Comedy / chris daniels
French & Saunders reunite in Bristol for Comedy Legend Award
Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders will reunite on stage for the first time in more than eight years this June to take part in a one-off show in Bristol celebrating their contribution to screen comedy – and concluding with them receiving the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award 2017.
Great British Bake Off co-presenter Mel Giedroyc will host the French & Saunders: Comedy Legends show at Colston Hall on Thursday, June 22 (7.30pm start), tickets for which go on general sale this Friday, March 31, priced from £20.
The event is being put on by Bristol’s annual Slapstick festival of visual and classic screen comedy to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of the French & Saunders BBC television series and acknowledge the duo’s 35-year body of screen comedy work, together and separately.
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The duo in 1988. Pic: Trevor Leighton
Slapstick Festival director Chris Daniels says: “We’re delighted that Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders will be joining the Aardman/Slapstick roll call of comedy legends, adding to a list which already includes Ken Dodd, Barry Cryer, Barry Humphries and June Whitfield. Together, they became the UK’s best known female comedy duo, setting an example which opened up opportunities for many other women comedians, among them our event’s host Mel Giedroyc whose double act with Sue Perkins got its TV break on French & Saunders.”
The Colston Hall show will feature on-stage chat, performance clips and live and video tributes from some of the duo’s many celebrity fans and co-stars in the run-up to the presentation of the award – a custom-made French & Saunders version of the Aardman character Morph.
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are among previous Slapstick Award winners
All proceeds from the evening will go towards funding the next Slapstick Festival, which takes place from January 26-28 2018.
Slapstick is a not-for-profit venture, run mostly by volunteers, and established to remember, promote and salute the best screen comedy. The festival’s principal supporters are Aardman Animations and the British Film Institute.
French & Saunders: Comedy Legends Colston Hall, Thursday, June 22 For more info, visit www.colstonhall.org and www.slapstick.org.uk, find Slapstick Festival on Facebook or follow @SlapstickFest on Twitter.
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