"Renowned comic-strip artist" - Lancashire Telegraph

This is why we need to preserve our local papers* - so I can be in them.


The renowned comic-strip artist, writer, producer and comedian took his touring Comic Art Masterclass to the Blackburn school.

Kev has produced work for The Beano, Dr Who Adventure and Match magazines, as well as appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

Famous for his quick-fire charicatures, which KevSutherland spent the day advising third-year pupils on the art of producing a comic strip.

He also took time out at lunch to answer questions from children and staff about his work.

Valerie Dewhust, head of library at QEGS, said: “The whole day had a buzz with pupils working hard to get through the fast-paced sessions.

"They were delighted to see the end results – a comic style book.

“All pupils involved were treated to their own caricature to take home, giving a real edge to what was a brilliant day.”

Thankyou Lancashire Telegraph, and thankyou Queen Elizabeth Grammar in Blackburn for having me. Oh and can I just say - charicatures? Charicatures??

* On an unrelated subject, the Clevedon Mercury ended last week after over 120 years of continuous publication. A tragic loss. I was in it loads.

If you would like to bring my Comic Art Masterclass to your school or art centre, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, carrier pigeon, whatever works. Click below to see more, including video and contact details.



RECOMMENDED COMIC BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS for Comic Art Masterclass students, teachers and librarians

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Help I'm A Superhero Get Me Out Of Here - new comics by kids

And this week's comics all come from the kids in one school North Beckton Primary in London E6.



It's a treat to be at one school for a whole week (well, four days) doing my Comic Art Masterclass with two groups apiece of year 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s, every one of them going home with a copy of the class comic containing a strip by every single one of them. They came up with all these titles, don't blame me. And I draw a caricature of every single one of them (see below) which, with just up 30 in each class plus teachers, means I've drawn 240 faces without breaking a sweat.

One thing I started doing this week, which hopefully I'll remember to do in future, is making a note on each front cover of which celebrity the kids in each class have chosen for the "Worm" demonstration. I show some top tips of comic storytelling by having a famous person tread on a worm, chosen by the class, but I never keep a record of who they've chosen. My memory tells me that the most popular choices over the years are 1) Michael Jackson, 2) Simon Cowell, 3) Cheryl Cole with many other names cropping up regularly (the most surprising ever was the group of 11 year olds who chose Tim Brooke-Taylor). This week's celebrities were: Will Smith, Justin Bieber, Simon Cowell, Jessie J (twice), David Tennant, Barack Obama and Lionel Messi.



If anyone wants me to come and show their kids how to do what I've been doing for a living for the last two decades, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, smoke signals, the usual methods. Click below to see more, including video and contact details.



RECOMMENDED COMIC BOOKS & GRAPHIC NOVELS for Comic Art Masterclass students, teachers and librarians

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"Socks get ready to step on stage" - Chorley Guardian interview

Look at the Socks all over the Chorley Guardian.



Published on Wednesday 11 April 2012 10:27
A Beano comic strip creator is bringing a unique ‘sock show’ to Chorley audiences.
Kev Sutherland, 50, from Scotland, is the man behind the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, a company that quite literally consists of two talking socks.
Having started officially at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007, the socks have gone on to be a huge success on a national and international scale.
They will be making their third return to Chorley Little Theatre on May 12 at 8pm, ready to delight audiences with songs, sketches and historical re-enactments.
Kev, who also teaches comic strip classes to children across the country, said: “The socks are a comedy act, who make people laugh.
“This will be the third time they have come to Chorley - they always have fantastic audiences there who come in big numbers.
“They are proving really popular.
“We will be trying some new stuff out on the audience, as well as lots of stuff that has been popular in the past.
“And there is quite a bit of interaction with the audience.
“People should come and seen them because it is the funniest show they will see.”
In their latest tour, Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre will be testing out material for a brand new ‘Socky Horror Show’ that they plan to take to Edinburgh in August.
They can be supported on Twitter by following @falsettosocks and their Facebook can be accessed on www.facebook.com/ScottishFalsettoSocks. To buy tickets ring 01257 264362.

Dear oh dear I really must try and say more interesting things in interviews - get the Socks to do the interviews, do it all in concise soundbites. Anything to avoid lines like “...there is quite a bit of interaction with the audience, People should come and seen them because it is the funniest show they will see" appearing again. Still no publicity is... you can see where that's going.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's Spring Tour: Bath April 7 • Haven April 12 • Exeter April 13 • Bridlington April 14 • St Andrews April 25 • Aberdeen April 27 • Halifax May 3 • Keighley May 4 • Stafford May 5 • Chorley May 12 • Brighton May 19/20 • Hereford May 27 • Harrogate June 28/29 • Rondo Bath July 9 • Beverly Puppet Festival July 13 • Tring July 19 • Manchester July 20 • Nottingham + Guildford July 21 • Derby July 22 • Bedford July 27 • Edinburgh Fringe August 1-27. Spread the word.

