Monster Who Weed On My Mum - new comics by kids

Brand new comics from Comic Art Masterclasses, all this time from the bottom right hand corner of the country. Hitchin, Wood Green and Dartford, now you ask. The Hitchin library comics, above, were with kids enjoying their Easter holiday. And, puzzlingly, the following day in Wood Green, half an hour's drive away, they were all still at school.

Woodside High School in Wood Green, where a smashing group of year 8 to 10s came up with ideas just as juvenile as their younger counterparts.

And as I continued up the age scale, these are the caricatures and the comic produced by a day long group of older students and adults at North Kent College. It's a treat to be able to work with older students and get the opportunity to show I do know more on the subject of comics, art, and professional writing (the subject they're studying) than I normally get to squeeze into a short class with younger kids.

The celebs chosen by these groups to tread on a worm were Simon Cowell, Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Trump, Kim Kardashian and Mr T.



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 

Batman v Superman live in Bath - first Shakespeare preview

Here's a little treat for you, the Socks doing the Batman v Superman song live in Bath, last night at the brand new Widcombe Social Club (only opened last week, the paint's barely dry). It's a great new venue, and the audience were equally marvellous. We managed our first full Shakespeare preview, and here (for my future reference) is how it went.

Before now we've been throwing in some Shakespeare material amongst the Minging Detectives (Leicester) and the best of the rest (tour dates), but tonight in Bath for the first time it was all Shakespeare (except for Batman vs Superman, which might not survive in the show for that reason) and all new (except the revived Romeo & Juliet, being brought back to life for the first time since 2009's tour). Here's the running order with my thoughts.

INTRO - A couple of naff new puns, topped by the "Hose" routine which I ad-libbed before the show and which is staying.
I'M A SOCK - Never done a show without it (tried a couple of Socks In Space previews without it, didn't go well)
SHALL I COMPARE THEE routine - new, brilliant, staying.
(AN ACTOR PREPARES - Bugger! This routine was supposed to go here and I forgot it when I was assembling the final script. That'll have to wait till next time)
BATMAN v SUPERMAN + Song - Very good. Not on-subject though, and a bit topical, so may have to go.
MEET IN THEATRE routine - At last (after Leicester + tour shows) I think we've made this as funny as the prop. Will get better, is staying.
BRUSH UP YOUR SHAKESPEARE song - Yes, perfect, staying.
RICHARD 3rd routine - Part 1 worked for the first time, hooray. Part 2 always good, earned a Tweet afterwards of "Best Richard III gag ever". So both parts are staying.
FORBIDDEN PLANET rap. Not sure. Didn't get all the laughs, and beatbox defo needs re-recording.
THE PORTER routine - Excellent, staying.
OH MR PORTER song - Very good, will get better, staying.
OTHELLO - Yes, works in its new shorter form, lots of laughs (at last). Staying till bettered.
IAGO SONG - Good, but music too slow and not many laughs. Try with faster music.
(TITUS ANDRONICUS - was scripted here, but we were already at the 45 minute mark so not tried yet)
ROMEO AND JULIET - All perfect, as expected. Though it has the problem that I lifted its "Is that it?" ending and stuck it at the end of Minging Detectives last year, so will need a new ending.
Ended with SWEARY POPPINS, but that was just as a reward (and cos we had 2 mins to spare) and never intended for the actual show.


So the show has got lots of good stuff in already but needs:
 - Reference to lots more Shakespeare (ideally every single play)
- Running gag / through story and payoff (though we used the collapse of Othello to pass for that moment tonight, it needs something better in reality)
- Final musical number

Basically if I keep writing stuff and replacing the okay stuff with the better stuff, we should end up with a cracking show, as we've done in the past (though I remain a little sensitive to the fact that last year's Minging Detectives never quite achieved that and ended up as a collection of variable sketches which never added up to more than the sum of their parts. This year we shall put that right).

