This is one of two comedy films made by Leeds Mercury Movie Makers, and one of its main inspiring forces, Alan Sidi, in the mid-1960s.  The other being Fatman made the following year.  Alan had already shown his comic nature in the earlier 8 O’Clock Special (1962) where he has a flustered businessman journeying on a speeded up train.  Members of both of the Leeds cine clubs made quite a few comedy films during the 1960s and 1970s; see for example Jack Eley’s Justice on Wheels made in 1968....

This is one of two comedy films made by Leeds Mercury Movie Makers, and one of its main inspiring forces, Alan Sidi, in the mid-1960s.  The other being Fatman made the following year.  Alan had already shown his comic nature in the earlier 8 O’Clock Special (1962) where he has a flustered businessman journeying on a speeded up train.  Members of both of the Leeds cine clubs made quite a few comedy films during the 1960s and 1970s; see for example Jack Eley’s Justice on Wheels made in 1968.  For more on Mercury Movie Makers see the Context for A Vision Fulfilled (1982).

Not content with just directing, filming, and making inventions for MMM, Alan also acts in this one, albeit a small part.  Also, not content with his own participation, Alan get his whole family involved in this film.  Furthermore, Fiona, his daughter, turns up again in The Devil God as Chris, the wife of the sophisticated thief, while Paul appears in Fatman as the midget sidekick of the Fiddler.  Other amateur filmmakers would also get their children to act in short comedy films, such as Eric Bolderson with Stephen the Magician (1962), which has his son Stephen performing magic tricks for his sister Janet.

As has been noted in the Contexts for Fatman and Justice on Wheels, slapstick, although still present in some comedy in the 1960s, such as Benny Hill, was hardly in fashion.  In fact compared to the early days of comedy on film it has become regarded as a somewhat inferior form of comedy.  Much of the early films were comedies and most of these depended largely on slapstick – see Winky Causes a Small-Pox Panic (1914).  One advantage of this is that it crosses over easily into all cultures, and is not bounded by language.  This is clearly what helped give Charlie Chaplin a universal appeal, and enabled  comedians like Norman Wisdom and Rowan Atkinson with his character Mr Bean to gain a following in otherwise unlikely places.  Yet its appeal lives on, whether in the often surreal forms of The Young Ones, the more gratuitous kind of Bottom, or in the more recent gentle form to be found in Miranda.

It has been said that slapstick is the most popular form of comedy, and it must certainly be the earliest kind we find funny in childhood.  Maybe this is why children in general, and Alan Sidi’s own children here, clearly love it so much – see also Dudey Movie (2006-08), made by children from the Phoenix Youth Club, Holmfirth.  Of course, humour is not always just innocent observations on life, it can also have a darker side, at the expense of individuals and certain groups in society; and it has been argued that slapstick in particular is more often found funny by men than by women, which may tell us something about its inherent violence.  In general comedy reveals something about being human that isn’t always pleasant, as Simon Critchley notes.  Indeed comedy has become the centre of much recent philosophical speculation on what it is to be human, to fail, to learn and to grow (see References). 

In general many maintain that humour is good for children (as with adults); for example, “Kids with a well-developed sense of humor are happier and more optimistic, have higher self-esteem, and can handle differences (their own and others') well.  Kids who can appreciate and share humor are better liked by their peers and more able to handle the adversities of childhood — from moving to a new town, to teasing, to torment by playground bullies.” (References)  Yet not everyone enjoys slapstick, and it can have a cruel side, which makes it a controversial form of comedy when seen or used by children in particular.  There clearly needs to be boundaries and compassion, and what better way to teach this than to film your own kids throwing pies into each other’s faces?

References

Simon Critchley, On Humour, Routledge, 2002.

Mary Frank and Paul E Mcghee, Humor and Children's Development: A Guide to Practical Applications, Routledge, 1989.

Dan O'Shannon, What are You Laughing at?: A Comprehensive Guide to the Comedic Event, Bloomsbury Academic, 2012.

Gillian Rose, “The Comedy of Hegel and the Trauerspiel of Modern Philosophy”, in Mourning Becomes the Law, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Alenka Zupancic, Odd One In: On Comedy, MIT Press, 2008.

Gender and the Appreciation of Physically Aggressive “Slapstick” Humor

Encouraging your child’s sense of humour