Socks Edinburgh flyers since 2007 - inc the latest

A design classic in the making, here are the Socks Edinburgh flyers since 2007, laid out on the desk in my studio, including the latest, fresh out of the design mill. It's fun to see how they've changed over the years.

That first one, from 2007, makes me cringe. It wasn't until the following year that the Socks had any costumes whatsoever, and even then they spent most of the show naked. By 2009 they'd perfected the costume changes that are now their trademark, two of which they wear proudly on the 3rd flyer, and by 2010 we had the Star Wars costumes, as you can see.

The flyers, and my on-street technique, have always played a major part on the show's success. I've maintained, since my very first Fringe show with The Sitcom Trials in 2011, that 300 flyers given out in a day should turn into 30 bums on seats, a 10% hit rate, and I still think that holds true. Though over the years the competition has got stiffer. Certainly over those first four years (07-10) the Socks audiences grew steadily, giving a wonderful rising graph and an ever-growing collection of sellout emblems. Then we took 2011 off, and when we returned...

2012's Boo Lingerie, which is still one of my favourite titles though nobody but nobody else seems to like it, suffered from taking place in Olympic year, when every show took a hit. Our audiences were so far down on 2010's high it was embarrassing. Worse, we'd also agreed to do a kids show in the morning, which meant we had a double-sided flyer (you can only see one side here, the other "Chunky Woolen Nits" being a rehash of 2009's flyer), and split our available audience in two. We ended up getting almost exactly as many bums on seats as we had two years ago, but had to do twice as many shows to get them!

2013's Socks In Space is a favourite show and a favourite flyer - with audiences rising again to match - and 2014's ...And So Am I satire show was another triumph, despite the laziest flyer of all (virtually a repeat of 2009's, with a new guitar).  And so to 2015's Minging Detectives...

Ta-daa. I think we have another winner here, I look forward to it doing the work. And look, the Gilded Balloon's celebrating 30 years at Edinburgh - and I've been doing shows there for half that time. Here's to us, now to a) design the back of the flyer and b) write the bloody show!

UPDATE. The back. (Still not written the show):

The Socks do new material from Minging Detectives, and the best of their recent satire, on tour

Apr 4 Rondo Bath Comedy Festival
Apr 18 Ropewalk Barton
Apr 24 Neath NRG Cafe
May 15 Exchange Keighley
May 22 & 23 Brighton Komedia
June 25 Cheltenham
June 27 Old Joint Stock Birmingham
July 17 Carriageworks Leeds
July 19 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern
July 23 - Spread Eagle Croydon
July 25 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 5 - 31  10.30pm Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe

My Fat Bum - new comics by kids

It's the Easter holidays for schools, so I've been doing Comic Art Masterclasses in a library and an art centre with kids of all ages. Here we see the inventions of a couple of small groups in Alton in Hampshire. My Fat Bum is the sort of title I try to avoid in schools, because I know there's always going to be someone who'll complain. But in the holidays, it's open season on fat bums.

And these are the comics from Harpenden library in Herts. Interestingly these two slightly uninspired titles came from two big groups, with 32 titles to choose from in one case, whereas the slightly more interesting titles came from two very small groups, only 8 apiece as a result of a technical cockup (a third party had booked, and paid for, 20 tickets per class then didn't pass them on to the kids, which meant they'd been turning people away from the classes). I wonder if there's some statistical correlation between the size of the group and the mundanity of the title they ended up choosing? Either way, the title "Something Something  I Had No Idea What To Call It" is quite a challenge when it comes to thinking what to draw on the cover.

 

Why yes, of course I posed cheesily by a flipchart. Don't I always?

The Hot Rod Cow-themed comics from Kent, you've seen in an earlier blog. Across these 6 classes, the celebrities that they chose to tread on a worm were Simon Cowell (three times in total), David Cameron, Katy Perry and Michael Jackson.

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. 

Minging Detectives at Edinburgh Fringe - on sale now

With 4 months to go before the first night, the Scottish Falsetto Socks new show Minging Detectives - "One of the truly great comic inventions of our time" - ★★★★★ Theatre Bath April 2015 - is on sale. Is this the earliest our tickets have gone on sale? (Goes off to Google previous years*).

*2014 - on sale 14th April
2013 - on sale 10th May
2012 - on sale 28th May
2010 - on sale 5th June

At this rate next year's show will be on sale before this year's out. Let's make this a great big biggie.

