Kev F comic art

Socks brand new show - teaser 1

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:28:00 +0000

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are preparing their brand new show. It'll open in Edinburgh in August, preview from June, and bits of it will start appearing in their forthcoming shows starting at the Leicester Comedy Festival. But what's it called and what will that all-important poster look like? Here's your first teaser...

Stay tuned for more. The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre play Leicester Comedy Festival Feb 9-11 and Adelaide Fringe Feb-Mar 2012. Spread the word.

Socks at Leicester Comedy Festival - Flog It!

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:33:00 +0000

The Scottish Falsetto Socks play Leicester Comedy Festival on Feb 9-11. This is some of what they got up to there last year:

What is the most effective way of publicising a comedy show? After five years of producing The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre (and over a decade of The Sitcom Trials) I often feel like I've cracked it (ie flyering at the Edinburgh Fringe, which works a treat and at which I am brilliant) then sometimes I feel like it's all an elusive mystery (eg last year's tour dates in Builth Wells and Milton Keynes whose audiences combined have already been outsold by our forthcoming April gig in Aberdeen though I put no less effort or expense into publicising either).

In the past The Socks' YouTube videos have played a big part in building their audiences and, I'll confess, there's been a bit of a dearth in video production so far this year. But one thing I am experimenting with is Twitter promotion. I've discovered a method by which you can post-date your Tweets. This enables me to plan a regular drip-feed of tweets which will appear at various times of the day and the week between now and the show in question and will, hopefully, catch the eye of the casual reader who might possibly retweet it and the word will find itself spread and we'll end up with bums on seats. Will it work? We'll find out next week in Leicester (where we'll be premiering new work from the Edinburgh show I've started writing, as well as including some favourites).

Here are some of the Tweets that have already been popping up across the past weeks. If you fancy reposting any of these and really annoying the hell out of everyone on your Twitter feed, be our guests...

Ratby? Saddington? Foxton Locks? Everyone's talking 'bout Scottish Falsetto Socks http://bit.ly/vCZxNx In Leicester Feb 9-11 #dlcf

Gallowtree Gate? Can not wait! Everybody's talking 'bout Scottish Falsetto Socks http://bit.ly/vCZxNx In Leicester Feb 9-11 #dlcf

Belton, Bardon, Ellistown, everybody talk about Scottish Falsetto Socks renown http://bit.ly/vCZxNx In Leicester Feb 9-11 @DavesLeicsFest

Your stadium isn't Walkers but your logo's still a fox? Everyone talk about Scottish Falsetto Socks http://bit.ly/vCZxNx Leicester Feb 9-11

In Harby, Hose and Kirby Bellars, everybody says their Socks are smellars http://bit.ly/vCZxNx In Leicester Feb 9-11 @DavesLeicsFest

Abbey Park? Bradgate Park? Woodhouse Eaves? Everyone's talking 'bout Scottish Falsetto Socks http://bit.ly/vCZxNx Leicester Feb 9-11 #dlcf

... there are many more of these, you know where to look out for them. We've also been doing this for forthcoming gigs in Milford Haven & Bridlington:

Comedy-starved in Cilrhedyn, Eglwyswrw, Nevern? http://bit.ly/ecVD2 Scottish Falsetto Socks play Milford Haven Apr 12

- And I'm trying it to promote my Mr Hawk book on Amazon:

Severed hand found in Stoneygate: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006YFFWYE

Mystery of severed hand found in Sileby: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006YFFWYE #leicestershire #crime

etc etc. I'll let you know how well this pans out. The book's sold 3 copies so far, by the way.

Ga Ga Rasputin - Scottish Falsetto Socks

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:15:00 +0000

This video, wherein The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre do Lady Gaga doing Russian history, was written for their 2010 Edinburgh show but never made the cut. Having had it on YouTube for a while it's suddenly had a peak in viewing, for which many thank. If you've not already seen it, here it is.

Perhaps a reason for its boost in popularity is that it came up in conversation when the Socks did an interview last Sunday with Radio Adelaide's Jon Murch (@radionotes1015, which you can hear here.

Indeed, if you so desire, you can watch it too. But don't get your hopes too high. It looks like this:

Did we mention it's a radio interview?

The Scottish Falsetto Socks play Leicester Comedy Festival Feb 9-11 then Adelaide Fringe Feb 17 - March 19th. Spread the word and let's make this a great big biggie.

PS: We have the title for the Socks' brand new Edinburgh Fringe 2012 show. Want to know it..?

Meanwhile over at The Sitcom Trials...

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:05:00 +0000

This week I've been very busy doing artwork for advertising clients, drawing superheroes, cavemen, dinosaurs, and filing cabinets with files escaping from them (and no, I can't stick the pictures up here, but trust me they're amazing). I've also spared a few moments to update the blog next door, which has been getting more traffic than this. That's because it's The Sitcom Trials blog and there's a new Sitcom Trials show in the offing. It's on March 30th in Bristol, the script deadline is Feb 29th, and the new producer is Vince Stadon, whose script won one of last year's Manchester Sitcom Trials. As for all that traffic we've been getting...

