Fringe comedy review: Socks In Space

The Scottish Falsetto Socks revive their classic 2013 Edinburgh show

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Company: Socks In Space ****

In the midst of general grimness, it could feel indulgent to be laughing at two boggle-eyed sock puppets with heroically high voices deconstructing landmarks of popular culture, but boy, does the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre provide a distracting tonic for the times.

Weekly this month, the Socks are revisiting their greatest theatrical triumphs live via Zoom. Boo Lingerie (their Socky Horror Show) and Socks Do Shakespeareare still to come but first was a reprise of their hit 2013 sci-fi spoof Socks In Space with its then-topical jokes left in.

Even the pre-show music – helium renditions of space-themed classics – raised a chortle, with Come On Alien, their homage to Ridley Scott’s film sung to the tune of Come On Eileen a particularly fine showcase of the talent for scansion, satire and silliness which followed through to the show itself, which was a gleeful celebration of puntastic juvenilia involving cute costumes, DIY recreations of classic scifi scenes and an inspired musical tribute to the art of FX, called Green Screen and Some Foam (to the tune of… you guess), all executed in lovably lo-fi style – even if the Socks’ passing resemblance to the Clangers went unexplored.

Boo Lingerie, 21 August; Socks Do Shakespeare, 29 August, https://listings.edfringe.com/listings/scottish-falsetto-socks-in-space

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