The Socks will be debuting new material from Minging Detectives, and the best of their recent satire, on tour

Apr 4 Rondo Bath Comedy Festival
Apr 18 Ropewalk Barton
Apr 24 Neath NRG Cafe
May 15 Exchange Keighley
May 22 & 23 Brighton Komedia
June 25 Cheltenham
June 27 Old Joint Stock Birmingham
July 17 Carriageworks Leeds
July 19 - Sheffield New Barrack Tavern
July 23 - Spread Eagle Croydon
July 25 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 5 - 31  10.30pm Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe

★★★★★ "One of the truly great comic inventions of our time" - Theatre Bath

(Backstage selfie, Scottish Falsetto Socks at the Rondo Theatre, Bath April 4 2015)

 Brilliant! The Socks first review of 2015 and it's 5 stars. Thanks to John Christopher Wood at Theatre Bath for this review of last night's show:

REVIEW – BATH COMEDY FESTIVAL: 5 STARS – THE SCOTTISH FALSETTO SOCK PUPPET THEATRE – RONDO THEATRE

April 5, 2015

 

The Falsetto Socks show has been around for quite a while now; interesting to see if it’s still as funny as it has been.  Well, readers, I’m here to tell you that it is. This performance at the Rondo has its audience, including yours truly, hooting and screeching with appreciation throughout an exceptionally gag-packed comedic experience which requires an interval in which to get the breath back. The duelling duo of argumentative footwear is as raucous as ever; one of them a bit dim, the other a bit bad-tempered, and their constant verbal fisticuffs make Punch and Judy look like what it is. Child’s play. The ad-libbing ability is incredibly sharp, and can instantly turn any slightest audience event into a full-fledged comedy routine on the spot (The strange incident of two audience members banging on a side door by the stage to be let in proves to be a gift, rather than a distraction.). One or two of the older gags are still in; but it doesn’t really matter; even when you’ve witnessed the crazed misinterpretation of the lyrics of Michael Jackson’s Earthsong as often as I have, it’s still funny. But there’s more; layer on layer of extended ludicrous puns; lots of idiotic costumes (Costumes? For socks?); wonderfully slanderous songs about UKIP, about ‘70s police corruption; about David Bowie in old age - and why it’s even funnier because it’s Scottish, and falsetto, I don’t know, but it emphatically is. This is a wide-ranging comic imagination that seemingly knows no bounds, all delivered at breathtaking speed with nary a nanosecond between gags. The Sox remains, for this critic, one of the truly great comic inventions of our time.  Miss it at your peril.

***** (5 Stars)

John Christopher Wood

The Socks will be debuting new material from Minging Detectives, and the best of their recent satire, on tour

Apr 4 Rondo Bath Comedy Festival
Apr 18 Ropewalk Barton
Apr 24 Neath NRG Cafe
May 15 Exchange Keighley
May 22 & 23 Brighton Komedia
June 25 Cheltenham
June 27 Old Joint Stock Birmingham
July 17 Carriageworks Leeds
July 25 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 5 - 31  10.30pm Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe

Minging t shirts and more on eBay

I put some stuff on eBay this week. For example...

The years have not been kind to poor old Judge Dredd. And this t shirt is testament to that. Once pristine white, this is a fine and glowing example of the earliest merchandise from 2000AD comic.

Dating back to the mid 1980s, this Mick McMahon Judge Dredd design - "No One Apes The Law" - is a favourite from the comic's heyday. It's quite possible that brand new and freshly-printed versions of this shirt could be obtained.

But would they be as valuable as this original? Glowing is not the word. Perspiring is the word.

Someone, around thirty years ago, perspired their little comic-loving heart out over this t-shirt. And despite repeated washings, this t shirt steadfastly refuses to give up those memories. It would rather lose the pattern off its chest than lose the DNA evidence that has become one with its armpits and, for some reason, the collar area.

It's not inconceivable that clone technology will advance sufficiently in the coming years for scientists to be able to use this t-shirt to grow a whole brand new me. How appropriate would that be, for a Judge Dredd t shirt? Totally appropriate, that's how.

Cos he's a clone. If you've not read a Judge Dredd comic lately. They're all clones of Judge Fargo. Like I needed to tell you.