Thanks to BBC Writers Room who just retweeted the call for scripts for the Bristol Sitcom Trials. As a result, viewings of the blog just went up considerably, I gained a heap of extra Twitter followers, and poor old Vince is about to be deluged with more scripts than he possibly dreamed of. (Details of what The Sitcom Trials wants and how to enter are here). In tribute I've just retweaked the Sitcom Trials poster (because it just wasn't complete without Mrs Browns Boys) and made a Bristol version. Enjoy...

PS: I'm not saying the Trials blog wasn't getting a lot of readers before, but this graph shows the spike in our readership immediately after the retweet by BBC Writers Room:

PPS: And breaking news, it looks like the next Manchester Sitcom Trials is just around the corner. We are looking at dates in July, keep an ear out, you'll be the first to know.

There's also talk of the return of the Trials to London, but isn't there always? As a jog to the memory, and an exciter to the pulse, let's cast our minds back to the start of the last London season. And enjoy again the words of wisdom from Sitcom Trials Judge David "TV Burp" Quantick...

And PPPS: The Sitcom Trials blog just got paid to insert its first ever bit of advertorial. That's right Bill Hicks, yes I just did that.

The Canon Of Comics on Radio 3

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:09:00 +0000

Talking of changing the subject, did anyone hear this radio programme? It's on iPlayer:

The Canon Of Comics

It's called the Canon of Comics and is an essay about continuity and canon, by a new young philosopher, Jon Adams, who knows far too much about Crisis on Infinite Earths. Very interesting listen. (If the link doesn't work go to iPlayer and look for The Essay or New Generation Thinkers or The Canon Of Comics).

And, yes, someone sent me the link. I'm not a full time Radio 3 listener. Maybe I should be if this is what I keep missing.

Kev F

Situation Murder - comedy to die for

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:50:00 +0000

Here's a treat from the bottom drawer that I'd totally forgotten about - Situation Murder.

In 2004, after The Sitcom Trials had done its last Edinburgh Fringe run and was noticeably failing to get a second series, I devised a different show, a series of murder mystery comedies where the audience would interrogate the cast and try and solve a crime. It has two regular characters hosting the story every episode, and a new cast of characters every time.

Now collected up in a book, available on Amazon Kindle (or iPod, iPad etc), are 5 full scripts, complete with the briefing notes given to all the cast members so the reader could, if they wished, stage these murder mysteries for fun or profit.

Of course what I'd really "invented" was the 1970s ITV series Whodunnit, which had itself been reimagined in the 80s as Cleudo. All I'd done was make it funny. And rereading these scripts they really are jolly good fun.

• A celebrity chef on a reality TV show is murdered by a fellow celebrity – but who?
• A death metal rocker is found hung on the back of the dressing room door – by whom?
• Three strangers meet in the airport car park, which one has blood on their hands?
• A body in the car park of a truck stop, but whose?
• The audience of a comedy show join in a seance to solve a murder, but why?

If you're in the slightest bit intrigued, dear reader, you can download a free sample. And by all means upload a review, or how about buying the book. By golly it's worth it.

Oh, and if I've not mentioned it, The Sitcom Trials itself returns to Bristol in March and, if you want, you can enter a script. Details over on the Sitcom Trials website.

I'm a Bestseller - official

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:14:00 +0000

Unbelievable as it sounds, one of my books is a bestseller. I had to take a screen grab. Look:

The Immortal Partie, A Mr Hawk Investigation, my murder mystery graphic novel illustrated by the brilliant John Erasmus (by the way does anyone have contact details for John? I can't find him, and in the fullness of time he might need paying some money) stands at number one in the Mystery Graphic Novel charts on Amazon. Which is fantastic.

I know it would be grossly unprofessional to let the cat out of the bag and reveal our actual sales figures. But we've sold 2 copies. I can only deduce that these rankings are established from the number of people who look at your book and download the free sample, or maybe on the level of activity in any given period. Either way I'm more than delighted with this apparent news, and you can be sure that at sometime in the future this screengrab will be used to defend my description of myself as Bestselling Author Kev F.

You'll find all of my books listed on my Amazon Author Page. Sorry, I mean my Amazon Bestselling Author Page.

Ode To A Haggis for Burns Supper, by the Socks

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:06:00 +0000

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre have had a wee stab at Rabbie Burns' Ode To A Haggis. If you're organising a Burns Supper, all you have to do is be marginally better than this...

This is from the Socks archive, so apologies for the poor video quality and the total lack of costumes. Amazingly, the Socks performed their first Edinburgh show and much of their second, naked. How did we get away with it?

Socks at Leicester Comedy Festival Feb 9-11
Socks at Adelaide Fringe Feb 17 - March 18

World's Biggest Comic now at British Library (in a cupboard)

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:18:00 +0000

In a jam-packed last couple of days during which I've accompanied the Scottish Falsetto Socks to Camden where they played the excellent comedy show Pun Run (10 top comics compered and organised by Bec Hill, actually getting laughter and applause for doing nothing but puns, it's the future of comedy); stayed in a hotel in Hampstead where we got upgraded from the worst view in London (they put us in a room with no windows. Literally. No. Windows) to the best (on the 5th floor, with a view across London from Alexandra Palace to the Telecom Tower. Top tip: complain about your room whenever they try and put you in a room with Literally. No. Windows.); and travelled to Colchester where I gave a talk about comics at the impressively marvellous Firstsite gallery (thanks for having me, you were all lovely); I've got home and remembered that I'd totally forgotten what we did on Friday en route to the gig. We took the World's Biggest Comic to the British Library.*

In a development which had slipped my mind over the New Year period, I've been invited to display the World's Biggest Comic at the British Library in February. It'll be the first opportunity for it to be seen in public since 2002, possibly a star-studded affair, a good networking event. I'll be in Australia. I might not even tell you when it's happening.

