Introducing Buster Keaton's The General

Sir Stephen Fry will host the gala evening of silent comedy films at next year’s Slapstick Festival in Bristol, it has been announced.

He will introduce a triple bill at the Beacon: Buster Keaton’s classic 1926 adventure The General plus Charlie Chaplin’s 1917 short The Adventurer, and Laurel and Hardy’s short With Love and Hisses from 1927.

Keaton in The General

The films will be accompanied by live music from the European Silent Screen Virtuosi. And alongside the main feature, Billy Bragg will perform a selection of songs inspired by American railway history.

Slapstick festival director Chris Daniels said: ‘Stephen Fry’s wit, warmth and love of comedy make him the perfect guide to an evening celebrating cinema’s greatest comic pioneers.’

Tickets cost between £15 and £60 and are available here.

The festival runs from Wednesday, February 10 to Sunday, February 14, with the gala on February 12. The full programme will be announced in the next few weeks.

Published: 16 Oct 2026