Apr 9 - Widcombe Social Club, Bath Comedy Festival
May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 3-28 - Edinburgh Fringe

★★★★ "Comedy genius at work" - Theatre Bath

Check out our review for last night's Shakespeare preview in Bath. 4 stars? We'll take that.

REVIEW: 4 Stars – THE SCOTTISH FALSETTO SOCK PUPPET THEATRE DO SHAKESPEARE – WIDCOMBE SOCIAL CLUB

April 10, 2016

Ah, the Socks. Can this comic creation, of some years’ standing now, still come up with new laughs? Yes, readers, it bloody well can. No pun is left unpunned, no stupid costume (on a sock?) is left unworn. No ridiculous perversion of any well-loved musical standard is left unsung. And if you thought there isn’t any new way of making the Bard funny, well, you’re wrong. Macbeth, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, and others, as you’ve never seen them before. If Shakespeare were alive today, this is how he’d be doing his plays. Not. For all his Elizabethan genius, he’s just not fast enough. The two battling pieces of animated hosiery are as fast and funny in their petty squabbling as always; there’s never less than a gag a second. Even if there are mistakes or fluffs, the adlib gags that cover them are as funny as anything else in the show. Relax, and laugh your socks off. Comedy genius at work.
 ****                                                                                       John Christopher Wood

My diary in the Sunday Telegraph

Check me out, occupying a paragraph and a photo in today's Sunday Telegraph. It's an article about the BBC's Peoples History Of Pop, for which I've been interviewed five or six times now (once on Radio Leicester, once on Radio Bristol, once for BBC East Midlands Inside Out, once for the Peoples History Of Pop TV show itself, and now twice for the Telegraph, with the two phone conversations yielding a meagre paragraph which conveys little but was fun to do.

The People’s History of Pop 1955-65 is on BBC Four at 9pm on April 15.

Batman v Superman - Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre

Brand new from the Scottish Falsetto Socks, their take on the film of the moment, everyone's favourite, Batman vs Superman. We hope you enjoy it.

Apr 9 - Widcombe Social Club, Bath Comedy Festival
May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 3-28 - Edinburgh Fringe

Four Candles new vid by The Two Socks

The Socks have made a wee tribute to the late great Ronnie Corbett, they hope you like it.

Apr 9 - Widcombe Social Club, Bath Comedy Festival
May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 3-28 - Edinburgh Fringe

Othello & an Equivocator - new Shakespeare vids from the Socks

This week I had a rare experience, five whole days in my studio and the chance to actually get some creative stuff created. Naturally I got next to none of that done. But, amidst the email answering, the Sitcom Trials sorting, the Hot Rod Cow artwork finishing (I've had a half finished 10-page strip hanging around for the last year which is now only waiting to be lettered and, possibly, coloured), the commission-pitching-art done for a possible poetry book I might get to draw, and sundry other nonsense that expanded to fill the allotted space, I managed to get some Socks Shakespeare written.



Othello, which had two test runs at Leicester before I decided it wasn't funny enough to work live, has come out nicely in this video. And, having taken a bit more of a rewrite, might yet come out live again. Two things that are definitely going into the live Shakespeare show, and therefore haven't been videod yet, are Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day, a short skit that I have a good feeling about, and Oh Mr Porter, a song which will be great if it works as well live as it does when I sing it in the studio.

Oh, and this, which might get a live outing, and is a bit of fun either way.

It's a bit of Macbeth based nonsense. Do enjoy.

Apr 9 - Widcombe Social Club, Bath Comedy Festival
May 8 - Derby Comedy Festival 5.30pm
May 19 - Old Joint Stock Birmingham
May 22 - Komedia, Brighton Fringe
May 28 - Ards Puppet Festival, Newtonards
July 3 - Derby Bar One 2pm 
July 8 - Flavel, Dartmouth
July 10 - Tring Festival 
July 21 - Barnes Fringe
July 22 - Bedford Fringe
Aug 3-28 - Edinburgh Fringe