* Excuse poor punctuation, it's late I've been busy

My publishing empire

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:41:00 +0000

Having read an article in the paper exactly a week ago which gave me the misguided impression there was money to be made by publishing books on Amazon Kindle (on a second reading the article makes it quite clear that there's very little money to be made doing this, by the way), I have managed in the last week to publish 10 books. Sorry, got carried away.

I started by putting my comic Hot Rod Cow out there (just 77p, or download a sample for free), and it's been joined by Sinnerhound. Added to those comics, which have been in print for the last year already, I've published two comic-related items for the very first time:

The Tock is a bedtime adventure story for kids which I wrote on New Years Day 2009. I illustrated it over the next couple of days, only in pencil, then showed it to a few people, including publishers an agents whose biggest comment was that it was too long for a kids picture book. It wasn't until a year later that I got round to inking it and, on those folks' advice, edited it down to a smaller page count. But I didn't like it shortened, and it was clearly going to be prohibitively expensive if I published it at its full 64 page length. Well now, thanks to Amazon Kindle, the whole book is available at its full length, the black and white pages looking perfect on a Kindle or iPhone screen and I'd encourage anyone to read the free download I bet you'll want the whole thing.

The Immortal Partie - A Mr Hawk Investigation is a full colour comic strip that I wrote way back in 1994 and which the brilliant artist John Erasmus illustrated in wonderful painted colour. Because it's in full colour it's always been a challenge to publish, with any printed copy being a bit expensive for what was, originally, just a 10 page story. However, redesigning it for the Kindle screen, I found that every single panel of John's artwork, which we'd laid out in a rigid 9-panel-per-page grid, merited filling the screen, giving us a 90 page work of art which reads perfectly on Kindle, iPhone, iPad etc. I've read it on my iPod and it has quite simply never looked so good before. Again I'd urge you to read the free download. I guarantee this story - a murder mystery featuring severed hands popping up all over Leicestershire - will make you want to read it to the end.

Of course my comic strip works are just one side of my publishing empire. I've also published 6 volumes of sitcom scripts, from the archives of The Sitcom Trials. Enjoy...

Breaking News: The Lavender Millbank Mob is currently #66,564 in Amazon's sales ranking. Could do better.

Go Wild In The Country - another book on Amazon

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:16:00 +0000

Lord help me I've only gone and been and published another book on Amazon. It's Go Wild In The Country, a romantic comedy produced as part of The Sitcom Trials under the pseudonym Jane Simon. Check it out.

You can download a free sample to your iPod, IPhone, Kindle, iPad etc, and why don't you post up a nice review while you're at it? And if you want to see the version of this script that ended up on TV, you'll find it over on the Sitcom Trials blog.

I've started putting quite a few pieces of work out there on Amazon, check out the latest in the Sitcom Trials Bookshop.

Dead Air - sitcom script on Amazon

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Inspired by a piece in the Guardian the other day extolling the virtues of publishing books on Amazon Kindle, I've delved into the bottom drawer and started publishing a few of the things I've written. Here's one of the first to climb blinking into the light, a pair of sitcoms called Dead Air and Clarice.

These sitcoms were produced and performed as part of The Sitcom Trials, about which we should all be hearing a lot more soon.

Dead Air is dead cheap. Go on, spoil yourself.

Youtoobling, from Tom Waits to Axis Of Awesome

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:26:00 +0000

Last night I treated myself to a bit of late night Youtoobling (I watch videos on Youtube and see what connections come to mind). There is some thread running through all of these, though I confess in the morning it can be a mystery even to me. Here's where last night's ramblings took me, beginning with Tom Waits...

The Piano Has Been Drinking, Tom Waits

Woody Allen Jesus, Tim Minchin

Nirvana on Jonathan Ross @wossy

Peter Kay does John Smith advert they can't show shock

They Might Be Giants on Jonathan Ross 1992 (naff titles, so Graham Norton)

You're Not The Boss Of Me Now, They Might Be Giants

The Impression That I Get, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Knock On Wood, Amii Stewart

Ever Met A Day, Graduate

So Lonely, The Police

Fish slapping dance, Monty Python #teddingtonlock

Squad, camp it up! Monty Python @BoyGeorge

British police are the best in the world Tom Robinson, Glad To Be Gay #youtoobling

I Am What I Am, John Barrowman

Sweet Transvestite, Tim Curry

Walk Like A Man, Divine

You Can't Stop The Beat, Michael Ball

Good morning Baltimore, Hairspray

Goodnight San Diego

Do You Know The Way To San Jose? Dionne Warwick

He had a rifle, oh what a rifle Raquel Welch TV 1967

Bang Bang, BA Robertson

Goodbye Girl, Squeeze

Goodbye, Miley Cyrus

The Four Chords, Axis of Awesome

Louise's funeral, the music

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:29:00 +0000

Today we had the mixed blessing of attending Louise's funeral. (I've remembered her in an earlier blog full of music).

