Film / News
Slapstick adds second night at Colston Hall
Bristol’s annual Slapstick festival of silent and classic comedy has just doubled its Colston Hall fun quotient with the addition of a second event at the venerable venue. Taking place on Saturday, January 21 – a day after the previously announced Silent Comedy Gala with Rory Bremner – Simon Callow Presents Chaplin’s Greatest Comedy Shorts does what it says on the film canister.
Actor, writer and theatre director Callow explains why the Little Tramp has been such an influence on his own illustrious career. Specifically, he focuses on the 12 short films that Chaplin made for the Mutual Film Company over an 18 month period between 1916 and 1917. These are frequently cited as his finest work. Chaplin himself described making them as the happiest time of his life.
Three of the best will be screened in full to mark their centenary: The Vagabond, Easy Street and The Pawn Shop. Naturally, there will be live musical accompaniment, supplied by Slapstick regulars the European Silent Screen Virtuosi, featuring Günter A. Buchwald (piano and violin), Frank Bockius (percussion), Romano Todesco (double bass) and special guests. Tickets go on sale here from 10am on Friday, November 25.
Read more: Slapstick 2017 programme unveiled
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