Kev F video at BRIT School

And this just in, video of part of my Comic Art Masterclass at the Brit School in Croydon (where Jesse J & Adele & Rizzle Kicks went):



I'm not saying it's the most exciting clip ever, but at least it doesn't give away any of the really good bits. In fact it looks pretty dull, and reminds me how Midlands-y my accent can sound, but whatever, it was a delight to be there, it's a fantastic school with the most incredible facilities and I'd love to go back some time.

I'm Kev F, the comic writer and artist whose work appears in The Beano, Marvel comics, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf Smegazine, Viz, 2000AD and many points inbetween. If you would like to bring my Comic Art Masterclass to your school or art centre, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, Bat-Phone, 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

Great unfinished material - The Locog Song

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are so busy wth their current schedule of preparing their two Edinburgh shows Boo Lingerie and Chunky Woollen Nits (both of which get more previews this weekend in Bath, Manchester, Nottingham, Guildford and Derby) that, sadly, there's been no time for making videos for the fun of it. Which is why some things have ended up never being made.



For example the Locog Song. It's sitting here as some half-finished notes, but it's a topical song based on the Olympics and by the time we get a moment to do it it'll be out of date, so you'll just have to imagine it and fill in the funny bits yourselves.

To the tune of The Beatles 'Taxman' it goes something like:

We want everything to be a success
So we gave the security contract to G4S
And it's turned into a charade
They originally wanted to staff it with the unpaid

If you run a business anywhere near
we're copyrighted the word "London" and even the year

Cos I'm the Low Cog, yes I'm the Low Cog, and you don't get much lower than me.

...etc. Well, you can see where that was going. All in all, you can probably live without that one. Onwards and upwards, Boo Lingerie previews ahoy!





Thursday - Bath Rondo Theatre
Friday - Manchester Lass o'Gowrie
Saturday - 2pm Nottingham Splendour Festival (20 min slot)
- 8pm Guildford Electric Theatre
Sunday - 2pm Derby Bar One

Do please spread the word to anyone you know who could make any of these gigs. After that we're just two gigs away from Edinburgh, for which ticket sales are looking fantastic, thanks everyone.





The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!

See all other Socks tour dates in the Scottish Falsetto Socks Gig Guide.

Comic Art Masterclasses update

As we approach the end of the school year (in most of England & Wales, I realise Scotland, posh schools and the Olympic boroughs have already broken up) I have the last few of my Comic Art Masterclasses to do before busying myself with the Edinburgh Fringe, and it has been another busy half year on that front.



Having worked in schools too numerous to list (and having typed that I realise I am now going to have to list them, see below*) I continue to find the work I do with pupils has a real and tangible educational value. The feedback I get from teachers, parents and, of course, pupils shows that I continue to get them excited about reading and writing, I get them motivated creatively, and it gives a boost to the rest of the work they are doing at school. The comics they produce and take home with them attest to this beautifully, are a lovely memento for me of the schools and the groups.


Comics produced by the pupils in my Comic Art Masterclasses. Each pupil takes home a copy of the comic containing a strip by every single one of them plus a caricature by me. The titles are all their own invention.

I continue to work towards making something of my academic findings and my teaching methods, possibly turning them into a book in the near future, and I continue being asked to speak on the subject at Writing Conferences and teachers events, which further develops my thoughts.

Today on Twitter I chanced to ask the author Michael Rosen where he stood on comics as a literacy tool:

Me: @MichaelRosenYes Quick question, where do you stand on comic strips as a literacy tool?

Michael Rosen: @falsettosocks Utterly brilliant means of telling stories.They frequently use print in inventive and highly varied ways.

His response and retweeting of our exchange led to a number of folks popping out of the woodwork in praise of comics in literacy:

Neill Cameron:

@MichaelRosenYes @falsettosocks I wrote a quick post yesterday about some of the benefits using comics in the classroom Neill Cameron blog

(This is a very good blog showing Neill does comic workshops in a very similar way to myself. I would be happy to recommend him for schools or art centres I'm unable to do)

Sophie Fox: @falsettosocks @MichaelRosenYes My 7yr old became a fluent reader by findng my old Beanos, He's now just finished the 4th harry Potter book!

Di Cameron: @falsettosocks @MichaelRosenYes The @phoenixcomicuk is partly funded by anon backer whose son learned to read from comics. GREAT stories.

Robert Wright:

@soph_fox @falsettosocks @MichaelRosenYes Son got 80s comic @InkwellYork; less spandex more racial/political comment pic.twitter.com/K9oCImjV 

Oliver Armstrong: @soph_fox @falsettosocks @MichaelRosenYes yeh i read dandy from very young. great fun. comics are amazing. under rated(by some) art form. 

Ellie Ness: @falsettosocks @MichaelRosenYes I use a comic unit to help struggling readers as well and it leads up to an Access 3 Media Fiction award. 

So, an interesting discussion that I will happily dive into further when I have the time. Meanwhile I think I shall just create a Twitter account for my Comic Art Masterclasses so as not to confuse people who are just wanting to follow the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, and look forward to the schools I'll be visiting next term. (Update: the new Twitter account for schools & comic fans is @KevFComicArtist

Just some of the thousands of one-minute caricatures I have done of pupils in my Comic Art Masterclasses in the past few months. They each take home the original caricature, along with a copy of everyone else's in the comic.

