Enjoy an afternoon with silent film stars

Laurel and Hardy, arguably the most important and influential comedy partnership of all time – will be celebrated with a new 100th anniversary touring show, presented by TV personality, musician and world authority on silent films, Neil Brand.

The Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour will visit over 50 towns and cities across the UK and is set to stop of at The Apex, in Bury St Edmunds, next month.

Audiences will be taken back in time to the era of the silent film, where the music was played live and often improvised alongside the moving picture.

Two newly restored films, “The Finishing Touch” and “You’re Darn Tootin” will be screened, the latter featuring Neil Brand performing his own acclaimed soundtrack to the film, and audience participation in the sound effects.

Freshly restored clips from a further 11 classic Laurel and Hardy films will be shown, with a level of clarity never-before-seen.

Audiences will be treated to a unique performance of fun, music and insight as Neil reveals the techniques of silent film and how the comedy of the duo is heightened with piano accompaniment. Each show will finish with an audience Q&A.

Neil said: “Every show on this tour will be different because – just as 100 years ago – the music will be improvised.

“I am going to take audiences back in time: we’ll run the films, and I will improvise dramatic music at the piano.

“The Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour is designed to give people great entertainment, a little history and a chance to witness, in remarkable new clarity, the starting point of a partnership that revolutionised global entertainment.”

 An afternoon with Laurel & Hardy is at The Apex on Sunday, February 8, at 2pm.

See www.theapex.co.uk or ring 01284 758000 for more details and to book tickets.