1. Newsletter November 2010
www.clever-pants.com
e-mail: james@clever-pants.com
Quotes from the Great and Good!
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
Charles M. Schulz
Fashions have done more harm than revolutions.
Victor Hugo
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.
Groucho Marx
If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.
Quentin Crisp
Well hello there!
The clocks have changed, the evenings are drawing
in and we’re packing our bags and preparing for the
start of our 2010/11 tour. It must be November already!
Our actors are kicking off this year in Galicia before
going to the beautiful Balearic Islands and then coming
to mainland Spain, Portugal and Italy over the next
six months.
We’re really excited about this years shows, and
rehearsals have been a lot of fun.
This month you’ll find our regular jokes, quotes and
recipe, plus the lowdown on Guy Fawkes night, some
information on the new language of txt spk and the
wonder that is sleeveface. Enjoy!
Brad, Nancy and Matt
rehearsing School’s Out!

2. Remember remember the fifth of November!
On the 5th of November in the U.K. we celebrate
Guy Fawkes Night. In 1605, Guy Fawkes (great name
isn't it?) was caught as he was trying to blow up the
houses of Parliament.
A team of Catholics had decided to try to assassinate
the king and restore Catholicism to England. But they
didn't get away with it and Fawkes was caught in the
cellars of the houses of Parliament with matches and
huge barrels of gunpowder hidden underneath firewood.
Fawkes and his co-conspirators were tortured and
executed - their heads were put on spikes outside the
houses of Parliament as an example to other would-be
plotters.
These days, the failure of "The Gunpowder Plot"
is marked by bonfires and fireworks every year.
A "Guy" - a model of guy Fawkes - is usually made out
of old clothes and stuffing and burned on the fire.
This month’s jokes
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot. Guy, guy, guy
Poke him in the eye,
Put him on the bonfire,
And there let him die!
Q. What travels around the world and stays in a corner?
A. A stamp.
Q. What do you call two Mexicans playing basketball?
A. Juan on Juan.
Q. How do you stop a fish from smelling?
A. Cut its nose off.
Q. Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?A. Because demons are a ghouls best friend.
Q. What’s the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
A. Anyone can roast beef.

3. Here at Clever Pants HQ we find many ways to entertain
ourselves when we’re not working on our shows. Recently
we decided to try our hand at the new internet craze that
is sweeping the... well, the internet.
What is this craze? Why, it’s sleevefacing! The sleeveface
website (www.sleeveface.com) contains hundreds of
pictures of people sleevefacing. People sleevefacing
alone, in pairs, and even in groups! Some people
sleeveface in their bedroom, some people sleeveface
in a record shop or even at work!
“Sleeveface!”
sleeveface (verb): one or more persons obscuring or
augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record
sleeve(s) causing an illusion.
We got out our record collection and sleevefaced the
night away. Here’s what we came up with... Apologies
to 1. Elvis Presley, 2. Sonny and Cher, 3. Suzanne Vega,
4. Marvin Gaye, 5. Jaques Brel, 6. Tom Waits.
3
4
5
6
1
2

4. You may know him by a variety of names, as over the
years he’s played more Clever Pants characters than
you can shake a stick at. He’s unforgettable, and
everywhere we go we get asked what he’s up to now.
So we decided to tell you!
We caught up with Stuart to see what’s keeping him
busy these days at Clever Pants.
Stuart!
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? how did you
come to be a part of clever pants?
I worked with Terry and James in another theatre
company. We went our separate ways. I worked for
a year directing and writing and sweating with another
theatre company in Valencia then came to work for
them as they started up. They liked my trousers. And
pants are important in Pants.I tried to get them to call
it Clever Breeks but they only looked at me funny.
What are you doing now?
I'm artistic director of Pants. I co-write and direct the
shows, making sure actors know not so much what
to do but how to do it. Anyone can learn lines. But
can you make 250 teenagers understand you, make
them laugh, improvise and do it all in a language that
they don't even like or want to listen to? I also do a
solo show around Catalunya. Same thing. Just me.
And 60 kids. In a room. Alone... I used to do ads for
TV but the crisis stopped that. I also write books for
kids.
What was the best thing about acting for clever pants?
There's this moment when you're leaving a school
and the shows were great, the kids had fun, the
teachers loved it and you're heading towards that
Dish of the Day in some local restaurant in the
countryside on a sunny day. Bliss.
As for the work itself, Pants give you freedom to
personalise the shows rather than saying the same
thing every day for months on end. That way it stays
fresh and they're more fun. I couldn't do a job where
I did the same thing over and over again.
Do you miss it?
Of course. I miss going around Spain and Portugal,
meeting different people, and the buzz from the shows.
What do you think about the shows this year?
We're getting better and better. This year we've more
scenery, something we've tried to do for a while but
never had the time. And the songs are great. The
older show (4º ESO + Bach) is our most sophisticated
yet. People may think it's easy writing a play but it's
difficult coming up with different ideas year after year
with a linguistic roof hanging over your head. This
year we decided to challenge the older kids with more
sophisticated humour, more subtle.
Which five words best describe you?
Tall, dancing, funny-looking, tenacious... cuddly.
If you could do any job in the world what would it be?
A travel writing-dancing-dj-film maker.
When was the last time you were extremely happy?
Dancing to LCD Soundsystem. Any meal sitting on
a terrace with my friends on a hot but not too hot day.

5. Recipe: Pumpkin Pie
A-CET
This year we will once again be working with the
African Children's Educational Trust, donating money
for every show we do to helping develop educational
projects in Africa.
For more information visit their website at
www.a-cet.org
Top eco-tip: if you print the newsletter out, do it in black
and white at low resolution to reduce your use of ink.
© Clever Pants 2010
www.clever-pants.com
Method
In mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, ginger,
cinnamon, and flour. Add eggs; mix well. Add evaporated
milk, water and vanilla; mix well. Pour pumpkin pie
mixture into a 9-inch pastry lined pie pan. Preheat
oven to 425°. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes. Reduce
heat to 350° and bake pumpkin pie for about 35 minutes
longer, until pumpkin pie is set.
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
9-inch pie crust, unbaked
Pumpkins are rather topicl at the moment, what with
all the Halloweenyness of them. But did you know that
the big pumpkins we use to make perfect Halloween
Jack-o-lanterns are actually not very good to eat?
This is the time of year for pumpkins though, so the
smaller, sweeter ones are genrally very available from
no until Christmas.
To celebrate the general availablity of pumpkins, we’ve
decided to share with you our recipe for pumpkin pie.
It’s delicious, and it’s orange, which are both excellent
qualities! It takes about an hour, so give it a try!
You’ll be impressed!