Thanks to everyone at the Ropewalk in Barton On Humber now (possibly our 5th time there) for a cracking Socks gig, including the biggest tryout of new Minging Detectives material so far.
It's the first 90 minute show we've done this year that didn't contain any of Socks In Space. Even when we were getting our 5 star review at the Rondo in Bath last week, the review mentioned that things like the David Bowie song and Star Wars were getting over-familiar, and we have been including a good half hour of S.I.S. in the touring show since it ran in Edinburgh in 2013. Well tonight they got none of it.
The first half was almost entirely ...And So Am I (last year's satire show) with lots of opportunity to ad lib and talk about the election. We included Earth Song & the Magic routine, but that was it for the first 45 mins (no old faithfuls like Halloween, What's Missing Off TV, Local Zombies, Crack in the Toilet or Exorcist). Then in part 2 we opened with the Combine Mumford song from And So Am I, then launched into the new Minging Detectives gear.
New punny material got mostly laughs but some groans. From memory the groaners were Cannon, Rebus and the laughs were Luthor, Persuaders, Magnum, NYPD Blue, In Cold Blood.
Merchant of Venice - OK, needs better punchline.
Dixon of Dock Green - nothing much
Z Cars - excellent. And the costumes very good.
(Then threw in Walk On Wild Side to get great laughs)
Black & White Minstrels (now 30 secs shorter) - some very good laughs, costumes help.
Inspector Morse - very good, good punchline. (Used new cop outfit, which needs material)
Sofie Grabol (ad-libbed Y/J routine) - good but lacked punchline. Good response for costume.
The Sweary - some parts very good, will get funnier. Needs costumes.
(Then threw in 4 Horsemen song, which perked show back up again)
Hatton Garden Heist - great laughs for new costumes by Hev, then some good laughs throughout. Will get better. Not a bad end for the show (though I'm betting something even better will develop)
We then ended with the Baby In The Corner running gag, which had been threaded through the show, it's a very good way of stringing new unrelated sketches together and giving us a good close.
Then for finale we ad-libbed musicals, with a particularly good and drawn-out 7 Brides for 7 Brothers going on for ages and getting better as it went. One of those bits that only works when you've got a really good and supportive audience, which tonight's were, they were fab.
And finally Sweary Poppins and we were off.
So, an excellent show, and a triumph to have proved we can do a Socks In Space-free 90 mins. There was about 30 mins of Minging Detectives, almost all of it staying in the show, which is a great position to be in a this point in the run up to Edinburgh. (In comparison, in the last week of June 2013, Socks In Space was doing a run of previews in which I was trying out new songs, 2 out of 3 of which were cut from the final show, and we were still including things like the Melies routine which I'd long since forgotten, it was long gone by August )
More writing ahead, and by the way I'm really enjoying it.
The Socks do new material from Minging Detectives, and the best of their recent satire, on tour
Apr 18 Ropewalk Barton
Apr 24 Neath NRG Cafe
May 15 Exchange Keighley
May 22 & 23 Brighton Komedia
June 25 Cheltenham
June 27 Old Joint Stock Birmingham
July 17 Carriageworks Leeds
July 19 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern
July 23 - Spread Eagle Croydon
July 24 - Porters Cardiff
July 25 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 5 - 31 10.30pm Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe
Any plans to come to NE England (Newcastle area)? Edinburgh's just too far and too late at night from here...
ReplyDeleteHi Iain, we'd love to come to Newcastle (I was just there at the weekend, prior to doing Comic Art Masterclasses in Hexham). I'll see what we can do.
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