Paul Merton's Silent Clowns Tour 2009
One of the most memorable images from all of silent comedy is Buster Keaton standing in the middle of a street as the whole front of a house falls towards him. He escapes serious death by inches as the open window falls in exactly the right place. This stunning moment occurs in Steamboat Bill Junior's climatic storm sequence.
In 2007 I showed this film to 1,500 people at The Colston Hall in Bristol. The spontaneous round of applause that rang around the hall as Buster stepped safely away from the wreckage will long remain in my memory. Steamboat Bill in Buster's last independent feature and is one of his very best. I will show it in its entirety in the second half of my Silent Clowns show. In the first half I will show extracts of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy as well as a couple of Curios from the very early days of French cinema. In between will be entertaining chat.
As on the last tour, Neil Brand will accompany the films beautifully on the Grand Piano. I f you have never seen silent comedy on a big screen with a big audience and great live music you will be amazed. If you have seen it before you will need no further persuasion from me.
