harry Enfield

Join us for an unmissable evening with national comedy treasure Harry Enfield, creator of such unforgettable characters as the ‘Loadsamoney’ boasting plasterer; Tim Nice-But-Dim, kebab king Stavros; Kevin and Perry (with Kathy Burke) and with The Fast Show’s Paul Whitehouse, the iconic radio DJs Smashie and Nicey. In a rare onstage appearance, Harry will sit … Read more

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If you’re planning to attend more than a handful of events at Slapstick Festival, consider one of our two pass options and make huge savings! Enjoy a fuller festival experience while getting nearly 50% off regular ticket prices! This five-day celebration, from Wednesday 12 February to Sunday 16 February 2025, promises plenty of surprises and … Read more

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Alasdair and Robin introduce this special big screen outing of Chaplin’s masterful and timely satire.  They will explore how Chaplin skillfully used comedy to take aim at authoritarianism, racism, and war. Released before the USA entered WWII, The Great Dictator was Chaplin’s first talking picture, and he didn’t hold back. His brilliant lampooning of Adolf Hitler made the … Read more

Alasdair Beckett-King’s - LAUREL & HARDY MAYHEM

Slapstick is thrilled to welcome award-winning comedian Alasdair Beckett-King to host our annual celebration of the greatest comedy duo of all time: Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy.  Join Alasdair as he dives into the timeless brilliance of Laurel & Hardy in conversation with stand-up comedian and writer Robin Ince. Alasdair will bring his unique blend … Read more

HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS

Made on a lowly $100,000 budget, this surprise independent hit about a trapper (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) battling malevolent beavers is already heading towards cult classic status, having picked up scores of awards from festivals worldwide, earning glowing reviews from top critics & audiences and getting a 97% score on the Rotten Tomatoes’ tomatometer. It … Read more

Harold Lloyd The Freshman

Join actor and Lloyd superfan Paul McGann for a screening of one of Harold Lloyd’s best-loved comedies on Bristol’s largest screen. In this satire of college life, Lloyd plays a student desperate to gain popularity, including on the football field, despite having no flair for the game. Some of his classmates, however, are faking friendship … Read more

THE THINKING WOMAN’S GUIDE TO THE GOODIES

From Punky Business with Jane Asher to Joan Sims and June Whitfield as gangsters running the world of ballroom dancing, Samira Ahmed and Graeme Garden provide a follow-up to their hugely popular Slapstick 2024 show, this time drawing on a rich archive of clips to discuss the importance of the many comic actresses who featured … Read more

Adam Hills and Mike McCartney

As his brother’s band The Beatles were enjoying their first chart success, the younger of the McCartney brothers was adopting the name Mike McGear and forming satirical comic trio The Scaffold, with poet Roger McGough and comedian John Gorman.  They went on to score UK hits with Lily The Pink, Thank U Very Much and Liverpool … Read more

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Whether it’s the flamboyant pratfalls of The Pink Panther films or the aural anarchic of The Goon Show, the essence of Slapstick comedy was vital to the comedy career of Peter Sellers. Robert Ross, Britain’s Comedy Historian and the author of the new book, Best Sellers: Peter Sellers A Life in Comedy, presents an affectionate … Read more

The comic incarnations of Nigel Planer

Nigel Planer is a man of very many parts– actor, poet, comedian, author, playwright, voiceover artist, musician– and possesses a showbiz CV which takes in everything from starring roles in award-winning musicals, TV whodunits, fondly-remembered comedies and stage dramas. However, in this event, he’s focusing on two of his best loved comedy parody characters– Neil, … Read more

BEN ELTON: COMEDY LEGEND

This year’s winner of the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award is comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director Ben Elton. He first achieved widespread fame for the left-leaning satirical rants he delivered as the host of Channel 4’s Saturday Live. But his career as a scriptwriter began in 1980 and went on to give him … Read more

ALAN BLEASDALE’S G.B.H. REVISITED

Against a perennial backdrop of party rivalries worldwide, cast leaders Sir Michael Palin and Robert Lindsay take a timely look back at Alan Bleasdale’s highly controversial, dark comedy about political divisions and abuses of power. First shown in 1991 on Channel 4 as a seven-parter, the series attracted the attention of fraud police and threats … Read more

RIK! THE ANARCHIC GENIUS OF RIK MAYALL

Rik Mayall was a pioneer of alternative comedy, writing and performing in a style which revolutionised TV sitcoms and led to such memorable series as Filthy Rich & Catflap, The Comic Strips Presents, Bottom, The New Statesman, and the one which still brings location tourists to Bristol, The Young Ones. Here, his Young Ones and … Read more

DR STRANGELOVE

At the centre of Slapstick’s satirical comedy strand is Stanley Kubrick’s award – winning visionary cinematic satire of the cold war.  Stanley Kubrick’s dark satire follows the chaos after an unhinged US general orders a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union. As both nations scramble to prevent Armageddon, Peter Sellers delights in multiple roles, alongside … Read more

