Socks Shakespeare Preview dates + Twitter ads

What more can I say? I've artworked loads of ads, to Tweet in the run up to this summer's Edinburgh preview gigs. Here they are.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend 
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre
July 17 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern 2pm

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe , Kings Arms Salford 7pm

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

Socks Romeo & Juliet comic off to the printers

There are few things as satisfying as publishing a comic. So this week, since I have a rare week at my desk (and artwork to do, including a new commission of illustrations for Bible Society as well as starting the art for Book Of Esther, and writing more Socks Shakespeare) I have published not one but two. The first to go off to Ka-Blam to be printed is a 24 page comic of the Socks' Romeo & Juliet, the brand new cover art for which you can see above. A parody of which famous comic cover?

The strip inside is from the Socks' original 2008 comic collection, and I've repackaged it so, hopefully, we can sell it at gigs. If we manage to shift any during the Edinburgh Preview season, we may order a second print run for Edinburgh itself (currently only 50 copies are ordered, I'm not getting carried away too early).

The second comic to go to press is Hot Rod Cow issue 2. Largely in order to have something to show the kids at schools, I've drawn up a new 10 page story in my spare time (adapted from the unused Bananaman script "Suits"), and backed it up with the unseen Gladiators story "Lardiators", drawn by David Pugh, that we produced back in 1995 and which has never seen print before. This'll be a nice little novelty, and good to give it an airing. If we run into profit, Dave'll get half. I shall urge him not to hold his breath. LWT doubly so.

Both will go on sale at Indyplanet, where my previous publications have sold (in most cases) not a single copy (though Hot Rod Cow number 1 shifted a few units, thanks to a bulk order from a school last year).

I hopefully will never shake my nostalgic love for comics. And once I get stuck into editing, assembling and publishing them, I get an urge to book myself a table at every comic convention and get back into the game. You never know, maybe I will. In the meantime, if I sell out every copy of the comics I published today, I'm looking at a cool profit of 70 whole quid. You heard me, seventy big ones could me mine, clear profit. Oh yeah, I am a playa.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
June 9 - Bridgend
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe 

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
July 30 - Blaenavon Rhymney Brewery
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres. After a morning or an afternoon every pupil goes away with a photocopied comic containing a strip by every single one of them, and an individual caricature by Kev F. Please email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video  

Bucharest, Bedford & Belfast - travels with my art

New Doctor Who companion? New Doctor Schmoo Companion! Here I am at the Bedford Who Charity Con with Sophie Aldred, just before the Scottish Falsetto Socks and she did a fun little Ace sketch as part of the Socks show at the con, which went down very nicely indeed thankyou. (If anyone got a video of our performance I'd love to see it) All part of a busy couple of weeks' travel which saw me, a couple of days earlier, in Bucharest.

Here's me having fun doodling on a flipchart as part of my two days of Comic Art Masterclasses at the British School in Bucharest, and here's my ridiculously accommodating host, librarian Tim who, with his family, took me out every night and made sure I was looked after every day.

We're in a Moldavian restuarant there, by the way. And I now know much more about Moldova, Moldavia, Romania and various parts of Eastern Europe than I ever did before. I didn't see much of Bucharest, but what parts I did see were characterised by rubbish pavements. I'm sure I'll get to redress the balance soon and see the better-paved parts of town. Until then, this is what I think Romania mostly looks like:

Before Bucharest, the previous week, I managed to squeeze in visits to Glasgow for the Sitcom Trials, Dartford in Kent for Comic Art Masterclasses, Doncaster for their Book Awards, and Sheffield to perform at the brilliant Cabaret Boom Boom with the Socks, while getting some Minnie The Minx scripts written inbetween times. The Book Awards looked like this:

(Left to right Talegate Theatre, myself, Pamela Butchart and Liz Pichon)

Then to bring us up to date I'm fresh back from a surprising short-notice gig at an 18th birthday party in Belfast, which I didn't even know about till three days before. Mr Whistle-Stop, that's me. Here's my venue:

Added to which excitement, tickets for the Socks' Edinburgh Fringe show have gone on sale already. Is this a record early sales start? (Don't know, I'll go and check, expect an update if I find anything). So it's all go here. How many air miles, I dread to think. From April 11th  - 24th I've flown to Glasgow & back, Bucharest & back, and Belfast & back. I've also proved my ineptness for booking some air tickets for next month - to the wrong country! (I needed to go to Belfast at the end of May, I'm currently sat here with tickets for Dublin. Idiot.)

