As composer, writer, broadcaster and musician Neil Brand says, Laurel and Hardy are like the uncles that you look forward to seeing at Christmas parties, warm and familiar.
But you know that whatever happens, you will always have a better day than they will. After all, there are times when Laurel and Hardy struggle even to get through a door. And that is a huge part of their charm, as Neil will explore at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne on Thursday, November 16 at 7.45pm.
But you know that whatever happens, you will always have a better day than they will. After all, there are times when Laurel and Hardy struggle even to get through a door. And that is a huge part of their charm, as Neil will explore at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne on Thursday, November 16 at 7.45pm.
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FunTranscript
00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Lovely
00:06 this afternoon to speak to Neil Brand, who's going to be talking about a subject that's
00:09 going to be very, very dear to an awful lot of hearts at this year's Chichester International
00:14 Film Festival in August. On August 22nd, Neil, you'll be talking about Laurel and Hardy,
00:21 and that is a passion for you, isn't it? What makes them so special?
00:26 Oh, I think they're timeless. I think they're comedy, or may have been made originally 100
00:31 years ago. But you can just watch them and you immediately start to smile, you immediately
00:36 start to laugh. The other element of it that I love is that I'm a piano player, and I play
00:41 for silent films. So I will be accompanying them as they do their comic shtick. And it's
00:47 always fresh. It's always different because I improvise the music as I go. So audiences
00:52 will get a really good, funny and thoroughly kind of involving show. It's pretty immersive
00:58 as well. You get a live piano concert with the films. But one of the beauties is that
01:04 if I'm doing my job, right, you forget that I'm there. You'll just be looking at...
01:08 That's very self-effacing of you.
01:11 Well, I learned it a long time ago, that actually, if you do it right, people come up afterwards
01:16 and say, we forgot you were there.
01:18 The point is, with the two shorts that you're showing, you are promising nothing less than
01:22 two of the very best short comedy films ever made, you say?
01:26 Yes, I think without a doubt. By the time Sound came along, Laurel and Hardy were all
01:31 already fully formed. So the two movies showing one is called Big Business, in which they're
01:36 trying to sell Christmas trees in California, which is where Christmas trees grow. And they're
01:42 coming up against a guy who really doesn't want to buy a Christmas tree and then they
01:46 end up smashing his house up. And the other is Liberty, which is a movie they made, it's
01:51 a short film again, but they made it after Harold Lloyd had done Safety Last, where he's
01:56 hanging off the clock, building. The two of them wind up on top of a very high skyscraper
02:02 that's still being built. Plus, they're wearing each other's trousers that they're trying
02:06 to swap back over. Plus, Stan has got a crab in his trousers. So the consequences of that,
02:14 which mixes comedy and thrills because they do appear to be right up high in the air,
02:20 hanging over a massive drop down to the city below. It's a wonderful experience. If you
02:25 don't like heights, you might find it a little bit difficult to watch, but it's lads to the
02:29 comedy.
02:30 The fabulous thing about them is that you can see the disaster coming. But the joy is,
02:35 you know, they're going to make that disaster so much worse, aren't they?
02:39 Yes, they will. Everything they do on top of that building makes things much, much worse
02:43 and takes them seemingly closer and closer to dying. And yet, finally, they get away
02:50 and they get away with everything else they were trying to get away from in the film.
02:56 I'm very proud to be out with them, I have to say. And it's really great for me, because
03:01 there's nothing less than entire pleasure to be had out of this show.
03:06 It sounds fantastic. And just finally, put your finger on what it is about them that
03:11 we mourn to so much.
03:14 I think we recognize them. Even if they were, as I say, 100 years ago, they're like the
03:19 uncles I can remember who I really looked forward to coming to family parties at Christmas.
03:24 They're like, somehow or other, you know, you know them, you've seen them before. And
03:29 they make that very easy. They're very friendly, accessible blokes. And also, we kind of love
03:35 the fact we're smarter than they are. We may have bad days, but we never have a day so
03:41 bad we can't actually get through a door beside another person. The two of them can't get
03:47 through a door at the same time. You know, that's how bad things go for them.
03:51 It'll be wonderful to get back to them. So Chichester International Film Festival, Neil,
03:55 you'll be there on August 22nd. Really lovely to speak to you. Thank you.