"A complete delight" - ★★★★ Venue

Brand new review for the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's show in Bath on Saturday. "A complete delight" - ★★★★ Venue 4 Stars? That'll do nicely.



COMEDY The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, now something of a comedy institution, has lost none of its zest. If you haven’t seen it, it does pretty much what it says on the tin. Devised by local boy Kev F Sutherland, it actually does feature a puppet theatre in which two puppets, actually socks, argue with each other in high-pitched Scottish accents. That’s right. The fun comes with the sheer speed and energy of the performance in which the hosiery-related pair shout insults at each other, play ridiculous songs, attempt costume drama, comment on the lyrics of Michael Jackson, make fun of the audience and the sound technician, perpetrate appalling puns, and generally cause mayhem at the rate of about a gag a second. A complete delight. (John Christopher Wood)

★★★★ (4 STARS)

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's Spring Tour: Bath April 7 • Milford Haven April 12 • Exeter April 13 • Bridlington April 14 • St Andrews April 25 • Aberdeen April 27 • Halifax May 3 • Keighley May 4 • Stafford May 5 • Chorley May 12 • Brighton May 19/20 • Hereford May 27 • Harrogate June 28/29 • Rondo Bath July 9 • Beverly Puppet Festival July 13 • Tring July 19 • Manchester July 20 • Nottingham + Guildford July 21 • Derby July 22 • Bedford July 27 • Edinburgh Fringe August 1-27. Spread the word.

Exeter Degree Show 1983 videos

This will either be the ultimate nostalgia trip for students from Exeter College of Art (which is about to be demolished, hence the recent flurry of reminiscences on Facebook), or it might be the most tortuously dull video you've ever sat through. In 1983 I walked round the entire Degree Shows with a (very heavy) video camera. The film last an hour, but by speeding it up I've condensed it down to less than 15 minutes and divided it into chunks. Enjoy.

Back in E.D.I.N. BRAW - the Socks return to Edinburgh

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre return to the Edinburgh Fringe this August with not one but two new shows - BOO LINGERIE and CHUNKY WOLLEN NITS. So, in celebration, here's a song about our favourite city...



Originally recorded back in 2009 to promote the Socks Go To Hollywood, who would have dreamt that Princes Street would still be buggered up by unfinished tram works three years later?

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's Spring Tour: Bath April 7 • Milford Haven April 12 • Exeter April 13 • Bridlington April 14 • St Andrews April 25 • Aberdeen April 27 • Halifax May 3 • Keighley May 4 • Stafford May 5 • Chorley May 12 • Brighton May 19/20 • Hereford May 27 • Harrogate June 28/29 • Rondo Bath July 9 • Beverly Puppet Festival July 13 • Tring July 19 • Manchester July 20 • Nottingham + Guildford July 21 • Derby July 22 • Bedford July 27 • Edinburgh Fringe August 1-27. Spread the word.

Scottish Falsetto Socks do Dave Matthews Band

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre perform The Dave Matthews Band Ants Marching:



This was produced as a commissioned video for one of the lovely sponsors of our Adelaide show and, for some reason, I've not posted it on my blog until now. I don't know whether it's clear while watching this video, but neither the Socks nor I had ever heard Ants Marching by the Dave Matthews Band ever before in our life until we produced this video. How we'd managed to survive two decades without this US hit single from 1991 crossing our earwaves I don't know, but that's what happened. I can only assume the UK remains the one country on earth where Dave Matthews can walk the streets unassailed by fans pointing and asking him to sing Ants Marching. Perhaps he's more famous to everyone else in the country and it's only I who have remained oblivious to his music and indeed his very existence. Either way, I know him now, and so do the Socks. Hello Dave Matthews, we all hope you're well.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's Spring Tour: Milford Haven April 12 • Exeter April 13 • Bridlington April 14 • St Andrews April 25 • Aberdeen April 27 • Halifax May 3 • Keighley May 4 • Stafford May 5 • Chorley May 12 • Brighton May 19/20 • Hereford May 27 • Harrogate June 28/29 • Rondo Bath July 9 • Beverly Puppet Festival July 13 • Tring July 19 • Manchester July 20 • Nottingham + Guildford July 21 • Derby July 22 • Bedford July 27 • Edinburgh Fringe August 1-27. Spread the word.