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe 

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres. After a morning or an afternoon every pupil goes away with a photocopied comic containing a strip by every single one of them, and an individual caricature by Kev F. Please email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video 

Top 10 Stupid Dr Who Companion Names

There's a 50 year old tradition of Doctor Who companions sometimes having unusual names. There's a much more recent tradition of everybody making a big deal of it, even when those names are far from the weirdest names out there. Here's my list of the Top 10 Least Likely Doctor Who Companion Names

10  Kamelion - Thankfully no-one remembers this dreadful idea for a companion, a robot that was more annoying than K-9 but at least you could stand up when you were in a scene with him. 

9   Leela - It is a real name, though I'd never met a Leela when I was a kid and thought this was a sign the show was getting less serious.

8   Tegan Jovanka - See Leela. There are many Tegans nowadays, but for 20 years I was sure it was a name invented for the show.

7   Ace - It may be a nickname, but then her real name's Dorothy Gale. As in the Wizard Of Oz. Come on, that's just showing off.

6   River Song - Hmmm. Or if you prefer Melody Pond. Either way, a bit contrived and very annoying (as a name).

5   Romana - Not a name, a pizza topping

4   Adric - Do I need to say anything here?

3   Vislor Turlough - No part of this name isn't wrong

2   Perpugilliam Brown - Aaaaargh! Really? Peri is fine, a lovely name. Why oh why oh why have this under the hood?

1   Dodo Chaplet. And that was a Pointless answer, well done anyone who said...

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Shakespeare at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 - see the previews in your town!

May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 14 - Market Harborough Theatre

July 17 - Greater Manchester Fringe 

July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 3 - 29 - 10.30pm The Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe 

Attack On Trump - comics by pupils in Bucharest

This week I had the pleasure and privilege of being invited over to the British School in Bucharest, Romania, to teach my Comic Art Masterclasses. Only two days, a whistle stop visit, but a treat and a delight. Working with year 7, 8 and 9 we produced some wonderful comics together, and we discovered they had one thing in common, a fascination with Donald Trump.

When I asked them, as I always do, to suggest a celebrity who I can draw in my demonstration strip, three out of the four classes chose Donald Trump. And, not to feel left out, the fourth class, who chose Tom Cruise to step on the worm, chose Donald Trump as part of the title of the comic they produced. It makes a change from Simon Cowell.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres. After a morning or an afternoon every pupil goes away with a photocopied comic containing a strip by every single one of them, and an individual caricature by Kev F. Please email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video 

Look-In to Eurovision - More stories I've posted on Facebook

I've posted stuff on Facebook more than I've put it in the blog recently. Stuff like this.

Here's a shot to send a shiver through the spine of comic fans, magazine collectors and lovers of LookIn magazine - half a dozen of my childhood Look-Ins with their covers dessicated so I could use the pictures in my teenage diary. (Diary here: http://my1970sdiary.blogspot.co.uk/)

I'm reminded of a conversation I had with a group of Swedes about Eurovision and why we don't take it seriously. I think both the Swedes and the Brits & Irish see popular music as a source of pride. It's just that we Brits & Irish were prouder of our real music and thought Eurovision music was a lesser genre.
I believe Terry reflected a widely-held feeling about the sub-pop genre of music that Eurovision comprised, he didn't mock it alone. Indeed I believe any presenter who hadn't mocked the content of Eurovision would have been doing a bad job for a British broadcaster. Remember at this time, the early 70s, Britain and Ireland could take pride in having changed the course of international pop music for the past decade and Eurovision's pop was simply a different thing. And, yes, we found foreigners and other ways of doing things funny, in a way that may look provincial and even offensive now.
Terry Wogan didn't spoil Eurovision, he rescued it for British and Irish viewers (and Australians, am I right?). Anyone who took those decades of risible entries (Britain's own included) seriously just demonstrates how different other countries cultures can be. We're Anglophones, we take the piss. I know many people from other cultures don't get this, or see the point in it, so we can only apologise.

