Slapstick Festival 2013

Bristol's annual salute to vintage comedy returns with Victoria Wood, Marcus Brigstocke, Barry Cryer, all three Goodies, Ian Lavender, Paul McGann, Nick Park, Lucy Porter, Matthew Sweet and June Whitfield among the stars who will be in Bristol from Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 January to take part in the city’s ninth Slapstick Festival.

The 2013 festival will be the ninth in a series begun in 2005. Then, fewer than 1,000 people attended. Today, Slapstick is the biggest event of its kind in Britain, one of the best-rated comedy film festivals in the world and attracts over 4,000 visitors. The multiple-award winning and multi-talented Victoria Wood agreed to take over as host of the Festival's biggest event and fund-raiser, the Slapstick Gala, when the original host, Dara O'Briain had to pull-out because of an unexpected clash with filming commitments in Africa for Comic Relief.

Details of the Gala and the full programme of events are detailed below and event tickets are on sale now via the Slapstick Festival website (see link below) or direct from the venues, the Arnolfini, Bristol Old Vic, Colston Hall and Watershed. The box office at Colston Hall is also selling a Festival Pass, granting admission to all Slapstick shows, including the Gala.

Thursday 24 January

Slapstick Animation
Aardman’s Nick Park and Peter Lord talk about the influences on their Oscar-winning work and share moments of slapstick fun from the Aardman back catalogue.  Venue: Watershed. Tickets:  £8.00

Friday 25 January

Funny Ladies: The Girl With The Hatbox (Russia, 1927)
Introduced by David Robinson, the first of Slapstick’s Funny Ladies events, paying tribute to female silent stars, offers a rare chance to see a delightful and enduring comedy from Russia. Venue: Arnolfini. Tickets: £7.50.

Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius
Kevin Brownlow returns to Slapstick to follow-up on his previous tributes to Keaton and Chaplin with a look at the enthralling life and silent comedy genius of Harold Lloyd.  Venue: Watershed. Tickets:  £8.00.

Instant Wit
Join Bristol’s very own and highly-acclaimed improv company, as it blends slapstick and instantly invented comic jolly-japery. Venue: Colston Hall. Tickets: £10.00.

Silent Comedy Gala
Victoria Wood introduces a slapstick comedy spectacular, featuring classic films starring Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton and accompanied live by the  Bristol Ensemble and European Silent Screen Virtuosi. Venue: Colston Hall. Tickets: £20.

Saturday 26 January

Lost Clowns: Walter Forde in Wait And See (1928)
The name may be new but Walter Forde was Britain’s top silent comedian in the 1920s, signed to make a series of comedy features, a film ‘first’ for Britain.  Venue: Arnolfini.  Tickets: £7.50.

Funny Ladies: Colleen Moore in Orchids and Ermine (1927)
Slapstick 2013’s ‘Funny Ladies’ salute continues by showing  why Colleen Moore was so beloved by silent era cinema-goers that her bobbed hairstyle became part of the decade’s ‘look’.  Venue: Arnolfini.  Tickets: £7.50.

Lost Goodies with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie
Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie reunite for a look-back at rarely-seen gems from their multiple award-winning output. With Chris Serle in the chair and closing with an audience Q&A session. Venue: Arnolfini.  Tickets: £7.50.

Funny Ladies: Marion Davies in The Patsy (1928)
A Cinderella story for the jazz age, directed by the great King Vidor, The Pasty shows just what a fine comedy actress with a clever flair for impersonating other stars of the day Marion Davies was. Venue: Watershed. Tickets:  £8.00.

Buster Keaton in College (1927)
Dad’s Army’s Ian Lavender returns to Slapstick to introduce a hilarious send-up of university life starring and directed by his personal silent comedy favourite, Buster Keaton. Venue: Arnolfini.  Tickets: £9.

Sunday 27 January

Bill Oddie’s Laurel & Hardy Classics
Join national treasure, Goodies star and tv wildlife guru Bill Oddie as he takes us  back to the days when every kid loved nothing better than to spend a weekend morning at the pictures laughing their socks off.  Venue: Watershed. Tickets:  £8.00.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue
Join Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Colin Sell at the piano as they mark the publication of their new book celebrating 40 years of being given silly things to do, and delighting fans all across the world.  Venue: Bristol Old Vic. Tickets: £8.00-£12.00.

Marcus Brigstocke’s Top Comedy Moments
Writer, comedian and Bristol Uni graduate Marcus Brigstocke takes to the Bristol Old Vic stage to share his favourite visual comedy clips. Venue: Bristol Old Vic. Tickets: £8.00-£12.00.

June Whitfield: Comedy Legend
Comedy actor and national treasure June Whitfield makes her Slapstick debut, to recall highlights from a career that has spanned six decades and  brought her close to many of comedy’s most famous names. Venue: Bristol Old Vic. Tickets: £8.00-£12.00.

Funny Ladies – Festival Finale
To round-off Slapstick 2013 and conclude the festival’s celebration of Funny Ladies, a laugh-out-loud double bill of films with female stars, introduced by one of today’s most successful women stand-ups: Mock the Week regular Lucy Porter. Venue: Bristol Old Vic. Tickets: £8.00-£12.00.