She died in November in Israel aged way too young (our age, that's always too young) and the funeral was today in Torquay. The first good part of the day was meeting old friends we don't see too often (one I hadn't met for nearly thirty years, that's really far too long); and the second was the music Louise had chosen for her funeral (and don't we wish we'd all had that conversation when there was time? Tip: have that conversation) which comprised just three tracks (I'm guessing they only allow you three, which suggests we should all be working harder to get on Desert Island Discs), all of which were spot on (and the last of which I'd chosen myself in my musical tribute to Lou. Good guess).

Enjoy them and remember Louise. If you didn't know her, then think about the most marvellous of people who you wish was still with us.

Kev F

Who Stole Batman's Potty? - comics by kids

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:11:00 +0000

The new year's Comic Art Masterclasses have begun, with me teaching comic art to kids in primary schools in Taunton, Eastleigh and Bristol. Working with two groups a day, with up to 30 in each group, they all go away with a photocopied comic containing a strip written and drawn by every single one of them plus an individual caricature by me. Here are the front covers from my first eight groups of 2012 (click to enlarge)...

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

2000AD memories

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:40:00 +0000

John Freeman of Down The Tubes is compiling a 2000AD birthday celebration piece, so has asked former contributors some questions. Here are my answers:

First memory of 2000AD?

I bought issue 2 then read it on my paper round. As a result it bears the ink smudges of a few dozen Leicester Mercurys as it slid in & out of my bag so is probably worth less than some copies. I was addicted to the weekly Marvel reprints at the time so took a while to start getting 2000AD regularly, only becoming a subscriber when it merged with StarLord.

The 2000AD book that credits me for work I had nothing to do with. Can't hurt

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions?

• My first cheque from 2000AD, for either a Captain Klep script or an illustration in an annual (circa 1980) was made out to the Rev F Sutherland.
• I wrote a Ro-Jaws Robo Tale in the 1981 Sci Fi Special whose credit-box fell off en route to the printers, so no-one ever knew I wrote it. It was the robot with the knife out the bottom story drawn by (equally uncredited) Steve Kyte.
* In recompense, a recent reprint volume of ABC Warriors and Ro-Busters credits me as the author of a story from an early annual which I had nothing to do with.

Favourite Character or Story (if you can't pick one then feel free to mention several)

For a long time it was Dredd, and I'm the reader who still thinks Gerry Finley-Day's Rogue Trooper remains the best version of the character, but once Alan Moore's strips started, nothing else compared. DR & Quinch, Halo Jones and Skizz are pretty unbeatable.

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

In its heyday it quite simply led the world in the quality and originally of its creators and creations. I was privileged to be the right age to live through 2000AD's golden age as a schoolkid and student. At the age of 18, in 1980, I got to visit the 2000AD offices in Kings Reach Tower when Alan Grant and Steve McManus were in charge there. To that date it was probably the most exciting day of my life.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

Sadly I have lost touch with 2000AD, drifting from it in the early 2000s, but I hear good things. I look forward to hearing more.

Kev F Sutherland

Socks at Pun Run London Jan 20

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:03:00 +0000

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre play their first London show of 2012 as part of Pun Run in Camden on Jan 20th:

Okay, it probably won't be our longest show of the year, but look at the line-up we're sharing the bill with. Yes, we know. Get on down there.

And if that's not Hard Sell enough for you, check out some of the Socks' more pun-filled videos from the archives:

Socks to Adelaide, and other sales

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:03:00 +0000

So, with the first Scottish Falsetto Socks gig of the year under our belt (a cracking slot at the Lyric Rooms in Ashby De La Zouch which earned us a big colour photo in the Leicester Mercury) we look forward to a busy spring season, dominated by a 30-date run at the Adelaide Fringe.

The Leicester Mercury, the Socks' first press of 2012

Adelaide tickets have started selling well, with this particular example being a nice boost. There's a promotional scheme run by BankSA called Support Acts whereby they offer reduced price tickets for a number of shows by new acts (which we are in Australia) and sponsor the rest of the ticket cost. 115 shows are promoted on the scheme and, at time of writing, only 4 shows have sold out of their allocation. 4 shows, including...

Not too shabby. Though as advance sales go, we have to say The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen is taking the biscuit for best pre-sales ever. The show's not until April 27th but has already sold 45 tickets. I know it's hardly Michael McIntyre levels, but if we're perfectly honest that has out-sold a few shows we played in 2011 already.

Other shows whose tickets are now on sale and starting to clock up good figures are:

Feb 9, 10 & ll Leicester Comedy Festival
April 7 Bath Comedy Festival
April 12 The Torch, Milford Haven
May 12 Chorley Little Theatre

And other gigs whose ticket links should be up soon are:
Apr 13 - Exeter Barnfield
Apr 14 2012 - Spa Bridlington
April 25 - Byre Theatre, St Andrews
May 3 - Halifax, Square Chapel
May 4 - Keighley
May 5 - Stafford Gatehouse
May 19/20 Brighton
May 27 - Hereford Courtyard
June 28 & 29 - Harrogate
July 9 - Rondo Bath
July 13 - Beverly Puppet Festival

Scottish Falsetto Socks to Australia appeal - what can we do for you?

