Press Release

November 2007

Big Business at Buxton

On Saturday 24 November six members of Tent 262 travelled through the Peak District National Park in the rain and wind to our final destination the Buxton Opera House to see a performance of Paul Merton’s Silent clowns. When the curtain went up Paul Merton introduced and gave lots of interesting background information on several silent comedians work, and to our delight one of the films shown in the first half was Laurel & Hardy's Classic 'Big Business' (shown in full) the clarity of the film was remarkable, the whole audience young and old laughed uncontrollably throughout the performance, this for us was the highlight of this excellent show.  

In the second half of the show, he introduced a screening of Harold Lloyd's masterpiece 'Safety Last!' Released in 1923, the movie features no special effects, just Lloyd actually putting himself in mortal danger for the sake of an audience's laughter. The screening was accompanied by pianist Neil Brand, who has gained worldwide renown over the past quarter of a century for his performances at film festivals around the world.

Great sighs and massive cheers came from the spellbound audience as Lloyd makes his perilous climb up the outside of the downtown department store. Every time Lloyd goes up another floor, there's a more difficult obstacle for him to overcome and everyone gasped in amazement when he manages it. At one point, a mouse runs up Lloyd's trouser-leg and he jumps up and down on a high ledge and everyone in the audience screamed.

The communal experience of watching these films especially 'Big Business' in a large, packed cinema only enhanced the enjoyment. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed the trip to see the Silent Clowns in action, on the big screen, at this superb venue.