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BFI Comedy Genius in South West

Thursday 22nd November 2018 by David Redfern
The BFI Comedy Genius season is here to give us a laugh when we need it most! In cinemas until January, this nationwide celebration of the best of on-screen comedy is the perfect antidote to Christmas shopping and dark winter nights. It’s a season that’s best served with friends (and perhaps a glass of mulled wine). Here’s our rundown of Comedy Genius events across the South West guaranteed to make you laugh. Plus, if you want to get involved, then screening support of up to £1,500 is still available here.

His Girl Friday (Cary Grant Festival)

The Cube, Bristol – Sat 25 Nov, 12.30pm

An effervescent mix of hard-boiled newsroom drama, hilarious wisecracks and exuberant romantic comedy that fully showcases its stars’ impeccable comic timing.

 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Gay as in Hilariously Funny at Exeter Phoenix

  • Hedwig and the Angry Inch + Live musical drag performances from the Ambigious-a and Boparhys – Tue 4 Dec, 7.30pm

A must see in any queer catalogue, cult favourite Hedwig is funny, heart tingling and fabulous film with a kick-ass soundtrack.

  • Shorts #4: Gay as in hilariously funny + panel discussion – Thur 29 Nov, 7.30pm

A programme examining queerness and onscreen comedy featuring self-loathing and loathable gay men, butch lesbians in denial and queer femmes in their own carefree universe. Followed by a panel discussion on queer comedy, on and off the screen, featuring comedian Rosie Jones and more guests.

Comedy Genius at Watershed, Bristol

Sundays at 12pm in December

A season of side-splitting comedies celebrating some of cinema’s best-loved works of comic genius…

  • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Melding melodrama with screwball farce, this hilarious study of sexual mores was Pedro Almodóvar’s international breakthrough.

  • Sidewalk Stories

A homage to Chaplin’s The Kid, Charles Lane’s hilarious comedy has all the elements of great silent comedies: physical grace, perfect timing and sly social commentary.

  • Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday

Holidays are never boring with the well-meaning but chronically accident prone Monsieur Hulot – Jacques Tati’s glorious comic masterpiece.

  • Duck Soup

Filled to bursting point with gags and justly considered one of the top film comedies of all time, this anti-war, anti-nationalist satire is an incredible showcase of the talents of one of the greatest comedic teams in history – the Marx Brothers.

  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Embark on on a sublimely irreverent and jaw-droppingly hysterical medieval quest with this classic Arthurian hallucination.

Hollywood Shuffle

Come The Revolution Presents No BS!

An excitingly extensive season of Black and Black British comedy – highlights below, much more to come!

  • Shoot the Messenger at Colston Hall, Tue 11 Dec

After reading a report that black pupils from inner city schools are being failed by the education system, IT consultant Joe (David Oyelowo) decides to become a teacher.

  • Hollywood Shuffle at Watershed, Sun 16 Dec

A deeply satirical look at the racial stereotyping that black people face in Hollywood.

  • Bamboozled at Colston Hall, Sun 16 Dec

Spike Lee’s rarely seen classic satire Bamboozled in which African American TV executive Pierre Delacroix ( Damon Wayans) creates a grotesque showto force his bosses to understand the stereotypes that they force him to create.

  • Bad Boys, Jumpin Jack Flash, Girls’ Trip and Stir Crazy at Arnolfini, Fri 18-Sat 19 Jan

A star-studded line up over two days with Will Smith, Whoopi Goldberg, Halle Berry, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah featuring in classic comedies.