April Blog

I’m writing this in the wake of Mr Osborne’s budget which was, as expected, same old, same old Tory tosh. I won’t dwell, its too depressing, except to say that if the last Labour administration hadn’t got it so wrong, hadn’t been so dour, hadn’t missed so many opportunities to point out to people obviously swayed by Dave’s shiny new face that voting for him would mean being governed by a bunch of toffs, we wouldn’t be……..[that’s enough. Ed]

In Cartoonland – a strange place inhabited by odd men and women who spend much of the day in isolation trying to be funny – its nearly time for Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival. Held [cunningly] in Shrewsbury, it runs from April 19th until April 22nd, with the busiest day being Saturday 21st. There are lots of exhibitions, workshops run by experts ,practical advice for the aspiring cartoonists, from people who earn their livings cartooning and in the Market Square, 20 or so cartoonists working live on huge 8foot by 6foot cartoons. The theme this year is FLIGHT, so you can expect some very funny and unusual takes on that word from some of the UK’s best known and most-published cartoonists.

Quite apart from being a great day out, it shows how cartoonists work; how their ideas get from head to magazine or newspaper and how very different styles are. And working alongside will be a select band of caricaturists, all of whom will draw you for free. One or two might explain the difference between a caricature and a cartoon, too. Saturday afternoon finishes between 3pm and 4pm with the live drawing of a 30ft flying based comic strip. No pre-drawn pencil lines here, folks, oh dear me, no – just huge great black felt tips wielded by three old hands [that’s THREE people, not one remarkable one], a thrilling storyline narrated by Wing Commander Penwill W.C. and Flush and stirring musical accompaniment courtesy of Flying Officer Isaacs. If you’ve never heard The Dam Busters’ March played on an accordion, the Old Market Square, Shrewsbury’s the place to be, around 3pm., Saturday 21st April.

Inevitably, the Gag of the Month’s flight related, and apologies to those who don’t know a Hurricane from a Tornado and wonder why a certain slice of the population blather on about “the war”. There are still a lot of us about……………………….

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