Slapsticon is a four-day film festival of rarely seen comedies from the silent and early sound eras, held at Arlington VA every July. This year’s festival takes place 15-18 July at Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre, Arlington, and the programme has just been announced:

Thursday July 15, 2010
12:00 pm — Spectrum Doors Open

1:00 pm

* The Great Radio Comedians (1971)

3:00 pm — Weiss-O-Roni II

* Thick and Thin (1929) — Snub Pollard, Marvin Loback
* Taking the Count (1929) — Ben Turpin, Leo White
* Deaf, Dumb and Blonde (1928) — Poodles Hanneford
* Dizzie Daze (1928) — Jimmy Aubrey

5:00 pm — Dinner Break

7:00 pm — Abbott and Costello Rarities, including Africa Screams (1949) in 35mm

9:00 pm

* The Covered Schooner (1923) — Monty Banks
* Too Many Kisses (1925) — Richard Dix, Harpo Marx

Friday July 16, 2010
8:00 am — Spectrum Doors Open

9:00 am — Early Comedies:

* Medium Wanted as Son-In-Law (1908) — Pathé Comedy
* Miss Stickie Moufie Kiss (1914) — Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew
* Cruel and Unusual (1915) — Musty Suffer
* Poor Policy (1914) — Billie Ritchie, Henry Bergman
* Mishaps of Musty Suffer: Going Up (1916) — Harry Watson Jr.
* The Feudists (1913) — John Bunny, Sidney Drew
* Lizzy’s Dissy Career (1915) — Neal Burns, Victoria Forde
* Goodnight Nurse (1916) — Neal Burns
* Ham at the Garbage Gentlemen’s Ball (1915) — Ham and Bud

11:00 am — Kids ‘N’ Animals

* Ladies’ Pets (1921) — Snooky the Humanzee
* Dad’s Boy (1923) — Buddy Messinger
* The Knockout (1926) — Dippy Do Dads
* Buster’s Picnic (1927) — Buster Brown
* The Smile Wins (1928) — Our Gang

12:30 pm — Lunch Break

2:00pm — The Sennett Spot

* Shot in the Excitement (1914) — Al St. John, Alice Howell
* Don’t Weaken (1920) — Ford Sterling, Charlie Murray
* The Funnymooners (1925) — Ralph Graves
* Ice Cold Cocos (1926) — Billy Bevan, Andy Clyde
* The Bluffer (1930) — Andy Clyde
* Courtin’ Trouble (1932) — Charlie Murray, Arthur Stone

4:00 pm — Rob Stone Rarities

6:00 pm — Dinner Break

8:00 pm

* The Round-Up (1920) — Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle
* Pop Tuttle’s Movie Queen (1922) — Dan Mason

10:00 pm

* Horse Shy (1927) — Edward Everett Horton
* Wide Open (1930) — Edward Everett Horton

Saturday July 17, 2010
8:00am — Spectrum Doors Open

9:00 am — Cartoon Show

10:30 am — Hal Roach Comedies

* Peculiar Patient’s Pranks (1915) — Harold Lloyd
* Pardon Me (1921) — Snub Pollard
* Shoot Straight (1923) — Paul Parrott
* Cuckoo Love (1927) — Glenn Tryon, Chester Conklin
* Fallen Arches (1933) — Charley Chase
* Taxi Barons (1933) — Taxi Boys

12:30 pm — Lunch Break

2:00 pm

* Modern Love (1929) — Charley Chase
* South of the Boudoir (1940) — Charley Chase

4:00 pm

* You Made Me Love You (1934) — Stanley Lupino, Thelma Todd

6:00 pm &nmash; Dinner Break

8:00 pm

* The Caveman (1926) — Marie Prevost, Tom Moore

10:00 pm — Talkie Shorts

* Fireproof (1929) — Lupino Lane
* Dangerous Youth (1930) — Daphne Pollard
* Gents of Leisure (1931) — Chester Conklin, Vernon Dent
* Old Sawbones (1935) — Andy Clyde

Sunday July 18, 2010
9:00 am — Spectrum Doors Open

10:00 am — More Talkie Shorts

* Honeymoon Trio (1932) — Al St. John, Walter Catlett
* In a Pig’s Eye (1934) — Clark and McCullough
* I Don’t Remember (1935) — Harry Langdon
* Down the Ribber (1936) — Leon Errol
* Teacher’s Pest (1939) — Charley Chase

12:00pm — Lunch Break

1:30 pm

* Luck (1923) — Johnny Hines
* Broken China (1927) — Bobby Vernon
* A Briny Boob (1926) — Billy Dooley

3:30 pm — Ones for the Road

* Papa’s Boy (1928) — Lloyd Hamilton
* Drama Deluxe (1927) — Lupino Lane
* Fluttering Hearts (1927) — Charley Chase

Ah, what joyous things silent and early sound comedies are by their names alone. There’s all the information need on location, accommodation, and registration on the festival site. And, as final temptation, a little bird tells me that those attending may very well be able to see something “that will add a new title to the Charlie Chaplin filmography”. Intriguing.

