Silent Clowns

The front of the house – weighing two tons – falls slowly towards the actor. The audience gives an intake of breath as he is saved from certain death by a window which is barely bigger than he is. However, this is no big-budget action thriller, but Steamboat Bill Junior – the last independent feature by silent comedian Buster Keaton.
“If you have never seen silent comedy on a big screen with a big audience and great live music you will be amazed,” says Paul Merton, on his website, “if you have seen it before you will need no further persuasion from me.”
The live music is provided by pianist Neil Brand, who improvises the entire piece, making every performance unique.
As well as appearances from the likes of Chaplin, Keaton and Laurel & Hardy, Silent Clowns also includes some comedies from the earliest days of cinema and a short feature by the unusually-named Snub Pollard.
At this particular show the full-length film in the second half was Keaton’s The Seven Chances - not Steamboat Bill Junior, as billed. Though the feature was a little slow to get started, once the audience started laughing they barely stopped.
Unfortunately, the performance felt as if it had been rushed. Merton gave only brief introductions to each extract, as opposed to the gems of information which those who watched the television series will be expecting. I for one would have liked to have known more about the enigma that was Mr Pollard, who was given little introduction beyond the fact that his film - The Inventor - was like Wallace and Gromit.
Despite this, Silent Clowns was a very entertaining night out and I would recommend it to both fans of silent comedies and those who have never seen one before.