The Racist Brother costume, photographed possibly for the first time, last night backstage at Artrix in Bromsgrove where we performed Superheroes for most likely the last time. Our mini Spring Tour took us to Chorley, Bath, Barton On Humber and Bromsgrove, where they all got a half hour opening set comprising mostly new stuff from Roll Up - effectively half-Previews - then the whole hour of Superheroes. Superheroes has grown from being a show that I felt was in the shadow of its predecessor, Shakespeare, to become a favourite. Laughs like The Joker, Motion Capture and Clark Kent's glasses were really up there with some of our funniest bits, and I'm proud of the structure of the show, with its Racist Brother subplot. Talking of which...
"It was me all along! I used the Motion Capture suit! You don't really have a brother. And racists don't really exist!"
If you never saw the show Superheroes, that will make no sense whatsoever. So, the props and costumes for Superheroes go back into the dressing up box, and we whip out the sewing machine to bring the Roll Up characters to life.
Which brings us (via this lovely backstage shot at Barton In Humber, just lucked in with the lighting there) to Roll Up. What stuff's been working in these tryouts, and what's still to come?
Newest material is Annie The Elephant, which I wrote and recorded between Chorley and Bath, and which has failed to get a laugh every time since. It did best at Bromsgrove, where I didn't do it as the first song (after I'm A Sock). Also its music is a bit thin, needs beefing up.
Anne Hathaway is one I want to drop from the show, but when we've done it it's got better than Annie The Elephant. Come on, we can't have two songs about Annes in the same show, that'd be madness.
Philip Astley and his song get a good laugh, as does Mad Cow bonfire, and all the circus gags - the biggest laughs being from three circus gags I wrote this week just before Barton. Pagliacci and The Doctor is a very good routine, though it fizzles out a bit at the end. The circus act improv has thrown up some good bits - Lion Tamer and Ventriloquist might yet find themselves as permanent fixtures.
Phantom Of The Opera is now dropped from the show which means, following Les Miserables that we tried as the finale in Leicester, we've already tried out and chucked out two different finales. Also the cross-channel TV bit with Matt Allwright has gone (meaning I could put those on Youtube if I wanted, I'll think on't).
Meanwhile I've written a full plot structure for the show (including Nicole Kidman, Lady In Red and Greggs) and a brand new finale* that's yet to be tried out live (Greatest Show On Earth). The plan is that this'll let me slot other, stronger material in as it comes. For example we still have the Eurovision Brexit song in there, which will stay until something better squeezes it out. I'm happy with the structure. The work on more better gags and routines continues.
(*Brand new being the key here, Les Mis and Phantom were both based on scripts that I'd written and done as videos a few years ago.)
The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! Previews:
May 24 - Victoria Theatre Halifax
May 30 - Vauxhall Comedy Club
June 1 & 2 - Komedia Brighton Fringe
June 8 - Harlequin in Redhill
July 8 - Barnes Fringe
July 19 - Kings Arms Salford, GM Fringe
July 20 - Bedford Fringe
July 28 - Derby Bar One
July 31st - August 25th, The Scottish Falsetto Socks ROLL UP! at the Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose 9.30pm. Sexy new venue, sexy new timeslot, and it's already selling well.
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