The custard pie fight from Laurel and Hardy’s The Battle of the Century (1927), from http://www.laurel-and-hardy-online.com

The Bioscope is dedicated to peace. Here at Bioscope Towers birds twitter contentedly from the ivy-clad turrets, the sun shines daily down upon the freshly-mown lawns over which butterflies play. A babbling brooks burbles in the distance, and the only sound not gently offered up by nature is the occasional tinkling of piano (or indeed strumming of guitar) and whirr of the hand-cranked projector as another silent plays upon the screen. Likewise the Bioscope’s view upon the world is an evenly-balanced one. It observes; it does not challenge. It does not take sides.

So it is with sorrow, and not a little bemusement, that we report – because it is news from our world and so we feel compelled to report it – of an extraordinary war of words raging at present around the Slapstick festival in Bristol, UK. Slapstick is a festival of comedy, silent and beyond, which each January brings together classic comedy with the live comedians of today in an imaginative concoction of popular entertainments. So, running alongside Keaton, Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy and so forth, audiences over the past five years have seen Neil Innes, Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, Phill Jupitus, Eric Sykes, and Paul Merton, the television comedian who has been such a fervent advocate for the art of silent film comedy.

Merton has been the host of past gala events at the festival, but for this year the festival announced that its gala event would feature Michael Palin, the globe-trotting Python. Just before the 2010 festival opened, an open letter appeared on Merton’s website, entitled ‘A Explanation to the People of Bristol‘. Merton writes of his shock at being dropped from the festival:

Over the past five years, I’ve taken great pride and pleasure in presenting the best silent comedies with live musical accompaniment at the Colston Hall as part of the Bristol Silents Slapstick Festival.

Every January, I came to Bristol to host the Gala night featuring some of the best films of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy. Every year we attracted a large and enthusiastic audience; over a thousand people every single Gala night. The applause at the end of the evening was always deafening …

The continued loyalty of the Bristol audience was very special to me and was matched by my loyalty to them. At the end of every exceptional Gala evening, I’ve stood on the stage and promised to return with more delights the following year. I’m proud that my name has played such a large part in building up the Slapstick Festival’s reputation. I have programmed many events and have been happy to do the lions share of publicity.

So you could have knocked me down with a custard pie last August when Chris Daniels, the self appointed Director of Bristol Silents, emailed my agent to say he was dropping my Gala Night because he believed that we would struggle to sell tickets!!

Merton goes on in some detail about his contributions, personal and financial, to past Slapstick festivals, and details what he feels has been mistreatment by the festival organisers now and in the past.

Not surprisingly with such a public figure taking umbrage in such a public form, the story has spread. The BBC news website has covered it, as have Private Eye (reproduced on Merton’s site) and numerous blogs and other news sources. All was silent for a while from Bristol Silents, organisers of the festival, until a message appeared on the Slapstick site on 27 January from festival director Chris Daniels. This is part of his reply:

We … need to make it clear that Paul most certainly has not been “sacked” by Slapstick. To keep the festival fresh and attract new audiences, we suggested to Paul, through his agent, that we vary the format of the opening Gala for 2010 and offered him several other ideas and venues during the festival, in case the changes didn’t suit him. The exact words of my email to his agent in July were: “Of course, as you know, Paul would be welcome to do almost anything with us, either at Slapstick or at any other time of the year, so if Paul wants to explore other shows or ideas I’m sure we could accommodate most things, for this January or beyond”. To this, I added: “If it’s really only the Gala show that Paul would like to host then I do hope he will want to be on board with us once more in 2011 and on into the future.”

To our dismay, Paul’s agent’s reply was that not only did Paul not like our various proposals, but that “he has asked me to let you know that he hereby withdraws from any future involvement with the Slapstick Festival.” Since then, we have made various efforts to reassure Paul that we value him but, as he insisted that all correspondence had to go through his agent, lack of direct contact may explain why Paul has formed some inaccurate impressions about the day-to-day running of the festival.

