For those interested in attending Slapstick 2014, FYI that they're about to start a big "the festival is only two weeks away" sales drive.  So please don't delay in you want to purchase tickets to any of the events, especially "Lost Keaton Goodies" (with Tim, Graeme, and Bill), which is likely to sell out.

The full programme, including details of all the shows at Watershed, Arnolfini and Bristol Old Vic, can be found at the festival website: Slapstick.org.uk.  Details about the festival pass can be found on Colston Hall's website (or by ringing them on 0844 887 1500).

For anyone who has been waiting to buy the weekend passes for Slapstick 2014 (which include admission to all the festival events), they finally have gone on sale from the Colston Hall box office.  Here are details from an email sent by the festival this morning:

" Good news, everyone! Weekend passes for the next Slapstick Festival are now on sale at Colston Hall's box office.

As you probably know, Festival Passes grant access to all of the events taking place in during the weekend of January 24th to 26th -except Saturday’s Cinekids show for youngsters- and offer generous savings to those who want to catch everything.

For details about the passes (and to order one) go to http://www.colstonhall.org/shows/silent-comedy-gala/ , scroll down halfway and look on the right hand side. The passes are priced at £145.13p including all booking fees. Premium seats have been reserved for pass holders for all events so although many gala tickets have already been sold you'll be guaranteed a great seat if you buy a pass anytime in the run up to the festival.

If you already have tickets for Friday nights ever-brilliant Gala (hosted this year by Omid Djalili and featuring a 39-piece orchestra playing Chaplin’s own score live to Charlie’s best-loved ‘Little Tramp’ film, CITY LIGHTS (1931) (see still above)) there is an option to order a lower price Festival pass which excludes the gala. However this needs to be done either over the phone or in person at Colston Hall.

As well as booking online purchase options for the pass include calling Colston Hall's Box Office on 0844 887 1500, or visiting the venue at 1 Colston Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR.

The full programme for Slapstick Festival 2014 can be read at our website: slapstick.org.uk . "

Here is a link for the Slapstick 2014 events at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre, including the Buster Keaton event with Tim, Graeme, and Bill: http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/slapstick2014.html

The festival organizers expect the Keaton event to sell out, so if you're interested in attending don't wait too long to book your tickets!

There will be a festival pass (which includes tickets to all of the festival events).  This is expected to go on sale in mid-December from Colston Hall (http://www.colstonhall.org).  I do not know what the price will be for the pass.

In the meantime, those interested in purchasing tickets for individual events can visit the venue websites:

Bristol Old Vic: http://www.bristololdvic.org.uk/slapstick2014.html

Colston Hall (the gala is currently on sale): http://www.colstonhall.org/shows/silent-comedy-gala/

The Watershed: http://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/season/260/slapstick-2014/

The Arnolfini: http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/screenings

The Slapstick 2014 festival schedule has been announced, and we're pleased to see that all three Goodies will be participating again this year.  The full schedule of events for the festival (which will be held January 24-26, 2014 in Bristol, England) on can be found at http://www.slapstick.org.uk/events- here are some highlights for Goodies fans.


1. Lost Keaton Goodies

With Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden & Serge Bromberg
SAT 25 JAN 1630hrs Bristol Old Vic £15.00

Tim, Bill & Graeme were one of UK’s funniest and most successful TV comedy teams of the 70s. Huge admirers of Buster Keaton the boys have been inspired recently by the discovery of 6 minutes of completely lost and unseen footage from a newly discovered version of his comedy well known comedy short The Blacksmith (1922). Appearing alongside the inimitable Serge Bromberg (Lobster Films, Paris) the boys will delight audiences with the UK premiere of unseen Keaton extracts and the world premiere of The Gorilla Man (1950) in this Lobster Films/Slapstick Festival co-production. A unique event for Keaton fans everywhere.


2. Lost Clowns: Max Davidson’s Best Comedy Shorts

With Graeme Garden
SUN 26 JAN 1000hrs Watershed £8.00/£6.50

Max Davidson (1875-1950) was a German actor who specialised in playing the henpecked Jewish family father. At the peak of his career in 1927 he was given his own series of two reeler comedies, when he was signed to the Hal Roach studios for a series of Jewish comedies which belong to the best and funniest shorts the studio ever produced. The character Davidson played was a fish out of water, struggling to adjust to mainstream America, and his comedy grew out of the gulf between his old world manners and the new world that his children were born into. Graeme Garden selects his favourite Davidson silent shorts to reveal Max at his brightest and funniest.


3. Harry Hill’s Top Comedy Moments

SUN 26 JAN 1600hrs Bristol Old Vic £15

We are delighted to welcome award winning comedian Harry Hill to Slapstick Festival as he chooses his top visual comedy films in this annual Slapstick sell-out show. Showing favourite clips and discussing his comic influences, Harry will be in conversation onstage with I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue star and Goodie Graeme Garden. A rare insight into the comic influences of the master of surrealist comedy as he reveals his top comedy moments to delight and entertain. A guaranteed highlight of the festival!


and for those who are also  I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue fans:

4. Safety Last (1923):

Colin Sell “On the Piano”, Introduced by Barry Cryer
SUN 26 JAN 1400hrs Bristol Old Vic £15

Dir: Fred Newmeyer 70mins “Colin Sell.... on the piano” is a familiar phrase for fans of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue from Colin’s 40yrs as the accompanist on the BBC R4 comedy show. There, he’s usually only ever heard in short bursts. Here, he proves his true talent as musician, playing live to one of the very finest and funniest full length silent features – Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last (featuring the famously gripping clock tower climb that was a marvel of filmmaking ingenuity in its day). With an introduction by Slapstick Festival favourite Barry Cryer. Prepare to laugh yourself silly and for thrills that will keep you on the edge of your seat!