The notoriously foul-mouthed Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppets have toned down their act for this family friendly show. Or, at least, they’ve tried to. They haven’t quite got the hang of it yet. This is their first foray into children’s entertainment, which they jokingly hope will lead to a slot on the BBC. Their children’s show is certainly censored, but that doesn’t mean the socks always behave themselves; they’re still as cheeky as ever.
This is partly what makes the show so hilarious. The socks interaction with the young audience is very funny – at one point they referred to a child as a ‘gurgling lump’. When they asked what the children enjoy watching on telly, the response they got was ‘death!’ Hilarity ensued and the socks ad-libbed response was very witty.
Despite being a children’s show, the majority of the jokes will go over their heads. The sock puppets actually point out that parents will probably need to explain a lot of the jokes after the show. It didn’t seem to matter that the kids couldn’t possibly understand all the jokes; it seems the novelty of singing Scottish socks is enough to keep them roaring with laughter.
It’s a jam-packed show. The socks aim is to be ‘educational’ and they run through every genre -or ‘genry,’ as they pronounce it- in an hour, covering the western, horror, the musical, the period drama and even magic. These socks are versatile dramatists and they switch costumes with an astonishing grace and dignity. Okay, not really, but that’s why this show is so very funny. Their attempt to tackle these genre’s goes purposely, hilariously wrong.
Sock jokes, bad puns and Cliff Richard jokes abound and a large part of the humour is based on long-running jokes surrounding the misunderstanding of words. Sometimes these jokes begin to tire, but mostly this is the kind of show that will make your face hurt from laughing so much.
When the socks hold up the wrong lyrics to Michael Jackson’s Earth Song, it was hilarious. Before the show started a backing-track plays of the sock puppets singing their own version of the Cee Loo Green song, re-titled “sock you!” They humorously sing, “I pity the foo-ol who doesn’t like our stuff.” I do too because these socks are a riot of laughs and should be enjoyed by all ages.