Unlike the big budget, well-staffed, production companies with whom Paul usually works, Slapstick is run mostly by unpaid volunteers whose main qualification is that they love silent films and visual comedy and are willing to put in the hours, energy and passion that enable others to enjoy them, too.

The festival is run by a bona fide not-for-profit film society – Bristol Silents – which meets all of the standards of governance required by public funding bodies and sponsors, and has a steering group who advise on festival appointments and plans.

To get to the bottom of this matter and come to your own conclusions, you will need to pursue the various threads of this story for yourselves (the debate on Nitrateville is instructive). What is sad to see is that people who believe in the same thing, namely the preservation of the art of silent comedy, should be falling out so publicly and bitterly. It is unnecessary, it is just a little bit ridiculous, and it should not have been aired so openly when it might have been resolved properly by diplomacy and mutual understanding.

The Bioscope suggests that perhaps a leaf might be taken out of the Python book and to have the contest sorted out by a fish-slapping duel, which we have long thought believed to be a good way of sorting out wars large and small. Or it could be custard pies.

http://www.clown-ministry.com

http://www.slapstick.org.uk

The sixth edition of Bristol’s Slapstick festival takes place 21-24 January 2010. As in past years, the programme combines classic comedy from the past with the comedians of today. This year the star attraction is former Python Michael Palin, who will be featured in Michael Palin: Something Almost Completely Different and who will introduce a screening of Buster Keaton’s The Navigator. Other comedy giants on show include W.C. Fields, Harold Lloyd and Laurel and Hardy, plus screenings of René Clair’s sublime An Italian Straw Hat and Boris Barnet’s Soviet hit from this year’s Pordenone, The House on Trubnaya Street.

Featured comedians from the sound through to television era include Will Hay, Kenny Everett, Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, Phill Jupitus and former Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band member Neil Innes. There will be the world premiere of a recently rediscovered college film by Innes, featuring the inimitable head Bonzo Vivian Stanshall, and featured in “The Bonzo Dog Scrapbook Show”.

The full festival brochure is here (warning – it’s a 2.5MB PDF), but the ever-obliging Bioscope brings you the main contents anyway:

THURSDAY

SLAPSTICK GALA WITH MICHAEL PALIN
Something Almost Completely Different

THURS 21 JAN 1930hrs Venue: Colston Hall

Bristol’s Slapstick Silent Comedy Festival invites you to a star-studded evening of classic comedy and live entertainment for its Sixth Slapstick Gala. This unique event presents comedy legend and national treasure Michael Palin onstage to discuss his illustrious career in comedy with fellow writer/performer Graeme Garden. On screen – in homage to Palin’s traveling legacy – we present one of Buster Keaton’s greatest omedies THE NAVIGATOR (1924), set to the world premiere live musical accompaniment by The European Silent Screen Virtuosi. This newly formed five-piece musical ensemble features triple Oscar winning film animator and jazz cornetist Richard Williams and world-acclaimed silent film maestro Günter Buchwald on violin and piano, along with their international friends.

With other celebrity guests both on stage and on screen including Neil Innes, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event not to be missed! Early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.

Tickets: £16.00/£12.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members
Book via Colston Hall: 0117 922 3686 or visit www.colstonhall.org.uk.

FRIDAY

THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT (U)
with live accompaniment by Barbara Lenz

FRI 22 JAN 1740hrs Venue: Arnolfini
Dir. René Clair, France / Germany, 1928, 1h 25m

A hilarious misadventure, heralding the beginning of ‘screwball comedy’, this early classic of French cinema is full of wonderful character gags and situation comedy. On the way to his wedding Ferdinand (Albert Préjean) discovers that his horse has eaten the straw hat of a married woman (Olga Tschechowa) canoodling in the bushes with her lover, Lieutenant Tavernier (Geymond Vital), and his big day begins to go rapidly downhill.

Tickets: £7.00/£5.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

GIRL SHY (U)
with live accompaniment from The Slapstick Boys

FRI 22 JAN 2000hrs Venue: Arnolfini
Dir: Fred Newmeyer, USA, 1924, 1h 22m

One of Harold Lloyd’s finest and funniest, this rich character comedy about a bashful stutterer who is chronically shy of women is packed with extraordinary sight gags, brilliant intertitles and hilarious performances. Including live musical accompaniment from The Slapstick Boys, four of the finest musicians in Europe for silent film accompaniment, this screening will also feature an onstage discussion with film historian and filmmaker Kevin Brownlow and avid Lloyd fan, Withnail and I actor Paul McGann. An unmissable medley of
fine silent comedy, exhilarating music and discussion!

