Comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer have been recognised as slapstick greats by a world-renowned animation company.
Aardman - creators of such characters as Morph, Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit - presented the North-east funnymen with personalised versions of Morph and his pal Chas at Bristol’s annual Slapstick Festival.
The Slapstick Visual Comedy Award - presented before a capacity audience at Bristol’s Old Vic theatre - recognised the duo’s 25-year contribution to the art of physical comedy.
The award is given annually by the Bristol-based animation company Aardman and the Slapstick festival organisers to a current film or tv performer whose excellence at visual humour and physical comedy makes them worthy heirs to the earliest silent film comedians. Previous winners include Eric Sykes, Michael Palin and The Goodies.
Receiving their awards, Vic and Bob shared clips and anecdotes about their work and inspirations. There were also goodwill video messages from fans, friends and collaborators, including artist Damien Hirst, Shooting Stars team captain Ulrika Johnsson and comedians Jo Brand, Jack Dee, Charlie Higson and Matt Lucas.
Aardman co-owner, David Sproxton, said it was important to keep alive an interest in visual humour. He said: “It’s one of the few ways in which we can unite people of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities, languages and cultures, so we are delighted to see this year’s award going to Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, in recognition of the attention they have paid to using visual and physical gags throughout their careers. This creates humour that almost everyone can find funny.”
Festival director Chris Daniels called Darlington-born Vic and Boro boy Bob “unstoppable.”
Afterwards, a delighted Bob posted a picture of his award on his Twitter feed, along with the message: “We got these awards from Aardman yesterday for a lifetime of being daft b******s”.
No comments:
Post a Comment