Joseph “Buster” Keaton was the great innovator of silent movie comedy. His elaborate films, crafted with the mind of an engineer, work like hilarious machines, full of stunts and visual tricks, whilst at the centre stood his famously impassive comic character, dubbed the Great Stoneface. In this talk we’ll delve into Keaton’s amazing career, examine his technical wizardry, meet his family, friends and mentors like Roscoe Arbuckle and uncover why it all fell apart so dramatically in the early 1930s.

“Enjoyed the talk very much… wow!” Brent Culture

This talk was first held at the Library at Willesden Green in December 2021.

FURTHER READING:

MY WONDERFUL WORLD OF SLAPSTICK by Buster Keaton and Charles Samuels

KEATON by Rudi Blesh

BUSTER KEATON: TEMPEST IN A FLAT HAT by Edward McPherson

BUSTER KEATON: THE PERSISTENCE OF COMEDY by Imogen Sara Smith

THE SPEED OF SOUND by Scott Eyman

SILENT COMEDY by Paul Merton

LAME BRAINS AND LUNATICS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE FORGOTTEN OF SILENT COMEDY by Steve Massa