Square videos?

And suddenly I've discovered how to make square videos, with a frame around them. God help the world there'll be no stopping me now. Having found out how to do it this morning (you use Keynote, which I find myself using for the first time ever) I've stuck our videos for Black Panther, Deadpool, and Infinity War into frames. Already the Black Panther one is on Twitter, the Deadpool one is on Facebook, and I have Infinity War waiting in the wings. Whether they reach a single person more than we're already doing, we'll have to see.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW! 

*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018

Previews:

June 16 - Zion, Bristol

June 20 - Ludlow Fringe

July 11 - Neath
July 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One

 - with more preview dates to be announced

Isle of Wight to Switzerland - Travels with my art

In the last instalment of Travels With My Art, our intrepid adventurer had come back from schools in The Lake District to do a bit of Top Secret filming in London, about which we’ll be able to tell you more in the Autumn (oh the excitement of signing an NDA, like it’s the Official bleeding Secrets Act). Then the unexpected luxury of spending most of the week at my desk, writing more of the Superheroes show, making ads for it, and sending out press releases, before setting off on Friday for The Isle Of Wight.

In Sandown on the Isle Of Wight I had the pleasure of meeting, for the first time in thirty years, Paul McLaren, who had been the star sculptor at Exeter College Of Art & Design back in the day, and who still makes big machines, only this time they’re oriented towards entertainment. He was one of the organisers of Hullabaloo, a two day festival as part of which I drew caricatures and did an art class. A much needed festival for Sundown, I would say as, off season as it is, it looks a little benighted and in need of TLC. I’m sure in the summer it comes to life.

Wednesday saw me returning to Milton Keynes for the last in a sequence of visits, after which I then had to colour and assemble the pupils work to turn it into an 8 page magazine to be given away at Art In The Park in the summer. At time of writing, I’m waiting to hear what they think of the finished job (delivered at the end of the month).

Then it was back to Switzerland for a return visit to College Beau Soleil, which I last visited in 2015. These two days travelling for one day’s work included the chance to take in the usual breathtaking scenery (in perfect weather throughout); to enjoy an art gallery opening with a bit of live jazz, all of which was very Home Counties in feel, like going to a small gallery opening in Surrey, albeit one with a view of the alps out of the window; and to spend a grand evening putting the world to rights chatting with my new best mate Karl Nova. Karl is a performance poet and writer who was doing classes at the school, and is great company.

Two days at a school in Birmingham and three days at my desk later and we were off to Brighton for two Socks Previews, as detailed here. After which the return to my desk saw the start of the Superheroes comic (I broke the 24 page script down in front of the telly on Monday night and had 7 pages completed by mid week), and the writing & recording of 4 new songs for the show (Black Lightning, DC and Silver Surfer, which will all be part of the audience-in music, and Bechdel Test which will be part of the show, for the next previews at least). That’s what I call a productive few days.

The month ended with a party. Since I had a class in Guildford the next day, Hev came with me and we made an overnight stop in London so we could attend The List Edfest program launch party at Omeara, a club under a railway arch in Southwark. And very pleasant it wa too. A few comedy and cabaret acts made a good stab at being heard over the conversation, I saw a few familiar faces but had no chats longer than two sentences, and we picked up the new Edfest programme. A fun party, which we left early cos of work the next day.

I never said these travels with my art made entertaining reading, but it’s nice to have a record of these things. 

Black Panther - new from the Socks

New from the Scottish Falsetto Socks, and already dropped from the new show Superheroes, here's their take on Black Panther.

We tried this out in the live show and found there's nothing funny enough to do live in it, but it'll sit quite happily in the audience-in music before the show. So do please enjoy.



We've made it part of a new Youtube Playlist - Socks Do Superheroes - which will, in time, contain lots of the show itself. For the moment it's got lots of outtakes, songs that didn't make the cut, and ideas from our work in progress, plus some hits from the pit that are on topic but not in the show. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW! 

*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018

Previews:

June 16 - Zion, Bristol

June 20 - Ludlow Fringe

July 11 - Neath
July 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One

 - with more preview dates to be announced

Superheroes Brighton Previews May 26 & 27

In Brighton this weekend the Scottish Falsetto Socks presented their latest pair of previews of the new show, Superheroes, to a cracking response from two lovely crowds (at 3.45 and 5pm on Saturday and Sunday respectively, on two of the hottest days of the year so far, so many thanks to everyone who came). We had some very strong new material, and kept chopping out the weak stuff, all of which served to remind me that we still have to get the whole working together to make a perfect show.