So, some would call this t shirt minging. Others see a future race of super-cops in the making. The choice is yours.

When They Might Be Giants toured the UK and Europe for the first time, way back in 1990, at the height of the success of Flood and Birdhouse In Your Soul, I saw them live in Cardiff and this was the souvenir t shirt I bought.

Yes I wore it. Yes that was 25 years ago. Yes despite repeated washings it wears some of the signs of aging. But godammit this is a piece of history, a design classic.

Look at those tour dates on the back. Look at that illustration on the front. Look again at the slight yellowing of the basic t shirt itself. How many of these babies do you think survived the 90s? Not many, I'm betting.

This incredibly rare piece of timeless TMBG memorabilia - nay a slice of an epoch in material form - could be yours. But only if you act fast, and shush, don't let too many people know this treasure is here on eBay. Once word gets out and the bidding frenzy begins, you'll be sorry.

Don't let's start, this is the worst part. To believe for all the world that you were my precious little t-shirt...

 

This classic rare collectible, circa 1990, originally had a thermos which is now gone. The lunchpail / lunchbox is a beautiful bright pink having been kept in a dark cupboard for the last 25 years and looks as good as new, save for a few tiny scuffs as you might expect.

 This lunchbox came out just before Pee Wee Herman was removed from Pee Wee's Playhouse TV show (for reasons that you can Google). All merchandise disappeared pretty much immediately so those of us with these treasures tucked away have looked after them.

Okay, I didn't look after the thermos so well, that's got lost sometime in the last 25 years. But the lunchbox is intact and looks as good as it did when we bought it.

We live in the UK, so this lunchbox has never impressed anyone. In the UK Pee Wee Herman can't get arrested. Unlike in the States, it turns out.
 

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been taking place every year since 1947. This official commemorative t shirt comes from our visit in 1985. We love going to the Edinburgh Fringe and have been almost every year since then.

As a result, this t shirt has been worn quite a bit. It's clean, freshly washed indeed, but the amount it's been worn and reworn is evidenced in the fact that you can no longer read the label.

I'd probably still be wearing it now, but it's a Medium and, for reasons that remain unfathomable, I no longer am.

It bears the Official Edinburgh Fringe logo, which kids today who think the Fringe is some sort of comedy festival probably don't even know exists. But it does. And you can own it.

Samson's out, and I'm all over the radio

Now if there's a gig you never thought I'd be up for, here it is. I've written and drawn Samson's Philistine Wife for Bible Society's new book Pass It On, in which I join such luminaries as Anthony Horowitz and Sir Andrew Motion, all of us doing original versions of Bible stories.

More than that, I've made the front cover (above), and I've been put and about doing radio interviews. I've pre-recorded interviews for Q Radio Network in Northern Ireland and BBC Radio Kent, which will go out on Easter Sunday, when I'll also be doing a BBC Bristol interview. And here we see me talking live this morning to Paul Coia on BBC Radio Berkshire (he's out of shot on account of his being in Berkshire while I was in the studios on Whiteladies Road in Bristol).



(That's right, my jaw moves faster than the camera can take. There's a lot to say)

You can get Pass It On for free by going to biblesociety.org.uk and either downloading the pdf or ordering an actual hard copy book. Schools can order up to 150 copies, all for free. That, I guess, is what Bible Society is there for. And the fun doesn't stop there...

...because there's a competition that's free to enter, where you can send in your own adaptation of a Bible story, and the winner gets not only an iPad but sees their story illustrated by me. Yes that is a prize.

I have been making it clear in my interviews that I'm an athiest, and no-one seems to mind. So far I've not spoiled anyone's Easter weekend with the revelation. And by the way I'm very pleased with my comic strip, I hope you all enjoy reading it.

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. 

My Nicer Tuesdays talk

I was delighted to be asked this week to talk for ten minutes on the subject of comics, without hesitation, deviation or repetition starting now.... sorry, wrong show. It was for Nicer Tuesdays, an event hosted by It's Nice That magazine, who have interviewed before now. And a lovely time was had by all. The kids tweeted me...

"My favourite editors have been the ones that allow the creators to create" @KevFComicArtist pic.twitter.com/gGwjW9e30X
— It's Nice That (@itsnicethat) March 31, 2015

... and the review of the whole evening (which very kindly missed out any mention of my spare tyre and bad hair day, both of which need some urgent sorting) looked like this:

Here's what you missed at the Childhood-themed Nicer Tuesdays!

