About

Slapstick Festival, a celebration of silent and classic screen comedy, returns in early 2026 with the help of an impressive line-up of celebrity guests. 

The aim of Slapstick Festival is to keep silent, visual, and classic onscreen comedy alive for future generations by raising awareness, interest, and appreciation of this unique art form, while also developing new audiences for archive cinema.

What's on at this year's festival?

Highlights for Slapstick Festival 2026 include:

• Adolphe Menjou: Gentleman of the Screen – Are Parents People? (Wed 4 Feb, 10am)
• Laurel & Hardy: Rediscovered in 4K with Chris Danels and Robin Ince (Wed 4 Feb, 12pm)
• W.C. Fields and the Gospel of Irreverence: The Bank Dick (Wed 4th Feb, 6pm)
• 25th-anniversary screening of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Wed 4 Feb, 8:30pm)
• Louise Fazenda: Queen of Slapstick (Thu 5th Feb, 2pm)
• Buster Keaton: Our Hospitality (Fri 6th Feb, 2pm)
• The Likely Lads at 60 (Fri 6th Feb, 4pm)
• Silent Comedy Gala with Stephen Mangan (Fri 6th Feb, 7:30pm)
• Rick Wakeman’s Top Musical Comedy Moments (Sat 7th Feb, 11:30am)
• Alexei Sayle’s Stuff – Revisited (Sat 7th Feb, 4:30pm)
• Lee Mack: 20 Years of Not Going Out (Sat 7th Feb, 6:30pm)
• Laurel & Hardy: Atoll K (Sun 8th Feb, 9:30am)
• The Thick of It: Politics, Power & Profanity (Sun 8th Feb, 3pm)
• Armando Iannucci: Speaking Truth to Power (Sun 8th Feb, 5:30pm)
• In The Loop, introduced by Armando Iannucci (Sun 8th Feb, 8:30pm)

View the full programme here

How much are tickets?

Events are individually ticketed, and festival passes are available.

Silent Pass – £150.00
Slapstick Full Pass – £250.00

What's included in the festival passes?

Silent Pass*
Adolphe Menjou: Gentleman of the Screen – Are Parents People? (1925)
Laurel & Hardy: Rediscovered in 4K
Buster Keaton: Le Roi des Champs-Élysées (1934)
W.C. Fields and the Gospel of Irreverence – The Bank Dick (1940)
Heavenly Laughs – For Heaven’s Sake (1926) & The Pilgrim (1923)
South Park – Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999): 25 Years On + Panel
Adolphe Menjou: The Front Page
Adolphe Menjou: A Gentleman of Paris (1927)
Louise Fazenda: Queen of Slapstick with Lucy Porter
Laurel & Hardy: The Last Stage – The True Story Behind Stan & Ollie with A.J. Marriot
Desert Island Stan & Ollie: The Shorts
Desert Island Stan & Ollie
Olive Thomas: The Flapper (1920)
Before and Beyond Laurel & Hardy with Pam Hutchinson & Lucy Porter
Buster Keaton: Our Hospitality (1923)
The Likely Lads at 60 – with Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais
Silent Comedy Gala
Note: The Silent Pass does not include Sing. However, you may exchange Laurel & Hardy: Atoll K for Sing by speaking to the Slapstick Desk.

Full Pass*
Adolphe Menjou: Gentleman of the Screen – Are Parents People? (1925)
Laurel & Hardy: Rediscovered in 4K
Buster Keaton: Le Roi des Champs-Élysées (1934)
W.C. Fields and the Gospel of Irreverence – The Bank Dick (1940)
Heavenly Laughs – For Heaven’s Sake (1926) & The Pilgrim (1923)
South Park – Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999): 25 Years On + Panel
Adolphe Menjou: The Front Page
Adolphe Menjou: A Gentleman of Paris (1927)
Louise Fazenda: Queen of Slapstick with Lucy Porter
Laurel & Hardy: The Last Stage – The True Story Behind Stan & Ollie with A.J. Marriot
Desert Island Stan & Ollie: The Shorts
Desert Island Stan & Ollie
Olive Thomas: The Flapper (1920)
Before and Beyond Laurel & Hardy with Pam Hutchinson & Lucy Porter
Buster Keaton: Our Hospitality (1923)
The Likely Lads at 60 – with Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais
Silent Comedy Gala
Rick Wakeman’s Top Musical Comedy Moments
Andy Day’s Cracking Brass Comedy Film Show
Alexei Sayle’s Stuff – Revisited
Lee Mack: 20 Years of Not Going Out
Slapstick After Dark – One Cut of the Dead (2017)
Still No Clue: An Audience with Graeme Garden
The Thick of It: Politics, Power & Profanity with Armando Iannucci & Chris Addison
Armando Iannucci: Speaking Truth to Power
In The Loop (2009)
Plus a TBC exclusive event!
Note: The Full Pass does not include Sing or But I’m a Cheerleader (1999). However:
– You may exchange Laurel & Hardy: Atoll K for Sing, or
– Swap Andy Day’s Cracking Brass Comedy Film Show for But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) — just speak to the Slapstick Desk.