Monday, 7 May 2012

I ❤ Gingers - new comics by kids

In the past week my Comic Art Masterclasses have taken me from Ealing to Ireland. And back. These examples of the covers of the comics created by the kids in the classes come from Cork, Dungarvan, Waterford, Ealing and Strood. Enjoy (and click to see many more)



And continuing to keep a record of which celebrity the kids in each class chose as the subject for the "meets a worm" demonstration strip, these groups chose: Charlie Sheen, Chris Brown, Will Smith, Will I Am, Noel Edmonds, Jim Carrey and one name I can't make out. Looks like Masonbox Exsontop.

I'm Kev F, the comic writer and artist who works for The Beano and Marvel comics and Doctor Who - and how many other people can boast that? 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


Friday, 4 May 2012

★★★★½ "Fresh, hilarious and a great night out" - The Public Reviews

Thankyou The Public Reviews, and in particular Laura Stimpson, for this fantastic ★★★★½ (4½ stars) review of last night's Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre show at Square Chapel in Halifax..



(and not to give away too much of the content of the show, but I'm loving the tags she's attached to the post, including Alan Titchmarsh and Gordon Ramsay. If anyone's interested, Alan Titchmarsh was replaced by Don Burke of Burke's Backyard for the Adelaide version of the show). The review in full reads:

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, Square Chapel, Halifax

Writer, director and performer: Kev F Sutherland

Reviewer: Laura Stimpson

The Public Reviews Rating: ★★★★½

Who’d have thought that going to see a man with a pair of socks on his hands could be so much fun? Guaranteed to laugh your socks off, the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre arrived in Square Chapel, Halifax for one night only as part of their UK tour.

Walking into the theatre the song “We Will Sock You” (instead of We Will Rock You) really sets the scene for this night of silly fun. The show begins in good humour with a 21st Century Sox, instead of fox – you’re noticing a theme here, drops from the puppet theatre. Then the stars of the show enter the stage, 2 socks.

Just in case we were left in any doubt the socks perform “I’m a Sock” a humorous, silly, rhyming song including such lyrics as “I’m a sock, you wear me in the kitchen when you’re cooking with a wok” amongst many similarly silly lyrics. By this point the audience are settled in, feel involved and are laughing along.

The jokes and chat are relevant to the venue and Halifax which is a nice touch, and of course some putting down of the neighbouring villages always helps get the crowd on side. The socks, even though they can’t see the audience, manage to talk to individuals, throughout the course of the show.

The show is loosely based around the socks wanting to get on TV, thinking that maybe they will get their big break if a member of the audience works for a TV station. One sock is a more serious character, wanting to give a polished performance, whilst the other sock keeps getting it wrong and infuriates his partner. The content of the show covers a variety of topics from period dramas, Michael Jackson, a magic show, a travel sketch, a Western and a Musical. The highlights of the show are The Facebook song which is current and clever, a sketch between Alan Titchmarsh, Gordon Ramsey and Superman and a simple word association game.

Although this performance appears silly and effortless, there’s no denying that Kev F Sutherland is a top class comedian and performer. This one man show sees him quickly shift between three characters. He is very tuned in with the audience, reacting to their every reaction.

This double act is like nothing I’ve seen before, it’s fresh, hilarious and a great night out for all. Though it’s probably advisable to leave the kids at home.

Touring nationally throughout the year





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.

Thursday, 3 May 2012

Comics & kids in Cork & beyond

It's an increasingly rare treat, waking up in my own bed this morning. With all my travels, I have only woken in my own bed at home 68 nights out of 123 so far this year. And this is just a brief hiatus in the ongoing sojourn, yesterday I was in Waterford, tonight I'll be in Halifax, and there's more of the same to come. Here's what I was up to in Ireland...



Cheesy as, as they'd say in Australia. I like to try and get a drawing done on the flipchart as the kids are filing in to the class (for my Comic Art Masterclasses this is). Even though I'm mostly copying other artists' drawing styles from comic books, kids are ridiculously impressed by this. Then I can turn round and start showing them how easy it is to do.


(If anyone knows how to turn a photo round 90 degrees on Tiny Pic, do tell. There used to be a button)

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


Tuesday, 1 May 2012

Nevermind the Nevermind parodies

Having drawn attention to the fact that Late Night Gimp Fight have done a Nevermind parody for their new poster, which I spotted cos they're doing a double bill with the Socks in July, and having shown how forward-thinking we were by doing a Nevermind parody in our 2012 Socks calendar, imagine my surprise when I Googled the words "Nevermind" and "parody"...







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.

May in the Scottish Falsetto Socks' calendar

This is how we celebrate May on the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's 2012 calendar, in James Bond style...



You can still buy the calendar with its 12 unique brand new specially drawn cartoons by Kev F formerly of The Beano. It's good for another 8 months and is a collector's item joy to treasure. Click on the image to see more of the calendar and the link to the shop, or if you can't wait, buy it here.



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.

Monday, 30 April 2012

Really nice review from real person + "Swipe File"

Obviously any good review is a great thing, and you'd think the bigger the publication the more I'd like it. But I tell you what, this little review that popped up online is the sweetest review we've had this year. A normal member of the public, aka Sarah Rooftops, who has this to say:

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre. If we hadn't been looking for something entertaining and possibly naffly Scottish to do with Dad, it's highly unlikely Steve and I would have gone to see that. Sock puppets making jokes in squeaky Glaswegian accents? For two hours? It didn't sound appealing. But, I kid you not: I have never laughed as long or as hard as I did at that show. It was BRILLIANT. Absolutely hilarious. And Dad assures us that you don't need to be Scottish to get the jokes. They (I say "they" - it's one man and two grey socks) don't seem to have a current website (although there are lots of old clips on YouTube), but if you see them in theatre listings near you, go and check them out.

Thanks Ms Rooftops, that's just what we like to hear. Let's hope the word reaches the good punters of Halifax, Keighley and Stafford, who we'll be entertaining later this week.

And talking of forthcoming shows, check out this double bill:

The Scottish Falsetto Socks and Late Night Gimp Fight on the bill together? Should be fun. And I like the Gimps' Nevermind parody. I wonder if they've seen this...



Great minds.



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.

Sunday, 29 April 2012

Cleese on Creativity

I have been led to this rather marvellous lecture on creativity by John Cleese by @bechillcomedian. Enjoy (and pay very close attention)...



It's a very helpful lecture when anyone in my line of work is doing the rather inexplicable things we do and finding it hard to do because people who don't do what we do is bugging us with stupid questions about what it is we're doing in the first place. Show them this, it might help.
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