Rob Brydon, Barry Cryer, all three members of The Goodies, Harry Hill, Shappi Khorsandi, Paul McGann, Stephen Merchant and Lucy Porter are among the stars who will be taking part in the UK’s biggest celebration of silent screen and classic comedy.
This year’s Slapstick festival will feature 25 events when it stages its 16th annual edition in Bristol this month.
Highlights will include Bristol-born actor, comedian, director and writer Stephen Merchant explaining why he ranks Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as cinema’s all-time greatest double act and introducing some of his favourite clips; and Harry Hill passing on top tips for young would-be comedians in a live and family-friendly Show & Tell packed with gags and slapstick foolery.
Other highlights will include stand-up Shappi Khorsandi following up on a clips and chats event at which journalist Samira Ahmed and comedian Lucy Porter look at early depictions of Suffragettes on film by hosting a celebration of Slapstick Divas: a treasury of rarely seen silent comedies starring some of the era’s best-loved female stars, among them Mabel Normand.
All three members of the madcap trio The Goodies – Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie – will share clips and memories from the 76 episodes they made between 1970 and 1982. And Rob Brydon will be quizzing I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue regulars about their 47 years of being given silly things to do as part of a TV/radio nostalgia strand.
There will be a Bristol Cathedral screening of Buster Keaton’s lovingly restored Our Hospitality (1923) in 4K glory, accompanied live by the European Silent Screen Virtuosi, plus shorts from Laurel & Hardy and Charlie Chaplin, all introduced by actor and silent film fan Paul McGann.
Multiple events will be showing newly restored, recently rediscovered or unfairly forgotten early comedies starring, amongst others, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy and their many European counterparts.
When: 23rd – 26th January 2020
Where: At various venues across Bristol
£: Ticket prices vary, depending on the event
More info: www.slapstick.org.uk
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