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Comics stand up to save a festival celebrating the stars of silent movies Comics stand up to save a festival celebrating the stars of silent movies
(1 day later)
Comedians including satirist Marcus Brigstocke and impressionist Rory Bremner are staging a benefit concert to save a festival dedicated to a brand of humour that is a century old – silent movie slapstick.Comedians including satirist Marcus Brigstocke and impressionist Rory Bremner are staging a benefit concert to save a festival dedicated to a brand of humour that is a century old – silent movie slapstick.
The one-night show aims to shore up the finances of Bristol's Slapstick Festival, after a cut in funding threatened to end the annual four-day extravaganza of silent comedy films. Also on the Stand Up For Slapstick bill on 24 July are Arthur Smith, Lucy Porter and veteran writer and performer Barry Cryer. The one-night show aims to shore up the finances of Bristol's Slapstick Festival, after a cut in funding threatened to end the annual four-day extravaganza of silent comedy films. Also on the Stand Up For Slapstick bill on 24 June are Arthur Smith, Lucy Porter and veteran writer and performer Barry Cryer.
"The Slapstick Festival has grown during eight years to become perhaps the most important celebration of this kind of comedy anywhere in the world," said former Goodie and organiser Graeme Garden, a patron and director since 2007. "Silent comedy marks the start of modern humour. But, more importantly, it's still very funny.""The Slapstick Festival has grown during eight years to become perhaps the most important celebration of this kind of comedy anywhere in the world," said former Goodie and organiser Graeme Garden, a patron and director since 2007. "Silent comedy marks the start of modern humour. But, more importantly, it's still very funny."
At the 2012 festival last January, Griff Rhys Jones hosted a gala screening of Buster Keaton's 1926 masterpiece The General, while Garden interviewed film historian Kevin Brownlow onstage about Keaton's career.At the 2012 festival last January, Griff Rhys Jones hosted a gala screening of Buster Keaton's 1926 masterpiece The General, while Garden interviewed film historian Kevin Brownlow onstage about Keaton's career.
"To an enthusiast like me," Garden said, "you can't put a price on an event like that. To see The General on the big screen, with a brand new musical score performed by a live ensemble, is completely different from just watching the movie on a DVD at home."To an enthusiast like me," Garden said, "you can't put a price on an event like that. To see The General on the big screen, with a brand new musical score performed by a live ensemble, is completely different from just watching the movie on a DVD at home.
"Garden co-wrote and starred in The Goodies, the anarchic Seventies sitcom, with Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor, who are both also patrons of the festival. The Goodies regularly paid homage to silent heroes such as Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, featuring long slapstick sequences without dialogue."Garden co-wrote and starred in The Goodies, the anarchic Seventies sitcom, with Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor, who are both also patrons of the festival. The Goodies regularly paid homage to silent heroes such as Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, featuring long slapstick sequences without dialogue.
"We even recreated classic sight gags, like the front of a house collapsing on Keaton, where he's saved because the open window falls right over him," Garden said. "It's universal humour – you can speak any language and yet understand it."We even recreated classic sight gags, like the front of a house collapsing on Keaton, where he's saved because the open window falls right over him," Garden said. "It's universal humour – you can speak any language and yet understand it.
"And though the black-and-white reels look ancient and dated now, they still appeal to any age. A five-year-old can get the jokes, because it's physical humour and doesn't rely on words. Even the best stand-up comedy can go above children's heads, but they laugh at slapstick, which is why so many modern comedians cite it as their original inspiration, their introduction to laughter."And though the black-and-white reels look ancient and dated now, they still appeal to any age. A five-year-old can get the jokes, because it's physical humour and doesn't rely on words. Even the best stand-up comedy can go above children's heads, but they laugh at slapstick, which is why so many modern comedians cite it as their original inspiration, their introduction to laughter.
"You don't grow out of silent comedy – you just keep discovering more subtleties, more laughs.""You don't grow out of silent comedy – you just keep discovering more subtleties, more laughs."
The Slapstick Festival costs £90,000 each year, raising about half of that through ticket sales. Cutbacks to the arts budget have led to the loss of grant aid from Bristol city council totalling £45,000 over three years, threatening the festival's survival.The Slapstick Festival costs £90,000 each year, raising about half of that through ticket sales. Cutbacks to the arts budget have led to the loss of grant aid from Bristol city council totalling £45,000 over three years, threatening the festival's survival.
Festival director Chris Daniels said the cost of screening silent classics was higher than for Hollywood's more modern output. "It isn't just the film rights and the expense of the projectionist – there's the music. We present many of the films with a full score. That transforms the experience."Festival director Chris Daniels said the cost of screening silent classics was higher than for Hollywood's more modern output. "It isn't just the film rights and the expense of the projectionist – there's the music. We present many of the films with a full score. That transforms the experience."
This year the event featured a 25-piece youth orchestra, Jazz Train, from Germany. The European Silent Screen Virtuosi ensemble also appeared, with musical director Günter Buchwald, widely regarded as the foremost composer of accompaniments for silent films. For some films, however, the musical costs are prohibitive: Charlie Chaplin wrote scores for all his great works, from The Kid in 1921 onwards, and the movies cannot be screened without his accompaniment. "It's against the law," Daniels said. "And, worse than that, Charlie's music really isn't all that good."This year the event featured a 25-piece youth orchestra, Jazz Train, from Germany. The European Silent Screen Virtuosi ensemble also appeared, with musical director Günter Buchwald, widely regarded as the foremost composer of accompaniments for silent films. For some films, however, the musical costs are prohibitive: Charlie Chaplin wrote scores for all his great works, from The Kid in 1921 onwards, and the movies cannot be screened without his accompaniment. "It's against the law," Daniels said. "And, worse than that, Charlie's music really isn't all that good."
Though Chaplin and his fellow clowns were once the most famous faces on the planet, today it is the festival's big-name presenters who help attract sell-out audiences, Daniels said: "Our hosts have included Terry Jones and Michael Palin of Monty Python, Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the actor Paul McGann, chat show host Rob Brydon, and Ian Lavender from Dad's Army.Though Chaplin and his fellow clowns were once the most famous faces on the planet, today it is the festival's big-name presenters who help attract sell-out audiences, Daniels said: "Our hosts have included Terry Jones and Michael Palin of Monty Python, Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the actor Paul McGann, chat show host Rob Brydon, and Ian Lavender from Dad's Army.
"We have backing from Aardman Animation, who are based in Bristol. Nick Park, the creator of Wallace And Gromit, and his fellow directors help judge the annual Excellence In Visual Comedy award. The first one went to Eric Sykes; this year it was Pierre Etaix, the French comic who worked with Jacques Tati."We have backing from Aardman Animation, who are based in Bristol. Nick Park, the creator of Wallace And Gromit, and his fellow directors help judge the annual Excellence In Visual Comedy award. The first one went to Eric Sykes; this year it was Pierre Etaix, the French comic who worked with Jacques Tati.
"We've become really prestigious in a short time. But that won't keep us going without funding. People forget that we are basically an arts festival – they assume we must be making a fortune, because everyone's having such a huge laugh.""We've become really prestigious in a short time. But that won't keep us going without funding. People forget that we are basically an arts festival – they assume we must be making a fortune, because everyone's having such a huge laugh."
• This article was amended on 17 June. The original said the Stand Up For Slapstick festival was happening on 24 July. This has been corrected