SOCK it to me. The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets are back. Only this time, the googly-eyed pair are boldly going where no item of loose-fitting footwear has ever gone before – outer space and the world of science fiction.
Sticking a couple of socks on your hands for a laugh is the kind of thing you might
get up to with your pals after a drunken night out.
For
Falsetto Sock creator Kev Sutherland, however, it’s a critically-acclaimed Fringe sell-out. No fancy theatrics here, thank-you
very much, just a rickety stand, some cheap costumes and a room full of
laughs.
The
sketches run from Star Trek to Star Wars and along the way there’s a
brief glimpse of Scotland’s answer to the big blockbuster sci-fi movies.
Movies
like Avatartan and Bladescunner, for example. Iron Man becomes Irn-Bru
man at one stage, and as things get sillier you feel like you’re going
through an out-of-sock experience.
The
highlights, though, come via interaction with the audience, which ensure
the fast-witted Sutherland’s shows are different each time. When he –
sorry, the Falsetto Socks – got hit with a movie title they didn’t
recognise, it merely ramped up the laughter rippling through the hall.
New
Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi, gets the sock treatment, while David Bowie
pops up to receive the starman effect. The ‘ship in a bottle’ routine
got dragged out over the hour-long performance without ever losing its
humour and no cheesy end-of-pier show would be complete without a couple
of songs, either.
Tourists
might struggle with the Scots references occasionally and you really
need to get close to the front of the stage in order to fully appreciate
the act. That said, even if the sound of squeaky socks seems too
lowbrow, rest assured you’ll be laughing your own socks off by the end.
BARRY GORDON
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