Saturday’s audience was about 50% Socks fans, and Sunday’s was nearer 10%, meaning Sunday’s were a far more stringent test of what was genuinely funny material, as people who’ve never seen the Socks before really need won over and keep entertained, whereas fans let you glide by on charm and familiarity, and confidence that there’s good stuff ahead.

All of which serves to make me extra critical of the material, but also confident that we’re going in the right direction and that we already have some brilliant stuff in this show which, when it’s completed, could be our best yet. 

Between Saturday and Sunday I chopped the script up quite a bit - literally, I was using nail scissors and gaffer tape to do it. Below is the running order we ended up with on Sunday. Lost from the previous day’s show had been the Awards gags (some nice puns riffing on the fact that we’ve won the Bath Comedy Festival Best Joke Award, but they don’t fit and hold the action up), and the new Black Panther song (which will go into the pre-show music, and onto Youtube, but isn’t funny enough for the live show). Also lost a callback to the Cosmopolitan routine which wasn’t funny enough. Lost from the last preview, in London, was the Steed and Mrs Peel song.

SUPERHEROES RUNNING ORDER, Sunday May 27 2018

(All items good as before unless mentioned)

Opening Batman/Robin/Flash - just quick gags and straight into…

I’m A Sock song

Cosmopolitan routine / Bob Kane

Motion Capture

NEW Hulk Ang Lee routine - good, should get better

Plot/ Maguffin / Cock Robin (this last gag only stays in the show cos it won a prize, and leads to…)

Spiderman song - this really must go. Working on song and routine to replace it.

Science/Faraday/Sagan

Brother 1

Racist Brother Song

Batman/ Teeth / Urine/Nuts/Crazy - this now has a callback later but needs its storyline to be concluded

Avengers

Avengers Reel - now re-recorded, with a verse removed, and the keys changed. Much better.

NEW Dr Strange / Wong / Thanos routine - good. Needs better ending & integration with the rest.

Fantastic 4 appeal - good but needs integrating into plot, callback later

NEW Thanos / Who’s On First - needs work

Superman / JorEl / Kents / Glasses

Dead Ringer song

Brother 2

Science gags

NEW Joker 2 - good, needs integrating

Harley & Ivy

Daredevil - only laughs coming from costume, need integrating into plot

Brother 3

What I’ve Learned

All By Myself song - too long, needs editing to half its length

NEW Finale -  good lines but needs to be a much more satisfying conclusion.

So we have a good plot structure (the superheroes unite to fight the supervillains), and we have possibly our first ever proper subplot (Racist Brother), but the whole hour needs to flow better, with all the characters’ stories tying together in the finale. And it still needs a couple of zinger routines and songs that’ll put it up there with our best shows. Hev & I busked ideas in the car on the way back from Brighton and already have some nice ideas for Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Supergirl that will be getting their first airing in Bristol on June 16th.

Keep watching Youtube for those outtakes and experiments.

To Infinity War parodies - and beyond!

The next Edinburgh Preview of the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre: Superheroes is at Zion, Bristol on June 16th. Book tickets now, and spread the word!

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW! 

*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018

Previews:

June 16 - Zion, Bristol

June 20 - Ludlow Fringe

July 11 - Neath
July 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One

 - with more preview dates to be announced

EASTER EGG. Here's a bonus for those of you who've scrolled down this far, an exclusive glimpse of the Socks work in progress. This is the script, being edited with gaffer tape and nail scissors, on the floor of our hotel in Worthing (nearest we could afford) on Sunday morning. Hi tech or what?

"There’s not another act like it anywhere" - Ken Bruce

"Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre - there’s not another act like it anywhere" - Ken Bruce

The Socks got a namecheck on the Ken Bruce show on Radio 2, courtesy of Socks fan x who emailed about our version of Earth Song. Hear the clip here.

Meanwhile that quote's going on the posters.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW! 

*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018

Previews:
May 26 3.45pm & May 27 5pm Komedia Brighton

June 16 - Zion, Bristol

June 20 - Ludlow Fringe

July 11 - Neath
July 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One

 - with more preview dates to be announced

Thor's Hammer Squashed My Lunch - comics by kids

This bumper bundle of comics was created by kids from the four corners of the globe. Admittedly I only travelled as far as Switzerland, the Isle Of Wight, Milton Keynes and Birmingham to meet them, but that felt like far enough to be getting along with. The above pair were from my annual two-day visit to Colmore Juniors in Kings Heath where I do classes with all four groups of their Year Fives.

