Slapstick Festival 2026

Natasha Lyonne plays Megan, a wholesome all-American girl whose picture-perfect life implodes when her parents suspect she’s gay and ship her off to “True Directions,” a pastel-coloured conversion camp run by the hilariously zealous Cathy Moriarty, with RuPaul as the reformed ex-gay counsellor in high heels.

A rare opportunity to experience one of Yasujirō Ozu’s most captivating early silent comedies on the big screen.

Our Hospitality brings action movie thrills to a high-stakes comedy of manners, with extravagant period costumes, dramatic landscapes, and some classic Keaton railroad stunts leading to a truly breathtaking climax.

In this screening and discussion, film historian Pam Hutchinson and comedian, actor Lucy Porter celebrate some of these overlooked acts inspired by Laurel & Hardy.

A witty and stylish comedy, Olive Thomas plays a small-town schoolgirl who ventures to an elite finishing school and discovers the excitement and complications of independence, flirtation and fun.

The ultimate Desert Island Stan & Ollie experience as Harry Hill introduces his favourite Laurel & Hardy feature of all time — newly restored and revealed only when the lights go down.

Comedy legend Harry Hill joins Sean Foley for a hilarious cinematic trip to Harry’s very own Desert Island Stan & Ollie.

This specially curated programme of short comedies showcases Fazenda at her riotous best, including: Her Torpedoed Love (1917) and Heart and Flowers (1919).

The Marriage Circle is a sparkling silent comedy of manners set among Vienna’s elegant middle classes, where two marriages are unsettled by flirtation, jealousy and suspicion.

Adolphe Menjou dazzles as sharp-tongued editor Walter Burns in Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s landmark newsroom satire.

Exploring the uneasy line between humour and heresy, join Slapstick for a riotous 25th-anniversary screening of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s outrageous, sharp-witted musical satire that took the world by storm.

Continuing Slapstick’s opening-day exploration of comedy, faith and irreverence, this special double-bill presents two silent-era masterpieces that find humour and humanity in the search for redemption.

Irreverent, subversive and gloriously funny, The Bank Dick (1940) remains one of W.C. Fields’ greatest comedies – and a perfect gateway into Slapstick’s ongoing exploration of faith, morality and rebellion in screen humour. 

A rare opportunity to see one of Buster Keaton’s most surprising and charming sound features, a 1934 French production co-starring the lovely Paulette Dubost.

A joyful triple bill celebrating 1928, the second year of Laurel & Hardy’s partnership, and the moment when their distinctive comic rhythm, friendship and finely tuned partnership truly took shape.

Adolphe Menjou plays the impeccably dressed but somewhat wayward husband of a socialite (Florence Vidor) whose teenage daughter (Betty Bronson) schemes to reunite her estranged parents.