(*For the record this year so far I have taken Kev F's Comic Art Masterclass to schools both primary and secondary in Bristol, Taunton, Chandlers Ford, Newton Poppleford, Colchester (First Site Arts Centre), Bruton, Llangatock, Bridgwater, Basingstoke, Salisbury,  Blackburn, Chippenham, St Albans, Norwich, Wymondham, Fowey, Bath, Rochester, Strood, North Beckton, Ealing, Cork, Dungarvan, Waterford, Llangynidr, Birmingham, Croydon (The BRIT School no less), Swindon, Porthcawl, Kilby, Blaby, Countesthorpe, Bourne, Thurlby, Morton, Edenham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Hanwell, Stratford, Weston Super Mare, Clevedon and Halesowen. I know. )

I'm Kev F, the comic writer and artist whose work appears in The Beano, Marvel comics, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf Smegazine, Viz, 2000AD and many points inbetween. If you would like to bring my Comic Art Masterclass to your school or art centre, drop me a line, a comment, a Twitter, Bat-Phone, 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

Socks go Electric - it's Previews Week

Flatttered. The Electric Theatre Guildford, where we'll be playing this Saturday, have made us the logo on their Facebook page this week. Like so...



Looking forward to our gig there, which is part of our big preview mini tour, which goes:
Thursday - Bath Rondo Theatre
Friday - Manchester Lass o'Gowrie
Saturday - 2pm Nottingham Splendour Festival (20 min slot)
- 8pm Guildford Electric Theatre
Sunday - 2pm Derby Bar One

Do please spread the word to anyone you know who could make any of these gigs. After that we're just two gigs away from Edinburgh, for which ticket sales are looking fantastic, thanks everyone.





The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!

See all other Socks tour dates in the Scottish Falsetto Socks Gig Guide.

Top 10 Stupid Celebrity Baby Names - Scottish Falsetto Socks

Brand new from the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, in celebration of the birth of Kourtney Kardashian's baby Penelope Scotland Disick, a rundown of the Top 10 Stupid Celebrity Baby Names.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!

Who's best at Retweeting? Bedford, Guildford, Beverley, Bath or Manchester?

Who's best at Retweeting? Bedford, Guildford, Beverley, Bath or Manchester? A good question, and the experiment has already begun.



The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre have sent out tweets to the good people of the above towns, promoting their preview shows coming up in advance of the Edinburgh Fringe. Getting one of our promotional tweets retweeted is a delight, warms the cockles of the heart, and hopefully decreases the likelihood of anyone in the town in question missing out on a chance of seeing Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show before it's quite ready yet... er, that is before anyone else.

Preview shows are unique experiences, especially with the Socks where, over past years and indeed in the past month, these shows have allowed us to try out new material which we only find is funny (or not) when an audience reacts to it. Already this year audiences in Harrogate and Brighton have given the thumbs up to some surprising material (eg Bucket List) and thumbs down to some too (The Beetle routine, most of the Frankenstein routine, that opening song, the Poe routine - all seemed like good ideas at the time) and of course there's brand new stuff unveiled every time. Often we'll get right the way to Edinburgh with material that eventually gets trimmed, cut or radically transformed (did anyone catch Macbeth in 2008 (before it was replaced with King Lear during the first week in Edinburgh)?, the overlong Western routine (that whole "bury my heart at wounded knee" piece? I still love that) or the James Bond routine in 2009*? If you caught the previews back then you were privileged indeed. Sure the finished Edinburgh show is what we're working towards, that's what the reviewers come to see, but the journey there is an experience in itself.

So, anyhoo, who retweets best? Here's the score so far (Monday 9th July)

Beverley - 16 retweets
Bath - 8 retweets
Manchester - 1 retweets
Guildford - 14 retweets
Bedford - 15 retweets

The original tweets are all below, so if you want to help spread them around, please be our guests. As long as there's an @falsettosocks in there somewhere, we'll hear about it. Loving you all - ♥ The Scottish Falsetto Socks

Scottish Falsetto Socks do a Friday 13th Socky Horror Show, Beverley July 13 http://kevfcomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/scotti … Please RT if you ♥ Socks

The Scottish Falsetto Socks play a special preview at the Rondo Bath July 19 http://kevfcomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/rondo- … Pls RT if you ♥ Socks 

Scottish Falsetto Socks special ‪#edfringe‬ preview in Manchester July 20th http://tinyurl.com/SocksManc  Please RT if you ♥ Socks

Scottish Falsetto Socks play special show at Guildford Electric July 21st http://kevfcomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/socks- … Pls RT if you ♥ Socks 

Scottish Falsetto Socks play horror-comedy ‪#edfringe‬ preview in Bedford July 27 http://www.bedfringe.co.uk/2012_shows/soc … Pls RT if you ♥ Socks






The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!


* PS: The Captcha I had to type in to upload the RT image above was "shaken not stirred." What are the chances?

Socks interviewed by The New Current

A nice find for first thing on a Monday morning, the Scottish Falsetto Socks have done an interview with The New Current. Enjoy (click to read)...







The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre present not one but two new shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012: Boo Lingerie - A Socky Horror Show every night at 10.40pm and Chunky Woollen Nits - The Family-Friendly Hour at 11am. Tickets are now on sale, book now!

See all other Socks tour dates in the Scottish Falsetto Socks Gig Guide.