Laurel and Hardy
and the
Sons of the Desert
are at the heart of
Bowler Dessert magazine
and
Bowler Dessert Online

Bulletin

04.12.11.
 

Christmas has begun!
Your webmaster has rounded up some favourite people for a special Bowler Dessert Online message.

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Be Big Tent

At our November meeting 23 people watched Battle of the Century, Our Wife and Bonnie Scotland. The tent sends its best wishes to member Norman Clough who is receiving treatment for cancer. Next meeting will be the Xmas party on Monday 12th December (NB this is the second Monday of the month and not the regular third Monday). All welcome.

Dean Caroll

 Ribticklers

"Ribticklers": An Evening of Vintage Comedy is at The Cinema Museum, 2 Dugard Way, London SE11 4TH on Thursday 15th December at 7.30pm. Tel.: +44 (0)20 7840 2200. Email: info@cinemamuseum.org.uk. Click on http://www.cinemamuseum.org.uk/2011/ribticklers-an-evening-of-vintage-comedy.

 

Graeme Garden on Charley Chase

Saturday 28th January, 2012 at 11.00am. Venue: Arnolfini, Colston Hall, Bristol. £7/£5.50. Book: 0117 917 2300. Book online at http://www.slapstick.org.uk/events.htm#.

I'm a member of the Saucy Gibbon Goodies fan site. This was put up on there on 29th November:

To say Charley Chase is one of the comic greats of all time is no exaggeration: this brilliantly inventive and prolific comedian contributed to over 300 films as writer, director, or actor (sometimes as all three) before his untimely death at the age of 46. Chase worked with almost every major name in early film comedy including Chaplin, Arbuckle, Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, and the Three Stooges. Chase made many comedy shorts in the twenties as a hugely popular comic/performer in his own right. Chase admirer, Goodie and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue panellist, Graeme Garden selects his favourite shorts from this period to reveal Chase at his finest and funniest. With live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney.

There's other Laurel and Hardy related stuff too.

Stephen Barlow

Favourite

In the website of The Guardian (28.11.11.) Jonathan Glancey picked Way Out West as his favourite film. Part of his review read:

Not much of a plot, I suppose, but enough to spin Way Out West into an hour-long feature film I have watched time and again. I know it's not the greatest film of all time, yet look - 12 minutes and 48 seconds in - when Ollie tips his bowler in front of the steps of Mickey Finn's Palace and he and Stan commence a beautifully timed and movingly funny soft-shoe shuffle that twists into a waltz of sorts as the Avalon Boys croon At the Ball, That's All.

This sequence is pure silver-screen sorcery. It's memorable not just because you marvel at how light the 45-year-old, 6ft 1in, 20-stone Oliver Hardy is on his feet, but also because it's one of those happily inconsequential moments when someone (in this case a pair of surreally out-of-place child-men) stops the world spinning by dancing for no other reason than innocent joy.

"What is this life if, full of care, / We have no time to stand and stare," asked the Welsh tramp poet WH Davies. "No time to turn at Beauty's glance, / And watch her feet, how they dance." Stan and Ollie might be on a mission, yet these comic tramps in bowler hats and ties appearing out of the blue in a dusty, hard-drinking, six-shooting wild-west town, find time not just to stand and stare, but to dance to lilting cowboy tunes.

Paul Harding recommends reading the comments from readers after the entry and Jonathan Hayward says, "The comments on the blog are enough to gladden the hearts of Laurel and Hardy buffs like us."

Beer barons!

Roger Protz is probably the most respected writer on beer in the country. His column in the December issue of What's Brewing (the newspaper of the Campaign for Real Ale) was about the state of brewing in Cumbria today and included the following:

Brewing, I'm happy to report, is alive, well, and funny in Ulverston. Funny? Ulverston is the birthplace of Stan Laurel and there's a statue of Laurel and Hardy in the town centre. The Ulverston Brewing Company has a strong Laurel and Hardy theme. The beers have such evocative names as Lonesome Pine, Laughing Gravy, Another Fine Mess and Flying Elephants, while two brewing vessels are labelled Stan and Ollie. There's a well-appointed area for visitors who can sample the beers and watch a video of Stan and Ollie lookalikes making a hilarious mess of brewing a batch of beer.

As a couple of beer barons themselves, I'm sure our favourites would approve of this welcome publicity for the excellent UBC beers, the statue and the town of Ulverston.

Grahame and Anni Morris

Men o' War Tent at Christmas

The Men o' War Tent will be holding its Christmas meeting in Manningtree in Essex on Saturday 17th December. Grand Sheik Paul Harding has the details.

Bowler Dessert back issues

Robert Cheadle is having a clear-out and has issues of Bowler Dessert numbers 37 to 73 "ready to go to a new home." He will be happy with £1.00 per issue or £30.00 the lot, plus p&p.

Contact Robert Cheadle, Copper Beech, Frith Common, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, WR15 8JX. He does not have internet access.

Roberts says, "I'd like to say a huge 'thank you' to all the people involved in putting together all those issues of Bowler Dessert; they really are a quality publication."

Dueling Banjos

Here's a really neat video of Laurel and Hardy look-a-likes playing the fun song Dueling Banjos. These are professional French musicians Bob Anthonioz on guitar and Philippe Bourgeouis on banjo; they specialize in  playing pop/rock/bluegrass. Thanks to Craig and Olga Marin of the NY Founding Tent for providing this link, and to Carrin Hare for passing it along. Tributes to the Boys are everywhere! Turn up the sound and enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vj9ghC2SgbY.

 Gino Dercola