How British slapstick comedy has developed from the twentieth century to the present day.
Presenter: Sir Norman Wisdom was one of the biggest comedy stars of his genre and of his time. Nominated for an Oscar, best supporting actor, he had also earned a BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer in 1954, his performances on Broadway in his later career also got him nominated for a Tony Award, however his biggest award he achieved was his knighthood in the year 2000. He was a big star and today he is still a big star of the comedy Genre, we've seen this through his work with Lee Evans in the 1990's.
( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936295/awards - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0936295/bio )
Video Clip: Norman Wisdom's The Early Bird trailer, directed by Robert Asher (item 10).
''..The slapstick legend stars in another slapstick comedy with mischief and gags throughout''
Video Clip: Monty Python and the Holy Grail trailer, directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones (item 11).
''..The comedy crew return with a mystical and magical, low budget film set to split your sides in a medieval fashion''
Video Clip: Rowan Atkinson's Johnny English trailer, directed by Peter Howitt (item 12).
''..The legend returns in a James Bond style comedy with a license to thrill''
[Lights brighten again]
Presenter: Today we are going to investigate the development of the slapstick comedy genre from the early 20th century to our present day and look at it's star's, comedians and legends. My focus film will be Norman Wisdom's the Early Bird which was Sir Norman's first comedy film in color, my first related film Rowan Atkinson's Johnny English and Monty Python's magical and mystical Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
First of all in the old time, when slapstick comedy would of been the most popular genre around most of the world with the likes of Charlie Chaplain, Norman Wisdom and others I would say that the period of this slapstick comedy was quite innocent. As it involved gags and jokes, unlike some comedies today which include a lot more violence, sexual scenes gone wrong and bad accidents.
We look at a scene from Norman Wisdom's The Early Bird for an example of the slapstick. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6BN-MFQ0qI&feature=related )
As we progress through time to the era of Monty Python Slap Stick comedy we find that the comedy start's to get a lot more violent, perhaps it is how the comedy developed over the years, or perhaps the comedy genre needed a new look. We are not sure why the comedy developed to become more violent and bloody.
We look at a fighting scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690 )
Then as we get more to the modern day slapstick comedian's film's we find that they can get even more rude and violent. For example one of the fighting scene's from Johnny English which shows gun fight's between the actor's go wrong. This show's us the more modern day slapstick comedians. We can also see the sexual scene's through the film which you would not have had in a original slapstick film.
We look at the opening scene from Johnny English ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc8yCP_SbOU )
We also see how the slapstick comedy has developed through the internet, for example in the golden days of slapstick comedy we would not have seen a official website dedicated to a specific film such as Norman Wisdom's the Early Bird because the internet was not around back then. However nowadays most films including slapstick have official websites were fans can go and leave comments of what they liked and did not like and then if the developers and director want to improve on for a sequel they can see what the audience thought of the film by looking at the forum pages.
We then look at the official websites for Johnny English and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there is no website for The Early Bird as the internet was not around then.
(MP - http://pythonline.com
JE - http://www.johnny-english.com/ )
We see a lot more sexually orientated scenes in slapstick comedies of today, however it would be very rare or never shown in the golden age of slapstick comedy, however in our more modern films like Johnny English and Monty Python and the Holy Grail it is a common theme in the movies today, as it is in most movies nowadays from the comedies to the actions.
Something that has stayed the same in the slapstick comedy genre is the type of actor we have to entertain us throughout the film. For example in all three film's Norman Wisdom, John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson all act or look a little strange or goofy to keep up the laughter.
In some slapstick comedies you find comedy groups like Monty Python that all work together to write, direct and produce great and funny slapstick comedies, low budget of course. However in the past like in the time of Norman Wisdom's Early Bird it would of been a rare sight because the studio's would of payed for everything needed for the film, and make the actor's their 'property'.
Another point on how the slapstick comedy genre's today are similar in a way to the old fashioned ones are that in The Early Bird and in Johnny English the leading actress's are good looking girls for the goofy lead actor to fall in love with or marry at the end. Or used for some twisted comedic ending for the grand finale.
Slapstick comedy has also not changed in the way they usually have a male main character. I believe it is very rare to find a female main character in most films nowadays and in the past nevermind the slapstcik genre. Well there are no main character's that are involved in slapstick in my films. An example of this would be in Johnny English the female main character even though this is a comedy film is mainly used as a sort of femme fetal.
Some times there can become cult followings over a film or a actor in certain countries across the world for their comedic acts and feeling's the people feel towards the actor. For example Norman Wisdom developed a cult following in Albania because his film's were one of the only film's aloud to be shown in Albania at the time and the people loved them and in turn loved Norman Wisdom for his brilliant 'British Humor' Albanians claim to have a similar humor to the British and this is one of the reasons he is seen so high of. However more modern day film's like Johnny English acted by Rowan Atkinson do not seem to have cult followings or such.
A lot of comedies nowadays seem to be portrayed during a certain time and this is usually in the medieval time period’s around the world, mostly England during this time. For example Monty Python’s The Holy Grail is set in this period as is a series called ‘Black Adder’ which is acted by Rowan Atkinson set through periods of British history. However films during the golden age usually seemed to be set during the present time period, probably because there was a lot going on at the time and they could use this to their advantage.
So overall we discover that a lot of thing's such as theme's and such have changed over the years since the golden age of comedy, there is a little less self inflicted slap stick and a little more 'sex joke' slapstick in which involves the lead male and lead female. We have also initiated some thing's have stayed the same such as the main character's, their 'goofyness' and the way it is advertised and portrayed over the internet.