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:17:00 +0000

What treats would you like from the Socks in return for helping us get to the Adelaide Fringe? Watch the video, get the fun explanation...

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre is heading for the Adelaide Fringe Feb-Mar 2012 and we need your help. Donate from just £10 to get great super brilliant stuff! You can even commission your own unique Socks video or book a personal show. Yes, the Socks will perform for you. http://comicfestival.co.uk

What treats would you like from the Socks in return for helping us get to the Adelaide Fringe? A limited edition new Socks badge? A signed poster? Original artwork from the Socks' comic? A private gig? Your own exclusive video? It's all yours for the asking. Email sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk or Twitter @falsettosocks - or just donate via PayPal to sockpuppets@sitcomtrials.co.uk and your wish is our command.

To help us get to Adelaide and perform for 30 nights (or as we believe the Australians put it, 30 bleeding nights) here's what we'd like to offer you:

If you donate £10 we'll mention you in the special Socks Angel video we'll be making.
For just £25 you get that PLUS an exclusive Socks badge and a signed Socks poster.
For £50 we are offering an unique page of original artwork from the 1st Socks comic.

Now here's where it gets exciting:
For £150 the Scottish Falsetto Socks will make an exclusive video for you, you decide what's in it, they write and perform it and upload to YouTube all for you.

Here's one we've done before, a commissioned video by the Socks:

And there's more!
For just £300* The Scottish Falsetto Socks will perform a gig for you. They've done weddings and parties in castles before now, now they could be yours. (*plus travel costs if necessary, to be agreed in advance.

Every little helps, love and thanks from the Socks.

Any questions, just ask. Thanks for your help.

Predictions for 2012 (please join in)

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:15:00 +0000

Predictions 2012

Hi, Nostradamus here again with my fun-packed New Year pastime for all the family.

You are welcome to join me in the 2012 prediction game. Add your predictions as a comment or reply and in 12 months time we see who came closest. First here are the questions:

1) Which classic TV show will be remade in 2012?

2) Which TV shows will be cancelled in 2012?

3) Who will surprise by getting their own hit TV series?

4) What new movie franchise will be announced/made?

5) How much will litre of petrol cost in Dec '12 (currently approx £1.30)?

6) Who will win Edinburgh Comedy Award 2012?
a) Best act? b) Best newcomer?

7) Celeb on the Slab?

8) Who will win the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest?

9) Who will become Mayor of London?

10) Who will be 13th Doctor Who?

11) Who will win US Presidency?

12) Who will be Labour leader at end of 2012?

13) Will any countries leave the Euro? If so who?

14) Surprise country to have a revolution/uprising?

15) What will be surprise invention/technicological advance?

16) Will average UK house prices rise or fall by Dec '12?

Predict:
17) Biggest scandal
18) Biggest change in national newspapers
19) Biggest weather news
20) Christmas Number 1

Now, my guesses...

1) The Good Life, The Avengers, Danger Mouse, Adam Adamant Lives, Fawlty Towers (the musical)
2) Top Gear, Doctor Who, X Factor, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Hollyoaks
3) Christine Bleakley
4) Desperate Dan
5) £1.30 (ie no overall change)
6) a) A former Cambridge Footlighter b) An Avalon act
7) Prince Phillip - during the Olympics
8) Croatia
9) Boris Johnson again
10) Himish Patel (plays Tamwar in Eastenders)
11) Barack Obama again
12) Ed Miliband still
13) No. Italy.
14) Southern states of USA
15) The roll-up iPad
16) Fall by 5%
17) Ricky Gervais jailed
18) Sun adds Sunday edition
19) Snow & ice begins in October
20) Poverty charity single inc Bananarama

My Top 10 TV shows of 2011

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 22:19:00 +0000

My Top 10 TV shows of 2011

I watch far too much TV which apparently is very bad for you. As I've been watching this much since I was a kid, I figure the damage is done, This year, with fewer comedy gigs and evening engagements than previous years, and no Edinburgh Fringe to give me a whole month off telly viewing, I have seen far too much TV (well I say "seen", it's on in the background and I'm working at the same time "pretending" to watch it. Yes I am) and some of it was not in the least bit abysmal. So far from abysmal, I've rearranged them from my head into a Top Ten of my favourites.

You may care to play "Other Peoples Top Ten TV Shows Bingo" if you like. If you have seen all of my Top Ten, you win and can imagine it's the 1980s again (you remember? When whatever you'd seen the night before, you could say "Did you see..?" to someone at school the next day and they would have? So easy, so long ago...). Here is my Top Ten TV shows of 2011, after a few outsiders & special mentions...