Terry Wogan 'totally spoiled' Eurovision, says contest producer

Broadcaster created generation of Britons who see show as irrelevant and kitsch, according to Swedish producer of contest

THEGUARDIAN.COM

I've been doing 1957's word all through this article. Brainiac coined in 1975? Gasp invented in 1968? Laugh-out-loud first used in 1970? Of course it means the words use in that precise regard (gasp as an ironic exaggerated response, laugh-out-loud as an adjective) and it refers only to their first appearance in print (Bagsy definitely pre-dates 1979 because we used it for many years in school, and I left school in 1979). But a fun bit of nonsense all the same.

How to find the word born in the same year as you

The powers that be add new words to the dictionary all the time - but have you ever wondered how recent the language you use everyday is?

INDY100.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

The good news? I just finished The Secret History Of Hollywood / Attaboy, Clarence 's excellent Bullets and Blood podcast, all about the Warner Brothers and Jimmy Cagney. The bad news? That's the last one! I've listened to every one of these excellent podcasts. Help, are there any other podcasts anyone can recommend that are as good as this? No chat, no making-it-up-as-you go along, just pure, well-written, well-read authoritative info (in this case on Hollywood, but I could be interested in any subject if it's this well told). Anyone?

This is a bit dire for the BBC. 7 top execs have left in the last half year, 25% of staff told they could lose their jobs, and as one BBC insider puts it, it feels as if “a lot of the adults have left”. Meanwhile ITV look promising, only so they can sell the bleeding company. Oh well, British telly being the best in the world was good while it lasted. I'm glad I was around to see it.

Turmoil at the top leaves the futures of ITV and BBC in the balance

As Kevin Lygo adds BBC drama boss Polly Hill to his new team, the corporation must move to boost morale

THEGUARDIAN.COM|BY TARA CONLAN

In 1981 my Dad took me to the Edinburgh Fringe as we were passing through, and had me choose the one show we should see. There were two shows on at the Assembly Rooms, one was RadioActive. We went to see the other one. Glad to get a second chance. (The show we went to see was An Evening Without... starring Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville, Griff Rhys Jones & Clive James, since you ask).

Angus Deayton revives Radio Active : News 2016 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide

Angus Deayton revives Radio Active - For a run at the Edinburgh Fringe

CHORTLE.CO.UK|BY POWDER BLUE INTERNET BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

This afternoon's More Or Less (BBC Radio 4, unmissable) ran the stats to answer the question "have more celebrities died in 2016 than in previous years?". Even I was surprised by the answer. (Here's the show:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076prgl )

Toby Hadoke

April 15 at 3:50pm · 

Oh no. Seems Henry DOES finish first. RIP David Swift: his turn in Drop The Dead Donkey is a real favourite (though I was also very pleasantly surprised to see him pop up when I rewatched the BBC Day of the Triffids too).

Kevin Fiege says "look at the comics" to see how the Marvel movies might develop. But having read the excellent Marvel Comics: The Untold Story you learn how haphazard and made-up-as-it-went-along the development of the Marvel Universe was back in the day. I was lucky enough to read the comics thru the 1970s when the writers and artists valiantly tried to get away from just superhero stories (Conan, Man Thing, Howard The Duck, Planet Of The Apes, Dracula, Killraven, Deathlok etc were the stuff I far preferred to the superheroes). Only now I learn they got the chance to do this because the comic line was expanding exponentially only cos the guy in charge was misreporting sales returns and running the books like a Ponzi Scheme. Unless that's what Fiege is aiming to emulate, in which case bring it on!

Marvel Phase 4 Will Be Distinctly Different

With Marvel's intertwining storylines and constant introductions of new landmark characters, [...]

COMICBOOK.COM