This Is Bristol article about Tim & Graeme at Slapstick 2009
29/01/2009 00:00 GMT

Posted by lisa

From the This Is Bristol website at http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Goodies-share-secret-success-comedy-festival-launch/article-637477-detail/article.html:

Launch of Bristol's Slapstick festival
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 23:09

Bristol's fifth Slapstick silent comedy festival has been launched by two-thirds of a much-loved comedy act.

Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden relived the glory years of The Goodies, which delighted millions of TV viewers in the Seventies and early Eighties with its off-the-wall gags, at the Bristol Old Vic last night.

Comedian Phill Jupitus grilled the veteran performers about the hit TV series in which they and co-star Bill Oddie, now a wildlife presenter, came up with some of Britain's best-loved slapstick comedy sketches.

Jupitus asked them about the secret of their success and Garden explained: "If there was anything we wanted to do we just wrote it, and usually figured out a way of doing it.


"There was an enormous amount of planning that went into the show, and every joke had a price on it. Some would cost £1,000, some would be £500, and we would tell them they could have two for one."

Brooke-Taylor said: "We were very lucky in that we had a crew of people who, despite saying otherwise, kept coming back to work with us. They were able to create so many brilliant things."

Among the audience – which ranged from youngsters of about six years of age to fans older than The Goodies themselves – was Tim Porter, from St Andrews.

The 34-year-old said: "This is the third year I have been coming along to the festival. There is always a great range of films they put on, but events such as this are always really interesting."

Chris Daniels, the director of Slapstick 2009, said last night: "Back in 1975 my favourite two TV shows were Sykes and The Goodies, so it is a real privilege to have representatives from both these shows here for the festival. We are here tonight to celebrate The Goodies. I hope it will be an antidote to news at the moment, the credit crunch and reality TV."