Bubbling Under:
(do things still bubble under the charts any more? Or enter "with a bullet"? If not, they should)

Little Crackers (Sky). They're only on at Christmas, only shown once as far as I can see, and not available on DVD for some bizarre reason, but these 10 minute mini-movies telling stories from the childhood of comedians are a treat. Highlights of the 2010 season included Catherine Tate, Stephen Fry, Dawn French & Meera Syal, and in 2011 we have enjoyed Jack Whitehall, Johnny Vegas, Sheridan Smith, Shappi Khorsandi, John Bishop & Sanjeev Bjaskar. A sweet series, but not in the Top Ten.

30 Rock (Comedy Central), Curb Your Enthusiasm (More 4), The Office (Comedy Central), TV Burp (ITV) and Big Bang Theory (E4). All favourite comedy shows of some years standing, but all in danger of jumping the shark or going through a bit of a patchy patch. 30 Rock remains the strongest, Curb & Burp have had some stonking episodes, but none is on its best series, and Big Bang & Office are almost unrecognisable from the shows we first grew to love.

University Challenge & Mastermind (both BBC). Firm favourites but, dare I say it, we find ourselves preferring the celebrity versions.

Most Disappointing: Torchwood Miracle Day. Had two excellent episodes (the opener and the stand-alone love story set in the 1920s) but the rest seemed to be made up as it went along, incoherent, messy, frequently ridiculous and ultimately the biggest collection of wasted opportunities of the year.

Most Frustrating: Later with Jools Holland. As someone raised on Top Of The Pops and the Old Grey Whistle Test as my weekly televisual guide to what was hot and what was not in popular music, I mourn their absence and find Later to be the worst possible substitute. One week this year the average age of performers on the show was over 60, and its selection of acts ranges from indulgently retro to depressingly repetitive. It is popular music's Old Folks Home, makes the Grammies look "down with the kids".

So, that Top 10...

10 - Doctor Who
The favourite TV show of much of my childhood, and again from 2005, it has made itself bloody hard work to stay in love with for the last two series. Steven Moffat's episodes have been brilliantly written, flattering to the intelligent and challenging, full to the brim with ideas, and rewarding on subsequent reviewings. But sometimes the characters have taken second place to the labrynthine storylines leaving us with stories which, when resolved, leave this particular viewer a little cold (especially in comparison to the way characters were used in Russell T Davies' series of the show). The scripts by guest writers have varied too much and lacked outstandingly memorable images and characters to get this series any further in my favourites list. I did love The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, might I say.

9 - Rev
A surprisingly satisfying comedy whose description suggested it could have been patronising. middle-class, mealy-mouthed with no obvious target audience outside of the devoutest of Radio 4 listeners, Rev is modern, witty, insightful, touching, original and genuinely funny. And it won the ratings in a double bill with Ricky Gervais's Life Is Short which many found Schadenfreudtastic.

8 - Downton Abbey
Shut up, it's very well written. Yes formulaic, yes old fashioned to an extent, and yes the Christmas episode was very disappointing. But in our house we didn't see series 1 until this year, catching up with a DVD box set, which led straight into series 2, so we've overdosed on a very high quality of classy British TV writing which can only be applauded. Fave character: Daisy the kitchen maid (welling up already).

7 - Only Connect
It's the quiz that's fun to play. You don't necessarily have to know things, you can have an educated guess. But it helps if you know things. And Victoria Coren is funnier than Paxo, QED.

6 - Bob's Burgers
Did anyone else watch this? It was on Channel 4 but it's not come up in conversation yet. For everyone still bothering with The Simpsons and Family Guy, you have missed a treat with Bob's Burgers. Great characters, stories that make this writing lark look far too easy, and the sort of animation that it is all too easy to take for granted. Find it, watch it, see what I mean.

5 - Fresh Meat
Surprisingly, Bain & Armstrong only wrote the first episode, with every other ep being written by new writers. Which means there is a scary number of quality bright young comedy drama writers out there, which makes the Sitcom Trials and Sitcom Mission's continued existence seem almost futile. And Jack Whitehall can act, the bastard. My favourite line of the year: "Shit my pants." Okay, quiet year.

4 - Misfits
Howard Overman's series is a triumph of effort over budget, knocking bigger-budget sci-fi shows like Being Human and Torchwood into a cocked hat. I still haven't seen series 1, somehow, but have seen all of series 2 and 3 in the past year and couldn't admire it more. This show is as exciting as comic books used to be when I was a kid. And that really is saying something. Most distinctive faces of any TV cast ever, they would win any Cheekbones-Off anywhere anytime.

3 - The Walking Dead
Also like comics used to be when I was a kid, because it's adapted from a comic, The Walking Dead has shown how to spin out a limited budget and a restricted storyline with aplomb. For an entire series, the cast have been stuck in a house, near a wood, with a barn, looking for a missing kid, with a strict ration of one new zombie per episode, and they've made it gripping, surprising, engaging and funny. This year's Mad Men.

2 - Top Of The Pops 1976
This social experiment, which I'm delighted to learn is going to be continued in 1977, sees every surviving episode of the year's Top Of The Pops shown at 7.30 on Thursday night, exactly 35 years after it was first shown. One part nostalgia to one part... okay it's all nostalgia in this house, but if you weren't there I can only hope it is an education. From the opening song which you don't remember ever having heard in your life, through the long-forgotten follow-up single, via the presenters whose very existence seems to be the result of a casting process as disturbing as it must now be illegal, this television show is something you simply could not make up. Historians of the future are learning so much from this musical time capsule. Jonathan King and Gary Glitter have to settle for belated apologies, having been cut out of the repeats. (As JK has said in his defence, would you edit Hitler out of the World War 2 documentaries?)

