Slapstick Festival

Slapstick dives into political dark comedy with a screening of Python Terry Gilliam’s uproarious, Orwell-influenced, satire of bureaucracy, technology, surveillance and more in the company of its Oscar-nominated and double BAFTA-winning director.

There’s a gag and sharp point to be found in almost every visionary frame as well as stellar performances by a cast which includes Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Bob Hoskins and Katherine Helmond. The screening will be introduced by Terry. 

Actor/impressionist Colin Elmer, who has played the unique and much beloved Kenneth Williams in many touring stage productions, including of Round The Horne, brings his one-man show to Bristol – telling the star’s story, using Williams’s own writings, anecdotes about him and re- enactments of routines and catch-phrases.

In a rare and unique live appearance Adam Hills MBE, Aussie-born stand-up, host of the award-winning Channel 4 series THE LAST LEG, disability champion and novelist, makes his Slapstick festival debut – sharing the comedy film titles he’d most want to have with him if he was ever marooned on a desert island. 

Hills is famous for his quick, sharp, dry, wit, mastery of pranks and his love of many styles of comedy. So #IsItOk to predict this event will be memorably hilarious? ‘If you cannot enjoy Adam Hills you cannot have a pulse’. THE SCOTSMAN

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances we’re having to postpone this event.

With a General Election looming, 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 C4 this acclaimed series attracted the attention of fraud police and threats of libel suits while also earning multiple Best Actor awards for Robert Lindsay and BAFTA nominations for Sir Michael and Lindsay Duncan. G.B.H Revisited also features Dame Julie Walters, Anna Friel and Coronation Street’s Jane Danson and a compelling Elvis Costello soundtrack. Illustrated with extracts, hosted by series superfan Robin Ince, with a post event Q&A.

All clips are shown with the kind permission of GBH Films/Channel 4.

Taking Mark Twain’s advice “Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story”, humourists Barnaby Eaton-Jones and Robert Hammond offer up an illustrated lecture delving into comedy’s history and introducing a hilarious cast of overlooked, and possibly spoof, comedians who never quite made it. 

Film and comedy enthusiasts have long marvelled at Terry Gilliam’s artistic, inventive imagery, and his ability to craft extraordinary worlds since his early days contributing animated content to the groundbreaking Do Not Adjust Your Set (1968) and the iconic Monty Python series (1969–1974). 

After co-directing Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Terry created a series of highly acclaimed feature films including: Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018).

As one of cinema’s great visionary talents, it is perhaps befitting that Terry Gilliam is the well-deserved recipient of 2024’s Aardman Slapstick Award for Visual Comedy, honouring his enduring onscreen legacy. 

In this live conversation, Terry reflects on this remarkable body of work along with a dazzling array of clips A celebration of Gilliam’s unparalleled impact on dark comedy in the cinematic landscape.

Lucky Dog Theatre Productions return to Slapstick with a follow-up to their internationally loved and award-winning 'Hats Off To Laurel And Hardy' with a new show recreating favourite Stan and Olllie movie sequences plus sketches and song and dance routines performed by the duo during their 1940s/50s theatre tours, including on their visit to Bristol Hippodrome.

He is feted as one of the UK’s most versatile actors – justly praised for his performances in dramas, thrillers, biopics, musicals and Shakespeare plays on stage, film and TV. But Robert Lindsay’s comedy credentials are equally impressive, thanks to long-running roles in acclaimed series’ such as My Family and Citizen Smith and cameo appearances in a wide range of sitcoms, including Absolutely Fabulous, Extras, The Office and in Victoria Wood Xmas special. 

Here, he shares favourite stories and clips from his outstanding career in comedy before receiving the Aardman Slapstick Award for Comedy made especially for him by Aardman model-makers and inspired by his portrayal of Wolfie ‘Power To the People’ Smith. Hosted by Journalist/Broadcaster Matthew Sweet.