The second batch from Colmore, and a wonderfully eclectic range of titles, comics strips inside. I never show you those here on the blog, do I? Well, for every cover you can see, there are up to 30 individual comic strips by pupils in there. Count your blessings you don't have to see some of them, but a whole lot are works of genius. I have quite the unique archive here on my shelves.

This pair of beauties are the fruits of my most recent journey to Beau Soleil College, up in the alps in Villars Sur Ollon in Switzerland. I was there two weeks ago, visiting the school down the road, Aiglon, and here I was back again, at the school whose annual fees are €100,000. Yes, dear reader, this time I did charge more.

This one comic from Shenley Brook End is more by way of a byproduct, from the ongoing work I've been doing with a series of schools in Milton Keynes which I'm collecting up into an environment themed comic for the Milton Keynes Islamic Art and Culture programme. On the right you can see how, on the flipchart, I help the pupils to visualise their story ideas. To be honest, I don't get the chance to do this often enough, and it's most worth doing with the most able pupils. Which is what I was working with today. I had a whole day with one group of year 12 and 13s and they did the best work you've seen. It's going to look good when it's printed (and given away at Art In The Park in June).

This comic, and flipchart, came from my class at the Hullabaloo festival in Sandown on the Isle Of Wight. I was there for two days, spending the first day just drawing caricatures and whipping up interest in the class on the Sunday. The flipchart was a result of that extra amount of time on my hands, I hope the kids appreciated it.

The celebrities these eight groups chose for my far-famed demonstration strip were Kim Jogn Un, Stephen Hawking, Beyonce, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Prince Harry, Dan TDM, and most original of the year so far: Geoff Nutkins (he's an aviation artist who one of the kids has a jigsaw by, apparently).



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 - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here. 

Deadpool - new from the Socks

A new routine and video from the Socks, their look at Deadpool. Do please enjoy. Will this make it into the preview shows that we're doing in Brighton this weekend? You'll have to come and see.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW! 

*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018

Previews:
May 26 3.45pm & May 27 5pm Komedia Brighton

June 16 - Zion, Bristol

June 20 - Ludlow Fringe

July 11 - Neath
July 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One

 - with more preview dates to be announced

Yes, I Remember It Well - new song from the Socks

A new song, written and recorded while writing the Socks' new show Superheroes, and destined never to be in the live show, and probably not in the intro music either - Yes, I Remember It Well.

It's a song about the ret-conning, or retrospective writing of the continuity of a character, in a comic or movie. And, yes, I realise how niche that whole idea is, but I had to write it anyway. A little bit of audience research on Facebook established quickly that nobody understood all of the references in the song, and many people got none of them. The lyrics are below, if you want to make any sense of them.



Yes, I Remember It Well

(SPOKEN)

R   Of course you know the Joker’s origin? He was a stand up comedian, then he does a crime as The Red Hood and –

L  No no no, he’s called Jack Napier played by Jack Nicholson, and he shoots Batman’s parents

R No Batman’s parents were shot by Joe Chill. Yes, I remember it well.

(SUNG)

R  Dick Grayson’s Robin, that’s no mistake

L   No Robin’s Jason Todd, and then Tim Drake

R    Ah yes, I remember it well

R   And Wonder Woman is Zeus’s kid

L    Actually she’s a statue, Hippolyta did

R   Yes I remember it well

R   Now Spider-Man, this I insist,

Has webs that come straight from his wrist

L   Actually they’re from some wee wristbands

That he just sticks on his hands

R    For me to get all these things wrong

It’s like they make it up as they go along

L    Yes I remember it well

R   Deadpool can’t speak, I know I’ve seen

That fight with him in Wolverine

Yes, I remember it well

R    And Scarlet Witch is Magneto’s

L   then

She should be in the films with the X Men

R   Yes, I remember it well

R   The Mighty Thor’s a bloke called Blake

L   Turns out his whole backstory’s fake

R   It seems that happens quite a lot

It’s like they retcon the plot

R   It happens daily, or so it seems,

Next thing you’ll wake up, and it was all a dream

-->

L   And yes you’ll remember it well

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre* are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - ON SALE NOW! 

*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018

Previews:
May 26 3.45pm & May 27 5pm Komedia Brighton

June 16 - Zion, Bristol

June 20 - Ludlow Fringe

July 11 - Neath
July 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One

 - with more preview dates to be announced