1 - Party Down
A revelation. The only series I've watched every episode of twice this year and easily the best sitcom (or comedy drama, discuss) of 2011. Except it's from 2008/9. Hev discovered it via Virgin Media's TV On Demand (it's still not available on DVD in the UK, as I learned while trying to buy it as a Christmas present). It was denied a third series because the actors got asked to do bigger things, and it was on Starz which can't compete for audiences, but it is such perfect writing and performing that it will always be a comedy show whose passing will be mourned. Everything a sitcom should be. Characters who you get from their first lines: Ron is a 3D Homer, Roman is the cast of Big Bang Theory but much more pathetic, and Henry and Casey are the most will-they-won't-they will-they-won't-they couple since Sam & Diane and Jim & Pam. The characters are clear from the start, their story arc is inobtrusive yet defining, and the comedy ideas are simple, original, solid, filmic and very funny. Ron's School Reunion is painful and brilliant, Steve Guttenberg's Birthday is the best example of a story which rewards having watched the previous series without leaving you out if you haven't. And is funny. I cannot recommend Party Down highly enough.

And those were my favourite TV shows of 2011. Happy New Year.

Kev F

Review of Kev F's 2011 (in cartoon)

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:28:00 +0000

I started doing this last year, no reason why I shouldn't try maintaining the tradition. Here is my review, in cartoon form, of my 2011...

If you touch it it'll get bigger, fnaar fnaar. And if it's not all clear for any reason, those statistics look like this:

In 2011 The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre played:
- 4 Weddings (2 straight 2 gay) & 3 Birthdays (2 x 50th and a 60th). That's our demographic in a nutshell.
- and made 2 visits to Denmark, playing 6 shows in Aarhus and Copenhagen
- as part of the 64 shows they played in the year. This included..
- 0 appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in 5 years (we return in 2012). Here's a nice review from Brighton.

I took an unforgiveable 46 flights including 9 trips to Ireland, a week in Abu Dhabi and an actual holiday (a non-working holiday, a rare thing) in Venice.

My only TV of the year was an appearance on BBC Northern Ireland online plus a 10 second appearance on The Gadget Show plugging the Nintendo Wii uDraw. (I forgot the Socks appeared on the ITV News during the Leicester Comedy Festival, and on Danish TV while we were in Aarhus.)

I published 4 comics this year - Hot Rod Cow, Sinnerhound, Tales Of Nambygate and the best-selling (in Clevedon anyway) Captain Clevedon. And I forgot to mention appearing in Doctor Who Adventures & Match!

I chalked up an incredible 124 days of Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, colleges, art centres and libraries, from Ireland to Abu Dhabi as well as Scotland, Wales and lots and lots of England plus I did 13 days (or nights) caricaturing at events including Mendhi parties, Batmitzvahs, street parties, weddings, workplaces and something in a castle on Guernsey, meaning that, including the drawings done as part of the classes, I drew well over 5000 faces in the year, possibly over 6000. When I meet any of you again, forgive me if I don't remember everyone's names.

Oh, and I turned 50 this year. Don't tell everyone.

Now, what surprises do we have in store for 2012. Any ideas?

Happy New Year when it comes.

Kev F

PS: Here's my review of 2010, in case you missed it.

PPS: Lest I want to keep score of the number of days I spend doing Comic Art Masterclasses, it goes:
2006 83 days (and 88 pages of Beano drawn),
2007 74 days (and 95 pages of Beano),
2008 92 days (Beano pages not totalled but that's when they stopped),
2009 100 days,
2010 109 days
and 2011 124 days.

A year of comics by kids (edited)

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:12:00 +0000

(I've edited this entry down as the previous version had too many images to load with ease)

2011 saw me working in a fascinating range of schools teaching my Comic Art Masterclasses all over Ireland, and England, Wales and Scotland and, in January, Abu Dhabi. Abu flipping Dhabi! In every school, working with up to two groups in a day, the kids produce comics containing a strip by every single one of them plus a caricature by me. Here are some of my favourites of the year.

When Businessmen Go Clubbing, Murder By Tesco Tomato - from Clevedon via Bourne in Lincolnshire and Harrogate.

Peter The Ginger Space Monkey, Dr Evil Eats Piggy Poo, first comics of the year. Click to see

Laymoona and other Abu Dhabi comics

I'm A Firin' My Lazor - my favourite title of the year (though there is stiff competition). From pupils in Wilts, Hants, Dartmouth, Burgess Hill and Ascot.

Journey To The Centre Of My Nose, Revenge Of the Trigger Happy Hamsters - from Kings School Gloucester, Bromsgrove Prep, Burleigh High, Loughborough, Mary Elton Primary Clevedon and St Andrews Primary Salisbury.

The Adventures Of The AK47 from Tescos, Ya Mam, Cheese Bob Lol Fish - Wales, England and Dublin.

