Slapstick 2020
Please note : this season finished in Jan 2020
Celebrating its 16th year, Bristol’s annual Slapstick Festival offers a chance to see some truly essential comedies from cinema’s silent era selected from archives across the world with world class musical accompaniments.
Taking place at Watershed and other Bristol venues you can view the full programme at slapstick.org.uk
Previous screenings & events in this season
Bill’s Animated Flicks
classifiedParental guidance
General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.
In conversation with Robin Ince, Bill Oddie shares his passion for visual comedy and reflects on his favourite moments and shorts from classic animations and his beloved cartoons.
Clowning with the Classics
Slapstick 2020
Join writer and comedian Robin Ince, senior Lecturer in Art & Visual Culture at Bristol University Dr Shelley Hales, and Britain's foremost comedy historian Robert Ross in an archive-plundering discussion on this fascinating thread of humour.
At Last the 1948 show: Almost Complete!
classifiedParental guidance
General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.
The often surreal sketches of the 'At Last the 1948 Show' triggered a revolution destined to change the face of TV comedy forever. Join series star and Slapstick patron Tim Brooke-Taylor for long overdue re-evaluation.
Chaplin at First National
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Two exceptional examples from Chaplin’s First National period that are not to be missed! Introduced by Chaplin’s biographer David Robinson.
Marie Prevost: On to Reno
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Directed by the great epic silent film director James Cruze, On to Reno is a divorce rom-com, starring Marie Prevost and Cullen Landis.
Silent Comedy Gala at Bristol Cathedral
Slapstick 2020
Join us for a mesmerising gala evening of live music to film showcasing your all-time favourite comedy stars.
Serge Bromberg's Retour de Flamme
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Join film historian and impresario Serge Bromberg as he presents discoveries that he and other devoted film enthusiasts have recently made, including a special Laurel & Hardy surprise!
Stan or Ollie: Restored!
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Join Serge Bromberg and Lobster films as he weaves together tales of his finds and restorations of rare and lost solo Laurel & Hardy films.
So This is Paris
classified PG Slapstick 2020
This clever American silent comedy from Germany’s master director Ernst Lubitsch stars Monte Blue and Patsy Ruth Miller.
Rediscoveries and Revelations with David Robinson
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Join us for more discoveries by the indefatigable film collector and Slapstick stalwart Anthony Saffrey.
Douglas Maclean: One a Minute
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Rediscover Douglas Maclean- one of the biggest forgotten stars of light comedies in American silent film.
Slapstick Divas at Bristol Cathedral
Slapstick 2020
Join comedian and writer Shappi Khorsandi for an evening of rarely seen silent comedies in Bristol’s magnificent cathedral as we celebrate the outstanding leading women in some of the funniest on-screen examples from the golden age of silent comedy.
Suffragettes in Silent Comedy
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Join award-winning journalist Samira Ahmed (Radio 4, Front Row) and stand-up comedian Lucy Porter for a fascinating glimpse at a series of early British silent comedies depicting attitudes towards the suffragette movement.
European Silent Clowns
classified PG S Slapstick 2020
From the early subtle humour of Georges Méliès, through Max Linder to discoveries across Europe’s film archives, film preservationist and founder of Lobster films Serge Bromberg presents this magical collection of rarely seen archive comedies.
Pierre Étaix: Yoyo
classified PG S Slapstick 2020
The elaborately conceived and brilliant comedy Yoyo is the most beloved movie of Oscar® winner and recipient of the 2012 Aardman Slapstick Visual Comedy Award, Pierre Étaix.
Keaton: Restored!
classified U Slapstick 2020
Celebrate The Great Stone Face as you’ve never seen him before with these three pristine, newly-restored Buster Keaton classic silent comedy shorts.
Cary Grant: She Done Him Wrong
classified PG Slapstick 2020
Slapstick is celebrating Cary Grant’s birthday with one of his earliest screwball comedies. Mae West stars alongside the Bristol-born star in the 1933 bawdy crime comedy She Done Him Wrong that's chock full of double-entendres, witty one-liners and bold carnality.