Tickets: £7.00/£5.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

SATURDAY

SLAPSTICK INTERNATIONAL: PORDENONE SILENT FILM
FESTIVAL ITALY: THE HOUSE ON TRUBNAIA STREET PG
With live accompaniment by Günter Buchwald and Lee Mottram

SAT 23 JAN 1100hrs Venue: Watershed Cinema 1
Dir: Boris Barnet, Russia, 1928, 1h 04m

The big surprise hit of the 2009 Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy was this delicious comedy from (improbably) the classic era of Soviet cinema. True to melodrama tradition, a simple peasant girl (along with an obstreperous duck) arrives from the country, a ripe victim for all the perils of the big city. Exploited by a stingey hair-dresser and his odious wife, she uses the new social order to turn the tables. A uniquely entertaining piece of work. With special introduction from the Director of Pordenone Festival, David Robinson.

Tickets: £6.50/£5.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

LAUREL & HARDY: CLASSICS & RARITIES
SAT 23 JAN 1400hrs Venue: Arnolfini

With an eclectic programme of classics & rarities from the ‘two minds without a single thought’, Graeme Garden (The Goodies) & silent comedy expert David Wyatt demonstrate why Stan and Ollie are now considered amongst the best comedy teams ever. They will divulge the duo’s influence on other comedy teams including ‘The Goodies’, and introduce films and clips of the rarest of all L & H appearances in Charley Chase’s Now I’ll Tell One (1927) and a complete screening of their classic silent short Putting Pants on Philip (1927).

Tickets: £7.00/£5.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

THE REAL FRED KARNO
SAT 23 JAN 1600hrs Venue: Watershed Cinema 1

Tim Brooke-Taylor and Tony Staveacre (author of ‘Slapstick!’) investigate the legacy of the Exeter-born showman and impresario, Fred Karno. Credited with discovering Chaplin, Stan Laurel and even the pie-in-the-face gag, he has pioneered a tradition of physical comedy which still flourishes today. Their presentation will include rare archive footage of the great man himself as well as clips of his alumni, including Sandy Powell, Flanagan & Allen, Will Hay, Denny Dennis, George Carl, Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin. A rare opportunity to discover the genius of this master showman.

Tickets: £6.50/£5.00 concs and Bristol Silents members
Slapstick Festival Special event

An evening with Neil Innes THE SEVENTH PYTHON (PG)

SAT 23 JAN 1850hrs Venue: Arnolfini
Dir: Burt Kearns, USA, 2008, 1h 34m

This UK premiere is a recent documentary based on the life, work and
unplanned career of musical satirist Neil Innes. The Seventh Python traces one man’s winding path of whimsy as he flirts with destiny at the edge of fame with incredibly influential and unusually lasting work that keeps one foot planted in the worlds of comedy and the other in rock ‘n’ roll. Neil Innes has proven to be the greatest musical comedy satirist of the past fifty years. He has brought us delights from the Bonzo Dog Doo – Dah Band, Monty Python and The Rutles. With contributions from John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Slapstick regular Phill Jupitus.

Tickets: £3.00/£2.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

‘An evening with Neil Innes’ is followed by:
THE BONZO DOG BAND FILM AND TV SCRAPBOOK
with NEIL INNES
SAT 23 JAN 2040hrs Venue: Arnolfini

40 years on from the split of the original Bonzos Slapstick 2010 welcomes you to a celebration of all things ‘Innes’ with a special focus on the visual and musical lunacy of The Bonzo Dog Do-Dah Band. Celebrating the Dadaist creative insanity of the Bonzo’s, Neil Innes is the inspired creator of many of their best known numbers including Equestrian Statue, Urban Spaceman and Death Cab for Cutie. Neil is joined onstage by Culture Show’s Matthew Sweet and using extracts from the band’s anthology will together explore the incredible influence of this one band revolutionary force on both music and comedy. As if all this wasn’t enough, Neil will be screening the premiere of his recently discovered student art film from 1965 featuring footage of Viv Stanshall performing his famous mock striptease. An evening of the finest filmic and musical hilarity not to miss!

