrington, Devon April 13 - Barnfield, Exeter April 27 - Gardyne Theatre, Dundee April 28 - Eden Court, Inverness May 1 - Swindon Arts Centre May 9, 10 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe May 25, 26 - Inverness Happy-Ness Festival May 29 - Theatr Mwdlan, Cardigan May 31 - Exchange Arts, Keighley June 1 - Junction, Goole June 2 - Barnsley Civic June 8 - Warwick Arts Centre June 25 - Leicester Square Theatre, London June 27 - Victoria Theatre, Halifax June 28 - Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol July 2, July 9 - Leicester Square Theatre, London July 14 - Sheffield, New Barrack Tavern 2pm (NEW) July 20 - Bedford Fringe July 21 - Derby Funhouse 3.25pm (NEW) July 22 - Clowns Pocket, Neath Aug 2-26 - Gilded Balloon, 10.15pm, Edinburgh Fringe Sept 7 - Derry Waterside Sept 21 - Braintree Arts Theatre
Further dates to be added, (plus regular appearances at your local comedy club, check listings for details and, if you can't find us, ask your local comedy club to book us, it can't hurt). Watch Facebook, here or ents24 for updates.
The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre have done the first night of their run at Leicester Comedy Festival, previewing their new show Socks In Space. And, being in Leicester, they had a wee look at a current local news story...
The Socks are in Leicester tonight and tomorrow then tour the country, with dates below (plus regular appearances at your local comedy club, check listings for details and, if you can't find us, ask your local comedy club to book us, it can't hurt).
TOUR DATES Spring/Summer 2013
Feb 2, 3 - The Black Pearl, Malta Feb 8, 9, 10 - Leicester Comedy Festival, Kayal Mar 9 - Flavel, Dartmouth Mar 21, 22, 23 - Glasgow Comedy Festival, The Dram Mar 30, April 5 - Bath Comedy Festival, Ring O'Bells April 12 - Plough Arts, Torrington, Devon April 13 - Barnfield, Exeter April 27 - Gardyne Theatre, Dundee April 28 - Eden Court, Inverness May 1 - Swindon Arts Centre May 9, 10 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe May 25, 26 - Inverness Happy-Ness Festival May 29 - Theatr Mwdlan, Cardigan May 31 - Exchange Arts, Keighley June 1 - Junction, Goole June 2 - Barnsley Civic June 8 - Warwick Arts Centre June 25 - Leicester Square Theatre, London June 27 - Victoria Theatre, Halifax June 28 - Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol July 2, July 9 - Leicester Square Theatre, London July 14 - Sheffield, New Barrack Tavern 2pm (NEW) July 20 - Bedford Fringe July 21 - Derby Funhouse 3.25pm (NEW) July 22 - Clowns Pocket, Neath Aug 2-26 - Gilded Balloon, 10.15pm, Edinburgh Fringe Sept 7 - Derry Waterside Sept 21 - Braintree Arts Theatre
Further dates to be added, (plus regular appearances at your local comedy club, check listings for details and, if you can't find us, ask your local comedy club to book us, it can't hurt). Watch Facebook, here or ents24 for updates.
Three days in primary schools near Salisbury & Swansea, and look what you get. Half a dozen comics created by their own fair hands.
You see here six front covers by pupils from years 3 to 6, as well as a spread from one of them, the Year 5s from Netheravon in Wiltshire. The celebrities they suggested for the "treads on a worm" demonstration were Simon Cowell, Tulisa, Rita Ora, Taylor Swift, Olly Murs and Harry Hill. And the big find of the week? Netheravon had three sets of twins, while no other schools this year has had any, and I saw five dead badgers by the roadside on the way home, which is by my reckoning way above average.
If you're developing a taste for this kind of thing, there's a whole archive of Comic Art Masterclass comics on my website, including these choice examples and many more...
If anyone wants me to come and show their kids how to do what I've been doing for a living for the last two decades in my patent Comic Art Masterclasses, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, smoke signals, the usual methods. Click below to see more, including video and contact details.
The Socks are fresh back from playing their first ever gigs in Malta. This is how it went.
Thanks to our fabulous hosts Erin & James and to all the good people of Malta.
TOUR DATES Spring/Summer 2013
Feb 2, 3 - The Black Pearl, Malta Feb 8, 9, 10 - Leicester Comedy Festival, Kayal Mar 9 - Flavel, Dartmouth Mar 21, 22, 23 - Glasgow Comedy Festival, The Dram Mar 30, April 5 - Bath Comedy Festival, Ring O'Bells April 12 - Plough Arts, Torrington, Devon April 13 - Barnfield, Exeter April 27 - Gardyne Theatre, Dundee April 28 - Eden Court, Inverness May 1 - Swindon Arts Centre May 9, 10 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe May 25, 26 - Inverness Happy-Ness Festival May 29 - Theatr Mwdlan, Cardigan May 31 - Exchange Arts, Keighley June 1 - Junction, Goole June 2 - Barnsley Civic June 8 - Warwick Arts Centre June 25 - Leicester Square Theatre, London June 27 - Victoria Theatre, Halifax June 28 - Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol July 2, July 9 - Leicester Square Theatre, London July 14 - Sheffield, New Barrack Tavern 2pm (NEW) July 20 - Bedford Fringe July 21 - Derby Funhouse 3.25pm (NEW) July 22 - Clowns Pocket, Neath Aug 2-26 - Gilded Balloon, 10.15pm, Edinburgh Fringe Sept 7 - Derry Waterside Sept 21 - Braintree Arts Theatre
Further dates to be added, (plus regular appearances at your local comedy club, check listings for details and, if you can't find us, ask your local comedy club to book us, it can't hurt). Watch Facebook, here or ents24 for updates.
