Details

Double takes, pratfalls and facial gagging. Mention silent comedy and immediately these visual qualities come to mind. And that's understandable: most physical comedians are divorced from language and carry their best gag with them at all times, their body. Verbal comics must master content, while physical comics master form - slipping on a banana skin, running away from fifty policemen or having a house fall on them is the quickest way to the laugh. But not all silent comedy is unsubtle or overplayed. Many are ingeniously delicate, performed with the innocence of a child. Some involve the comic double-crossing an audience who believed they had already guessed the gag. When we can personally relate to the ordinary problem that confronts the performer - getting into a car with a broken leg, changing a plug on a kitchen appliance or simply chasing a fat, slick cherry around a dinner table with a fork - then the belly laugh is even louder. Your guide through this compendium of celluloid slapstick will be Andr? Vincent, a stand-up comedian also trained in clowning, a man who knows literally how to take a fall. Accompanying him on the journey will be the finest silent film composer of his generation, Neil Brand. Together they will present an evening of cinematic gems in just the way they should be seen: on a big screen, with live music and a room full of laughter.

Cast/Performers

Andre Vincent, Neil Brand