MoMA & PopRally Present SILENT BUT DEADLY: An Evening of Comedy Shorts
Dec 22nd, 2008 by Max
Hi friends,
So PopRally is throwing a comedy short film screening and reception at The Museum of Modern Art. It’s going to be something else! This is kind of a once in a lifetime thing (museums should never be funny) so you should really come. There is an open bar reception and it’ll be neato. I am crazy excited for it. Check out all the hilarious people involved.
Details from MoMA’s website:
Silent but Deadly: An Evening of Comedy Shorts
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
7:00–10:30 P.M.
MoMA
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1
Watch a selection of silent comedy shorts from MoMA’s collection, followed by short videos made in response by some of today’s finest comedians. Ron Magliozzi, Assistant Curator, Department of Film, along with his colleagues Steve Massa and Ben Model, have selected some “cruel and unusual” slapstick comedy shorts from the silent era that explore social, cultural, and political subjects in rude and shocking ways. PopRally has invited contemporary comedians to react with their own video creations. MoMA silent film accompanist Ben Model will be at the piano.
Comedian Max Silvestri will host this unique evening of historic shorts and comic creations by Nick Kroll, Joe Mande, Gabe & Jenny, ThunderAnt (Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein), You Look Nice Today, and more. A reception follows. Doors and bar open at 7:00; show starts promptly at 8:00.
Tickets ($10 in advance, $12 at the door) are available online and at the MoMA information desks. Please note that ticket sales are limited.
Hey, Max! Ron, Steve and I are looking forward to this event. FYI, the film selections came from a 5-part course we taught at MoMA this fall called “Cruel and Unusual Comedy” which screened rare silent short from MoMA’s collection, grouped by different social issues. I’ll list here the films that we picked for the “Silent But Deadly” show (which I’ll be accompanying liive on piano) at 8pm on Jan 6:
LIZZIES OF THE FIELD (1924) - chock full of bizarre car gags - from our “Mack Sennett vs. Henry Ford” session
CHASING THE CHASER (1925) - in this rarity directed by Stan Laurel, henpecked James Finlayson’s suspicious wife hires a detective, played by female impersonator Fred Covert, to spy on him; look for a cameo by Fay Wray - from our “drag” session
THE KNOCKOUT (1923) - this boxing picture is part of a series of silent era one-reelers featuring “The Dippy Do-Dads”…an all animal cast (dogs, monkeys, chickens, ducks etc), complete with miniature sets - from our “Kids and Animals” session
Three other shorts we picked will be displayed on video monitors in the lobby during the reception:
MIND THE BABY (1924) - a kidnapping plot with sequences involving a dog, a baby and an alligator (all in the same shot!)
A CHANGE OF COMPLEXION (1913) - a kitchen maid pull a prank on her employers…while they are asleep she blacks up their faces
THE PHONEY CANNIBAL (1913) - down-on-their-luck comedy duo Ham & Bud pass themselves off as a preacher and a tribal pygmy to raise rent money
Ben Model
silent film accompanist