Ben Elton to receive the Comedy Legend award at next year’s Slapstick Festival

Ben Elton is to join the Slapstick Festival‘s hall of fame alongside the likes of Barry Cryer, Reeves & Mortimer, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, The Goodies, French and Saunders and Barry Humphries when he becomes the recipient of the latest annual Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award at Slapstick’s 20th birthday edition in February.

The award is in honour of his work on such classics as The Young Ones and Blackadder and takes the form of a personalised model of the Aardman character Morph, with the ceremony staged as the finale to Slapstick’s 35-event programme at various city centre venues from Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 February 2025.

When informed of the news, Elton remarked: “What an amazing honour to be joining such an amazing pantheon of Aardman Legends! I would have liked to have pulled off a perfect pratfall to celebrate, but at 65 I’m worried I’d do my back in. I may slap a custard pie in my face though because I am truly thrilled and grateful.”

Festival Director Chris Daniels says the choice of Elton is particularly apt given the anniversary festival’s focus on satire: “It provides the perfect excuse too to share some very funny examples of his work.”

The full Slapstick programme is announced today. Satirical highlights include Stephen K. Amos sharing his comedy heroes and introducing the Mel Brooks classic Blazing Saddles as his favourite film; Samira Ahmed hosting a 60th anniversary screening of Dr. Straangelove and a debate about the place of satire in today’s mad world; Nigel Planer saluting his late, great, co-star Rik Mayall and, in a separate event, revealing more about two of his own parody characters, Neil from The Young Ones and luvvie Nicholas Craig, self-styled ‘sage of the stage’; Robert Lindsay and Sir Michael Palin taking a look back at Alan Bleasdale’s G.B.H. in which they co-starred; Lucy Porter opening a three-film look at 1920s silents poking fun at Soviet Russian politics; and Alasdair Beckett-King providing an intro to Chaplin’s brilliant The Great Dictator.

Elsewhere in the programme, Aardman co-founder Peter Lord hosts a family friendly celebration of Wallace and Gromit, including a rare big screen outing for the new feature, Vengeance Most Fowl, which makes its debut on BBC1 on Christmas Day. Also, Graeme Garden will be talking with Samira Ahmed about the women who worked with The Goodies and prog giant Rick Wakeman celebrates the life and work of his late chum Ian Lavender.

Underlining the continuing influence of classic silent comedy is this year’s big cult hit Hundreds of Beavers. Its co-writer and star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews is coming over from Canada for a special screening and Q&A.

There’s still no news about the big name host of the previously announced gala at the Bristol Beacon, but we understand that an announcement will be made in November.

Reflecting on the development of the festival, Chris Daniels added: “Slapstick has grown in ways I never imagined when the festival began in 2005. Back then, it was all about keeping an interest in silent comedy alive. Of course, Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd and their peers are still in the mix, backed by enthusiastic celebrity champions. But it’s good that the festival now also celebrates more recent examples of screen comedy and a thrill that so many of their cast members and writers are happy to join us.”

Go here for the full 20th anniversary programme and to buy tickets.

Main image: Ben Elton and Aardman’s Peter Lord at a previous Slapstick festival. Image credit: Slapstick