Martin Freeman makes Valentine’s Day date to host Slapstick’s 20th birthday gala
The multiple award-winning actor Martin Freeman is to host the gala evening of silent film comedies and live music at Bristol Beacon which will be the Valentine’s Day centrepiece of next February’s 20th birthday edition of Slapstick, the UK’s biggest festival of screen comedy.
The event will see the star of dozens of beloved TV series and films, including The Office, Sherlock, Breeders, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, Love Actually, Nativity, Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, the first series of Fargo and a clutch of Marvel movies, introducing three classic silent comedies, each accompanied live and with keyboard legend Rick Wakeman among the instrumentalists.
Festival director Chris Daniels says: “We are thrilled beyond words that Martin has agreed to host our 20th birthday gala. He is known and loved worldwide for a huge variety of iconic roles and but what makes him extra perfect for the festival is that he is charming, witty and a genuine admirer of the comedies and comedians Slapstick champions.”
As well as introducing shorts and features starring Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, Martin Freeman will also welcome The Matinee Idles on to the Beacon main hall’s stage – the acapella group comprising actor Paul McGann and members of the doo-wop chart toppers, Darts – reprising a performance from Slapstick’s very first Gala in 2005.
Gala tickets are already on sale, via the Bristol Beacon box office – Trenchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR; 0117 203 4040; https://bristolbeacon.org/ – priced from £15 to £39.95 (including booking fees).
The Gala is one of 35 screen comedy events taking place during Slapstick 2025 which runs in central Bristol from 12 to 16 February 2025. Among the festival’s many other celebrity participants will be Stephen K. Amos, Alasdair Beckett-King, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Graeme Garden, Adam Hills, Lucy Porter and Meera Syal. In a change to the programme previously announced, Robert Lindsay is no longer able to present his look back at the BBC comedy series CITIZEN SMITH. But as one Smith leaves the line-up, another steps in as this event will be replaced at Bristol Beacon’s Lantern Hall on Saturday 15 February (16.30) by a screening of NORBERT SMITH: A LIFE, the 1989 TV mockumentary written by and starring Harry Enfield who will introduce it and take part in a post-film Q&A with director Geoff Posner.
About Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman is one of the UK’s best known, best regarded and most versatile actors. He first came to prominence playing Tim in THE OFFICE (2001 – 2003) before going on to take leading roles in films such as LOVE ACTUALLY (2003), in Edgar Wright’s Three Flavours of Cornetto comedies (2004 – 2013), NATIVITY (2009), in THE HOBBIT trilogy (2012 to 2014) and in the Marvel blockbusters, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016), BLACK PANTHER (2018) and BLACK PANTHER (2022).
He also has many TV credits to his name in the UK, USA and on international streaming services, among them playing Dr Watson to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes in SHERLOCK; Chris Carson in THE RESPONDER and a lead drole in four seasons of BREEDERS, the comedy about parenting he co-created. Martin’s many awards include a BAFTA, an Emmy and Rose d’Or. His upcoming projects include an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s THE SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY, filmed in part in Bristol.
Slapstick is a not-for-profit organisation and survives with subsidy from the festival’s principal funders BFI (www.bfi.org.uk) awarding funds from the National Lottery and local animation legends Aardman Animations (www.aardman.com)
Media enquiries
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