Tickets: £7.00/£5.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

SUNDAY

WILL HAY – MASTER OF COMEDY
SUN 24 JAN 1100hrs Venue: Watershed Cinema 1

Will Hay was Britain’s best known film comedian of the 1930s and 40s and his film OH MR PORTER one of the funniest of the period. Join David Wyatt and Graham Rinaldi, author of the recent Will Hay biography, as they discuss and explore his films and theories while showing extracts starring Hay, and some of his favourite comedians such as Chaplin, W.C. Fields, and Laurel & Hardy. Rarities will include silent footage from Hay’s 1922 revue show, on the set outtakes and their new unfinished documentary on the making of OH MR. PORTER – NEXT TRAIN’S GONE. Discover the delights of one of Britain’s finest comedians. A book signing will follow the event.

Tickets: £6.50/£5.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

BARRY CRYER: THE LOST GENIUS OF KENNY EVERETT
SUN 24 JAN 1400hrs Venue: Arnolfini

Already one of Britain’s most successful radio DJs, Everett rose to national acclaim with the Kenny Everett video show, showcasing his unique, anarchic humour. As part of Slapstick after Silents, this is a special event with one of his closest working collaborators, the legendary comedy writer and Sorry I Haven’t a Clue Star, Barry Cryer. With insights from Cryer, who was Everett’s comedy writing partner for over a decade, and onscreen footage of Kenny, join Slapstick 2010 in celebrating the work of this innovative visual comedian.

Tickets: £7.00/£5.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members

SLAPSTICK INTERNATIONAL: SAN FRANCISCO:
SO’S YOUR OLD MAN PG
Introduction by Chris Serle

SUN 24 JAN 1600hrs Venue: Watershed Cinema 1
Dir. Gregory la Cava, USA, 1926, 1h 07m

Another festival triumph, this time from the 2009 San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Mostly remembered for his nasal wheeze and acidulous one-liners, W.C. Fields is here revealed as one of the great silent visual comics, just as funny without sound. He plays the bibulous Mr. Bisbee whose plans to launch his unbreakable windscreen are somewhat complicated by a glamorous visiting princess, a pony, a demanding family and his own taste for sarsaparilla and spirits. Great characters make up a sharp view of small-town life – and Fields manages to slip in his famous vaudeville golf routine. A real discovery!

Tickets: £6.00/£4.50 concessions and Bristol Silents members

SLAPSTICK at JESTERS NEW VENUE
SUN 24 JAN Doors open from 5.45pm Venue: Jesters

1830hrs Desert Island Slapstick 12
2115hrs The Rutles: All you Need is Cash

Bristol’s Slapstick Silent Comedy Festival proudly present a double bill evening of classic comedy, film, music and special guests at Jesters, a delightful silent cinema, built in 1914 and now home to Bristol’s premier music and comedy venue. Make sure you pre-order your food before the first act and you can enjoy the fine food and drink of Jesters during the break between performances. Also available are meal inclusive tickets through Jester’s website and box office. In between, please enjoy Jester’s fantastic food and drink menus.

Tickets: £12.00/£10.00 concessions and Bristol Silents members – Includes both events.
Book via Jesters: 0117 909 6655 or visit www.jesterscomedyclub.co.uk

DESERT ISLAND SLAPSTICK
Chaired by David Robinson

If you were stuck on a desert island with only one silent comedy to keep you company, which would you choose? The first act of Slapstick’s hilarious double bill is our ever popular celebrity panel show Desert Island Slapstick. Join three of Britain’s best loved television and radio personalities as they each in turn choose their favourite silent comedies for our viewing pleasure. This year’s panel features three members of Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t Clue team including festival regulars Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden plus for the first time at Slapstick festival illustrious comedy writer and performer Barry Cryer. What will they choose?

THE RUTLES: ALL YOU NEED IS CASH 12
Dir: Eric Idle & Gary Weis, UK / USA, 1978, 1h 16m

One of the first films of its kind, The Rutles is primarily a series of skits and gags that each illustrate a different part of the fictional Rutles story, closely following the chronology of The Beatles’ story. The cohesive glue of the film is the acclaimed soundtrack by Neil Innes, who created 19 more songs for the film, each an affectionate pastiche of a different Beatles song or genre of songs. Introduced in person by Neil Innes AKA Rutle Ron Nasty, this is a unique opportunity to see the inspiration for successful Rob Reiner cult comedy film, This Is Spinal Tap which followed in 1984. And as a grand finale to the festival, if we can persuade him, Neil Innes may just play us a Rutle hit or two live!

All events are held at Arnolfini and Watershed except the Gala event, Michael Palin: Something Almost Completely Different which is at Colston Hall and Desert Island Slapstick and The Rutles: All you Need is Cash which are at Jesters Comedy Club.

More information, including a special festival pass priced £55 (£40 concessions), is available from the festival website.