Posts Tagged ‘Nelson Hughes’

Aug. 4: “New York City Sketchbook” and Slapstick Short Films

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On Friday, August 4 at 8 PM, three figures of New York City’s offbeat film history, exhibition, and animation circles converge in our beautiful backyard for a unique screening of archival and contemporary short films that are not to be missed!

Brooklyn-based animator Willy Hartland begins our program with a screening of his award-winning animated short, New York City Sketchbook. Hartland says he seeks to “explore the urban experience unfiltered, with all its beauty and its blemishes. Working from my sketchbooks, in a form of visual journalism, the film attempts to document the challenges that New Yorkers face with their hopes and desires as they negotiate the urban matrix of the city itself.”

The second part of the program focuses on live-action archival silent film. That Slapstick Show, curated by Nelson Hughes, delivers The Race to Save Laughter, a selection of silent comedies that were once considered lost for decades, then subsequently found and recently preserved by major film archives.

The evening concludes with rare shorts from Tommy José Stathes’ long-running Cartoon Carnival series. This special installment features historic 1910s-1930s animated cartoons produced in New York City, and projected on ‘reel’ 16mm film. Be sure to catch this one-night-only event before these films go back in the vault!

Contributors:
Willy Hartland: http://www.willyhartland.com/
Tommy José Stathes: http://tommyjose.com/
Nelson Hughes’ Slapstick Comedies Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/149005355292858/

Admission: $10 at the door.
Beverages available by suggested donation, with beer from Brooklyn Brewery.

July 8: That Slapstick Show!…presents The Celebrity Film Roast of Charley Chase!

 

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That Slapstick Show! returns to the great outdoors at The City Reliquary with its second annual Celebrity Film Roast. Join us Saturday, July 8 at 8 PM as we honor one of the true comedy masterminds of the silent film era–Charley Chase! This special screening will include some rarely seen shorts, so don’t miss out—and bring your cinephile friends!

Admission: $10

Curated by Nelson Hughes
Co-organized and co-hosted by Tommy José Stathes of Cartoons on Film
Live accompaniment by ragtime pianist Charlie Judkins!

There will be a mini tag sale featuring VHS tapes, DVDs, books, filmic collectibles and other goodies…all from the personal collection of That Slapstick Show! co-organizer and co-host Tommy José Stathes.

About Charley Chase:
He was one of the most prolific and influential comedians of the 1920s, with a film career that spanned nearly three decades. Today, some 77 years since his passing, Charley Chase (a.k.a. Charles Parrott) still remains one of the most beloved silent screen clowns among modern day fans of classic film comedy.

Chase boasted a lengthy resume, including actor/director/writer and producer, from the 1910s straight into the 1930s. With stints at the Al Christie studios and, most importantly, Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studios, it was his arrival at the Hal Roach studios in 1920 where he would reach superstardom in comedy film history. Beginning with one-reelers and later moving on to two-reel shorts for Roach, the Chase comedies were centered on situational comedy rather than overt slapstick. Chase knew comedy like no one else did and it clearly shows in his films as both an actor and director.