People and communities
Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour brings 100 years of comedy to Walsall Arena
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Walsall will step back in time this April as the Laurel and Hardy Centenary Tour 2026 takes place on Thursday 23 April at Walsall Arena and Arts Centre, celebrating one hundred years of the most iconic comedy duo in history.
Presented by TV personality, musician and world authority on silent films, Neil Brand, the nationwide tour will see audiences taken back in time to the area of silent film through live improvised music alongside moving picture.
Two newly restored films, ‘The Finishing Touch’ and ‘You’re Darn Tootin’ will be screened, the latter featuring Neil Brand performing his own acclaimed soundtrack to the film, and audience participation in the sound effects. Freshly restored clips from a further eleven classic Laurel & Hardy films will be shown, with a level of clarity never-before-seen.
Supported by Yamaha Music, audiences will be treated to a unique evening of fun, music and insight as Neil reveals the techniques of silent film and how the comedy of Laurel & Hardy is heightened with piano accompaniment. Each show will finish with an audience Q&A.
“ We’re proud to have Laurel and Hardy come to Walsall as part of their nationwide tour. It’s a wonderful opportunity for families, film fans and residents of all ages to enjoy a truly unique night out and celebrate heritage, music and storytelling to our local community.” “
“ Every show on this tour will be different because – just as one hundred years ago – the music will be improvised. I am going to take audiences back in time: we’ll run the films and I will improvise dramatic music at the piano. The Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour is designed to give people a great night of entertainment, a little history and a chance to witness, in remarkable new clarity, the starting point of a partnership that revolutionised global entertainment. “
Tickets are £25 each and the performance will start at 7:30pm. Tickets can be purchased from Walsall Arena’s Box Office online. Alternatively, call 0300 555 2898 (open Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 2pm).
Find out more about The Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour on their website.
About Neil Brand
Neil Brand is a world authority on silent films and the music behind them.
After featuring with Paul Merton in Paul's acclaimed BBC4 Series ‘Silent Clowns’, Neil presented his own BBC4 series ‘Sound of Cinema’ (2013), ‘Sound of Song’ (2015), ‘Sound of Musicals’ (2017), ‘Sound of Movie Musicals’ (2018) and ‘Sound of TV’ (2020).
Brand is a visiting lecturer and Member of the Royal Academy of Music and has composed soundtracks to over one hundred original radio dramas, documentaries and feature series for the BBC and Channel 4.
He has composed the orchestral scores for the classic silent movies of Hitchcock, Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks & Jackie Coogan and the adaptation of the classic novels for symphony orchestra and choir Dickens’s “Christmas Carol”, “The Wind in the Willows” and “The Hound of the Baskervilles”.
Neil currently hosts the fastest growing music podcast All About The Music Podcast where celebrities discuss their favourite songs, artists and how music impacts their lives.