 

Posted by Maisie Skidmore, Wednesday 01 April 2015
 

As host Liv Siddall helpfully reiterated last night “we’ve all been children at some point,” so the theme of Childhood is a surprisingly appropriate one for a night of talks from people doing brilliant work in the art and design world. Among the ones who spoke at Nicer Tuesdays last night we heard from Toby Parkin, who is lead curator of the hotly anticipated New Interactive Museum at London’s well-loved Science Museum, comics artist Kev F. Sutherland who has drawn characters for the likes of the Beano, Katie Johnston from Playology and Dean of London College of Communication, Lawrence Zeegen.

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  Toby Parkin speaking at Nicer Tuesdays

Toby Parkin: The Science Museum

First up was Toby Parkin from London’s Science Museum to talk us through the history, educational nature and rigorous testing of exhibits at the museum, which has seen literally millions of kids’ faces light up with joy since it first opened in 1928. “This was the most popular exhibit that I think we ever had,” he revealed showing us a black and white photographs of an automatic door which was installed in the museum in the 60s, when they were still a rarity. “And it literally is just an automatic door.” Toby gave some invaluable insights into the challenges of creating an environment which balances education and play, which is no mean feat.
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

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  Kev F. Sutherland speaking at Nicer Tuesdays

Kev F. Sutherland: Comics Artist

I’m confident in proclaiming that there is likely not a comics fan in existence who hasn’t come into contact with the work of Kev F. Sutherland at some point or other. The prolific illustrator is responsible for The Bash Street Kids, Dennis the Menace, Roger the Dodger and Minnie the Minx to mention just a few, and his success is due without a doubt to the fact that he loves to draw.
In the course of his dynamic discussion about the nature of his work Kev revealed that he covertly inserts his name into every comic strip he draws, whether it be etched onto some hidden packaging or outlined in the shadows, fuelling us to gaze knowingly at his work forevermore.
www.kevfcomicart.blogspot.co.uk

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  Katie Johnston speaking at Nicer Tuesdays
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  Katie Johnston speaking at Nicer Tuesdays

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  Katie Johnston speaking at Nicer Tuesdays
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  Katie Johnston speaking at Nicer Tuesdays

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  Katie Johnston speaking at Nicer Tuesdays
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  Katie Johnston speaking at Nicer Tuesdays

Katie Johnston

Katie Johnston is one half of Playology, a studio run by her and her fellow interactive illustrator Charlene Man, which takes enormous complex subjects and breaks them down into comprehensive strategic games to help kids get their heads around them. She told us about the process of building a giant digestive system soft play area to help children understand the digestive process, complete with a mouth containing removable teeth, an elasticated rectum that could be climbed through, and a selection of cuddly poos which could be ejected whenever. She also had us mimicking the system with a balloon race, which caused no end of entertainment.
www.play-o-logy.com

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  Lawrence Zeegen speaking at Nicer Tuesdays

Lawrence Zeegen

Finishing up the evening was Lawrence Zeegen with a very nostalgic reflection on the life of Peter and Jane, the siblings who appeared throughout the series of Ladybird Books and basically taught everyone in the world to read. Having just finished curating an exhibition and writing a book about the timeless illustrations he was very well equipped to talk to about them, pointing out the limited world view of the family – white, Christian, wholesome and clean at all costs – and the excitement which ensued when they were modernised in the 70s.
www.ladybird.co.uk

Sponsored by Park Communications

Founded in 1991, Park Communications is considered by many to be London’s preeminent printer. With a roster of both corporate and cultural clients, Park is a one-stop-shop to translate, artwork, print and bind literature of many different kinds, from the finest coffee table books and catalogues, through FTSE annual reports, to niche market magazines and brochures. Working closely with clients to develop bespoke creative solutions, Park’s reputation is built on the highest quality, reliability and flexibility.
They have brought their professionalism to both our Printed Pages magazine and the It’s Nice That Annual 2013 and 2014, and we look forward to working with them in 2015 and beyond. To contact Park, email Alison at a.branch@parkcom.co.uk.

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  Nicer Tuesdays: Childhood

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  Nicer Tuesdays: Childhood

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  Nicer Tuesdays: Childhood
  
  
  
  Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing Bananaman in The Beano, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the new promo video here.