I Like Apples, Kiss My Big Fat Bum, Revenge Of The Daleks from Swindon & Birmingham

That's What She Said, Captain Cockwash - Cork, Dungarvan

Can I Have My Apple Back Please?, The Queen Does The Splits...
...comics from Dublin, Birmingham, Kidderminster, Wiltshire

Your Bum Is Under Under Arrest, You Should Never Eat Sprouts - Cardiff, Gosport, Glasgow, Malmesbury & Bromsgrove.

Alien Belly Button Kerfuffle, from schools in Chepstow, Bristol, Ormskirk, Devon, Leicester, Clevedon and Walsall

Pretty Piggy Zombie, Toilet Seats & Pineapples - by kids in Swindon, Bradford, Waltham Forest, Maidenhead and Weston Super Mare

When Susan Boyle Strikes Back, Invasion Of The Gummi Bears from Falcarragh County Donegal, Navan County Meath, Cheltenham, Loughborough and Somerset

Barack O'Llama, Bubble Head Pants Face, Dublin, Hampshire and North Somerset

Jellyfish In A Jar, Willy Ward Sells His Ford - from Waterford, Wexford and Enniscorthy in Ireland, at Hull Truck Theatre, and at schools in Somerset, Oxfordshire, and Welwyn Garden City.

Shut Up Pig Terrorist, Death To America By Battering To Death - from London, Carnforth, Bushey, Dublin, Sheffield, and Caton & Wray in Lancashire.

Bumblebee Ate My Bottom, last comics of the year.

As always I aim to teach kids all there is to know about the fun fine art of telling stories in pictures (did I ever mention I've been writing & drawing comic strips for everyone from The Beano to Marvel & Doctor Who to Viz for over 20 years?), producing a comic book in a morning or afternoon session, a copy of which they each take home, containing a strip by every one of them plus an individual caricature by me.

I'm taking bookings into 2012 now, so get in touch quick if you're interested.

A year of comics by kids from the Comic Art Masterclass

kevf.sutherland@virgin.net (Kev F Sutherland) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 22:22:00 +0000

2011 saw me working in a fascinating range of schools teaching my Comic Art Masterclasses all over Ireland, and England, Wales and Scotland and, in January, Abu Dhabi. Abu flipping Dhabi! In every school, working with up to two groups in a day, the kids produce comics containing a strip by every single one of them plus a caricature by me. Here are some of my favourites of the year.

I'm A Firin' My Lazor - my favourite title of the year (though there is stiff competition). From pupils in Wilts, Hants, Dartmouth, Burgess Hill and Ascot.

Peter The Ginger Space Monkey, Dr Evil Eats Piggy Poo, first comics of the year

Laymoona and other Abu Dhabi comics

Journey To The Centre Of My Nose, Revenge Of the Trigger Happy Hamsters - from Kings School Gloucester, Bromsgrove Prep, Burleigh High, Loughborough, Mary Elton Primary Clevedon and St Andrews Primary Salisbury.

The Adventures Of The AK47 from Tescos, Ya Mam, Cheese Bob Lol Fish - Wales, England and Dublin.

I Like Apples, Kiss My Big Fat Bum, Revenge Of The Daleks from Swindon & Birmingham

That's What She Said, Captain Cockwash - Cork, Dungarvan

Can I Have My Apple Back Please?, The Queen Does The Splits - Dublin, Birmingham, Kidderminster, Wiltshire

Your Bum Is Under Under Arrest, You Should Never Eat Sprouts - Cardiff, Gosport, Glasgow, Malmesbury & Bromsgrove.

When Businessmen Go Clubbing, Murder By Tesco Tomato - from Clevedon via Bourne in Lincolnshire and Harrogate.

Alien Belly Button Kerfuffle, from schools in Chepstow, Bristol, Ormskirk, Devon, Leicester, Clevedon and Walsall

Pretty Piggy Zombie, Toilet Seats & Pineapples - by kids in Swindon, Bradford, Waltham Forest, Maidenhead and Weston Super Mare

When Susan Boyle Strikes Back, Invasion Of The Gummi Bears from Falcarragh County Donegal, Navan County Meath, Cheltenham, Loughborough and Somerset

Barack O'Llama, Bubble Head Pants Face, Dublin, Hampshire and North Somerset

Jellyfish In A Jar, Willy Ward Sells His Ford - from Waterford, Wexford and Enniscorthy in Ireland, at Hull Truck Theatre, and at schools in Somerset, Oxfordshire, and Welwyn Garden City.

Shut Up Pig Terrorist, Death To America By Battering To Death - from London, Carnforth, Bushey, Dublin, Sheffield, and Caton & Wray in Lancashire.

Bumblebee Ate My Bottom, last comics of the year.

As always I aim to teach kids all there is to know about the fun fine art of telling stories in pictures (did I ever mention I've been writing & drawing comic strips for everyone from The Beano to Marvel & Doctor Who to Viz for over 20 years?), producing a comic book in a morning or afternoon session, a copy of which they each take home, containing a strip by every one of them plus an individual caricature by me.

I'm taking bookings into 2012 now, so get in touch quick if you're interested.

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