Slapstick returns with brand new comedy music strand in 2023

Back with 32 events at four venues over six days in February, Bristol’s very own celebration of classic and silent comedy places a special emphasis on music and comedy in its 19th annual edition. In addition to the previously announced Slapstick Sunday events at Bristol Old Vic with special guest Michael Palin, the programme comprises a diverse mix, ranging from family-friendly musicals to classic spoof rockumentaries.

Slapstick 2023’s Sgt Pepper-inspired artwork, created by Keith Kilpin of Aardman

First up on the giant screen of the former Bristol IMAX in the Aquarium Tuesday 14 February is a matinee screening of the evergreen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Ticket holders for this one also get the opportunity to take selfies with a replica of the car, as seen on Strictly Come Dancing and at the 50th Anniversary celebrations at Pinewood Studios, which will be parked up in Millennium Square. At the same venue later that evening, there’s another outing for Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot – frequently cited as the funniest film comedy of all time. This one is preceded by a musical intro from drag queen Cynthia Road.

Wednesday 15 at the former IMAX brings Disney’s Mary Poppins and a special screening of Rob Reiner’s brilliant mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. This is included at the express request of guest curator Michael Palin, who rates it as his favourite comedy. It comes with pre-recorded intros by Palin and Derek Smalls himself (Harry Shearer).

There’s more great heavy metal comedy at St. George’s on Saturday 18 with a screening of the Comic Strip’s More Bad News, which features the parody band getting pelted with missiles at the Castle Donington Monsters of Rock Festival back in 1986. Drummer Spider Webb (Peter Richardson) and rhythm guitarist Den Dennis (Nigel Planer) will be present for a post-screening Q&A hosted by Robin Ince. All together: “I’m not getting back in the van until you say we’re heavy metal!”

The Scaffold were overjoyed to hit the top of the charts. Pic: Mike McCartney

Back in 1968, comedy rockers The Scaffold topped the UK singles chart for four weeks over Christmas with Lily the Pink – a song built for raucous drunken singalongs. Slapstick reunites the band (John Gorman, Roger McGough and Mike McGear – aka Mike McCartney, younger brother of Beatle Paul) for a special event at St. George’s on Saturday 18, hosted by superfan Harry Hill.

They’ll also be at the former IMAX on Friday 17 for a screening of one of the latest finds by TV archaeologist Philip Morris: The Scaffold Live at the Talk of the Town, which was originally broadcast by the BBC just after the Scouse trio hit number one. Bristol Ideas’ supremo Andrew Kelly will be attempting to keep order at this event.

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash is, of course, the granddaddy of the rock mockumentary genre, and Slapstick brings this magnificent 1978 Eric Idle/Neil Innes TV movie Beatles parody back to the screen at the Watershed on Sunday 19, with a pre-screening discussion with the Ringo-esque Barry Wom (John Halsey, who was also a member of Innes’s band Fatso). Later that day, you can also see Richard Lester’s classic first Beatles flick A Hard Day’s Night at Bristol Old Vic.

“Music has been a key ingredient of every Slapstick since the festival first began way back in 2005,” says Slapstick Director Chris Daniels “But for our 19th annual edition, we’re giving it extra special attention, showcasing the many and varied ways in which more than a century’s worth of entertainers have mixed excellent music with joyous comedy.“

As you might expect, having lured Michael Palin to town at their big star guest, Slapstick are also eager to celebrate the great man’s career with a series of screenings for which he has provided pre-recorded introductions. In addition to the previously announced Life of Brian event at Bristol Old Vic on Sunday 19, you can see Monty Python and the Holy Grail, with an intro by Palin and John Cleese, at the former IMAX on Thur 16 and A Private Function at the Watershed on Fri 17. There’s also a rare opportunity to see East of Ipswich (Watershed, Thur 16) – the semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy scripted by Palin for the Beeb’s Screen Two series back in the late 1980s, which he’s described as his “happiest creative project”.

Lucy Porter celebrates female silent comedy talent

As ever, there’s also plenty of rare, rediscovered and/or reissued silent comedies coming our way. Festival regular Lucy Porter returns to celebrate female talent. On Wednesday 15 at the former IMAX she’ll be introducing 1924 Soviet romcom The Cigarette Girl of Mosselprom, starring future Cannes award-winning director Yuliya Solntseva, and then joining Jane Duffus for Screen Wonder Women – a selection of rarely seen archive films made between 1898 to 1926, featuring slapstick high jinks, swipes at authority,  gender swaps, feminist protests and rebellions against the behaviour generally expected or demanded of women in those times.

The Exeter-born acrobat, gag deviser and impresario who recruited and trained many of the physical performers who became Hollywood slapstick comedy stars gets his moment in the spotlight in Fred Karno: The Legend Behind the Laughter (Watershed, Feb 15). This takes the form of an illustrated conversation between Andrew Kelly (Bristol ideas) and David Crump – author of a definitive new biography of the pioneer whose inspiring mantra was: “If in doubt, fall on your arse”.

Silent comedy star Raymond Griffith

Slapstick 2023 also offers a rare chance to see Marlene Dietrich’s only silent comedy, I Kiss Your Hand, Madam, with an introduction by film historian Kevin Brownlow (Watershed, Thur 16). US silent movie comedian Raymond Griffith’s key films have recently undergone crowd-funded restoration. Slapstick presents 1925’s Paths to Paradise (Watershed, Thur 16), widely considered to be his finest work, and You’d Be Surprised (Watershed, Fri 17). Aardman co-founder Peter Lord hosts The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers (Watershed, Sat 18): a celebration of the animation pioneer who invented a process that enabled him to insert stop-motion special effects into live action sequences.

Harold Lloyd in ‘Speedy’

The silent comedy greats are also well-represented. Greame Garden and Polly Rose present a Buster Keaton double-bill of The Navigator and Sherlock Jr at the former IMAX on Thurs 16. Harry Langdon’s early Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, featuring a young Joan Crawford, is introduced by Kevin Bownlow at the Watershed on Fri 17. And Harold Lloyd’s last great silent comedy, Speedy, is on screen at the former IMAX later the same day, with live musical accompaniment by the Ensemble ImproCinema.

Stephen Mangan: he still loves Laurel & Hardy. Pic: David Betteridge

Who’s left? Stephen Mangan presents the self-explanatory Why I Still Love Laurel & Hardy at the Bristol Old Vic on Sun 19. And just when you thought there was surely nothing new to say about Charlie Chaplin, Ayşe Behçet’s Charlie’s London: A Success Story (Watershed, Thur 16) reveals how the discovery that she, her mother and  grandmother were all born in the same part of London as Chaplin led to her becoming an internationally respected authority on the star’s early years.

Slapstick runs from February 14-19 2023. Tickets for all events are on sale now on the Slapstick website.

All images supplied by Slapstick.