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Stephen K. Amos dives deeper into his admiration for Mel Brooks as he introduces the film he considers his all-time favourite comedy: Blazing Saddles (1974). This Mel Brooks classic stars Cleavon Little as a Black sheriff, appointed by a scheming villain intent on destroying a town, only to prove himself a worthy adversary. The film … Read more

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Making a welcome debut at Slapstick is an exceptional comic talent. Comedian, actor and gay rights champion Stephen K. Amos, has a 20+ year record of making worldwide audiences laugh with his sharp wit, charm and energy. His many accolades include a BAFTA nomination, an RTS Award, a Royal Variety Show appearance, getting life advice … Read more

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It’s more than 40 years since the end of the first BBC run of John Sullivan’s sitcom about the hapless efforts of the Tooting Popular Front to spark a revolution, yet its star, Robert Lindsay, still gets hailed regularly as Wolfie and with the catchphrase: “Power To The People”. In this event, Robert, a worthy … Read more

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We anticipate the 30th anniversary of Goodness Gracious Me, the pioneering radio and television comedy series that redefined British comedy by challenging stereotypes and spotlighting British-Asian experiences. Join the series’ creators and stars, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal, and Anil Gupta, in conversation with host Matthew Sweet (BBC Radio 4’s Free Thinking) as they reflect on … Read more

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There’s another side to globally famous musician Rick Wakeman CBE- his love of classic screen comedy. Here, with the help of clips and home movie footage, he delves into why he considers Dad’s Army one of the finest comedies ever made and reflects on his cherished friendship with Ian Lavender, one of the show’s stars … Read more

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Recognised widely as a masterpiece of Soviet silent cinema, this is also a delightful comedy of manners satirising  contemporary life in Moscow during a time of  ever-shifting, often contradictory, policies, It stars Vera Maretskaya, a five times winner of the Stalin Prize for acting, as a country girl seeking her uncle in the big city … Read more

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Laugh-out-loud sight gags, sharp satirical digs at the business side of Hollywood and some of cinema’s best known stars feature throughout this fine satire – charting the attempts by Mel Brooks and the lost-too-young Marty Feldman to make a silent film. True to its title, the movie is completely silent—save for one unforgettable word delivered … Read more

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Eddie Murphy plays the lead in this comedy send-up of every horror film ever built on the premise of a family thinking they’ve found their dream home only for ghosts and ghouls to get in the way. It’s a Disney production and comes with a PG rating so is suitable for youngsters but anyone especially … Read more

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Eddie Murphy plays the lead in this comedy send-up of every horror film ever built on the premise of a family thinking they’ve found their dream home only for ghosts and ghouls to get in the way. It’s a Disney production and comes with a PG rating so is suitable for youngsters but anyone especially … Read more

Go West, Buster Keaton thumb min

Keaton is both touching and very, very funny in this spoof cowboy film as Friendless, a hapless soul who decides to try his hand at cattle ranching after failing to find a big city job. Spurned by the ranch owner’s daughter (Kathleen Myers), Friendless forms a loyal bond with a young cow, Brown Eyes, and … Read more

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Dustin Hoffman gives an Oscar nominated performance as an unsuccessful actor who poses as a woman to try for a part in a hit TV series. He gets the role and relishes living as a woman but the situation becomes farcical when he falls for a co-star,  her Dad falls for ‘him’ and a fellow … Read more

Vengance most Fowl

Join us this half-term for a rare big screen outing of Aardman Animation’s new feature film Vengeance Most Foul (2024) starring everyone’s favourite duo, Wallace & Gromit! This special screening is preceded by their award-winning classic prequel The Wrong Trousers, (1993) a true masterpiece of animation. The event will be introduced by none other than … Read more

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It is rare for a film to score 100% on Rotten Tomatoes but this silent comedy-drama – by a Japanese director so in love with Hollywood and Harold Lloyd, he played truant to visit cinemas – does so. It looks at family life through the eyes of two young rascally brothers, new to their Tokyo … Read more

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When it comes to the art of punching melons until they explode, no one on the UK mainland can rival Robin Ince’s expertise. From his ill-fated 2004 Edinburgh Show to his critically acclaimed 2023 performance, melons were punched. What changed? In this event R4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage co-host teams up with one of the … Read more

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A rare find, only recently rediscovered and restored, and from a co-director of CHESS FEVER, this is a satire about a small-time racketeer trying to turn Bolshevism to his advantage. The fact he ends up with the Red Army in charge of a camel is just one of the absurd digs at political correctness which … Read more

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Writer film historian and Silent London blogger Pamela Hutchinson offers a context for our Soviet comedies day with a brief presentation highlighting the influence of 1920s Soviet silent comedies. +  Chess Fever (1925). Shot in Moscow with real footage from the World Chess Championships, this film follows a young woman (Anna Zemtsova) frustrated by her … Read more