Bristol’s annual Slapstick festival of silent and classic comedy is adding a choice of celebrity-led live online events to the series of archive treasures it has been sharing via its YouTube channel since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown.
The new series starts on Friday 7th August (7.30pm) with longtime Slapstick supporter Graeme Garden chatting about radio comedy, including his work on I’M SORRY I’LL READ THAT AGAIN, I’M SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE and THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH with broadcaster and author Matthew Sweet.
The line-up then continues with a mixture of live and archive treats as follows:
Friday 14th August (7.30pm start, with the option to join a watch party &/or tweetalong)
Never before released film from the Slapstick 2019 event which reunited one of the UK’s most successful comedy duos - Little & Large – live on stage for the first time in decades for a by turns hilarious and touching lookback at their glory days.
Friday 21st August (7.30pm)
Infinite Monkey Cage co-presenter, podcaster and stand-up comedian Robin Ince talks to veteran film critic and historian David Robinson, author of the official biography of Charlie Chaplin, about the life, times, work and enduring appeal of the ‘Little Tramp’.
Friday 28th August (7.30pm)
Stand-up comedian, radio & TV panel game regular and film buff Lucy Porter hosts an online film quiz with questions also being put by a selection of celebrity guests – among them Rob Brydon, Pippa Evans and Matt Lucas.
In a change from the previous format, all of the above events bar the Little & Large premiere will be ticketed and bookers will be encouraged to make a donation to help keep the festival going. Plans are also being made for an all-star online Big Comedy Night In fund-raiser in September to help with the costs of staging Slapstick 2021.
Festival director Chris Daniels says: “These are challenging times for everyone involved with entertaining the public and it is particularly tough on small organisations like Slapstick which rely so heavily on year-round fundraising and ticket sales to keep going. But we’ve been thrilled by the response so far to our online offerings and the upside is that many more people have been able to experience virtual Slapstick than we’d ever be able to accommodate in any local venue. “
He added: “We’re now looking at how to present Slapstick 2021 and whether we should offer a combination of live and streamed events, watch parties plus Zoom/Skype input from international celebrities, film finders and historians and fans. One way to test what’s possible is to ask people to book in advance for the new series and make a donation so that’s what we’re doing – converting what we had called Laughter in Lockdown to Laughing Out of Lockdown and hoping the response remains as good as it has been to date.”
More details of how to access Slapstick’s Laughing Out of Lockdown programme are available from the festival’s website – www.slapstick.org.uk.
Slapstick’s summer series is part of Film Feels Connected, a UK-wide cinema season, supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. Explore all films and events at filmfeels.co.uk.
To view previous releases from Slapstick’s archives, including events starring Jo Brand, John Cleese, French and Saunders, The Goodies, Harry Hill and Tim Vine – among others – visit the festival’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SlapstickFest
