So there's this bit during Public Enemy's Burn Hollywood Burn where Chuck D settles down to watch a movie. The lights go out, the voice over announces the feature presentation: Driving Miss Daisy. Chuck and his boys are out of there like a shot, leaving their popcorn behind in the rush to catch Black Caesar.
So, we won't be seeing many conscious rappers turning up at The King’s Theatre, Edinburgh at the start of March. Chuck's insistence on the primacy of African American work ("I'll check out a movie - but it'll take a black one to move me") meant that Driving Miss Daisy makes uncomfortable viewing, even if it did star Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman.
The play won a Pulitzer price for author Alfred Uhry, though. The story of a rich old Jewish lady and her African American driver, it is a wistful slice of tragi-comedy, and appeals to a nostalgic vision of the past, without completely excluding the inequality of the relationship.
My sometime co-host on The Radio Hour, Eric Caroulla, has written a more detailed preview of The Gatsby Club over in The Skinny, but their Evening of Slapstick sees one of the few remaining Glasgow cabaret evenings continue to expand its style. I'm not sure that the boast "Scotland's largest 1920s themed cabaret night" has many competitors, but they have been selling out the University Union and another Skinny reviewer gave them a five star rating for their first outing.
I haven't been yet, but that might be because they have a dress code. I'd like to go, because The Creative Martyrs are on the poster, and cocktails are only £3. There will be silent films and Black Diamonds Havana Band playing live. They also sent me a handy definition of slapstick, to save me describing it.
Slapstick is perhaps the oldest form of humour. It was invented to bring comedy into the medium of film in the silent era between 1900s-1920s before a synchronised soundtrack was technologically practicable.
Silent comedy actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy placed heavy emphasis on visual and physical humour to tell a story and entertain the viewer.
Many of these physical gags were exaggerated forms of violence, or even abuse, and came to be called "slapstick". The term itself refers to a double hitting stick that makes a loud sound upon light contact with another person.
Slipping on a banana peel, getting soaked with water, and getting a pie thrown in one's face are all classic examples of slapstick comedy which entertained millions of viewers throughout the silent era!
Glasgow University Union
As the competition to become my favourite classical ensemble hots up (Red Note are still in the front, even if I missed their concert for the end of the world), The Scottish Ensemble are staking their claims with an evening of musical madness. La Follia is touring around Britain and pits contemporary composition alongside more traditional choices.
The Ensemble's selections are always about matching the stuff with a good tune (this time, Holst's St Paul Suite), some forceful rhythms and newer work. Ironically, Gorecki is a contemporary composers who became fashionable thanks to his respect for past traditions: the Ensemble have his Harpischord Concerto which has broken beats in the modern style played out on a proper old school instrument. And they have a new "musical postcard" from Martin Suckling - he is commissioned to compose one for each of the orchestra's programmes.
Geminiani Concerto Grosso 'La Follia'
Górecki Harpsichord Concerto
Vaughan Williams Violin Concerto in D minor 'Concerto Accademico'
Holst St. Paul's Suite
Górecki 3 Pieces in Old Style
Vivaldi Concerto Grosso op.3 no. 10 RV580 in B minor
Britten Simple Symphony
also featuring Martin Suckling’s Musical Postcard No. 3
Caird Hall, Dundee Thursday 14 February, 7.30pm
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh Friday 15 February, 7.30pm
City Halls, Glasgow Saturday 16 February, 7.30pm
As the competition to become my favourite classical ensemble hots up (Red Note are still in the front, even if I missed their concert for the end of the world), The Scottish Ensemble are staking their claims with an evening of musical madness. La Follia is touring around Britain and pits contemporary composition alongside more traditional choices.
The Ensemble's selections are always about matching the stuff with a good tune (this time, Holst's St Paul Suite), some forceful rhythms and newer work. Ironically, Gorecki is a contemporary composers who became fashionable thanks to his respect for past traditions: the Ensemble have his Harpischord Concerto which has broken beats in the modern style played out on a proper old school instrument. And they have a new "musical postcard" from Martin Suckling - he is commissioned to compose one for each of the orchestra's programmes.
Geminiani Concerto Grosso 'La Follia'
Górecki Harpsichord Concerto
Vaughan Williams Violin Concerto in D minor 'Concerto Accademico'
Holst St. Paul's Suite
Górecki 3 Pieces in Old Style
Vivaldi Concerto Grosso op.3 no. 10 RV580 in B minor
Britten Simple Symphony
also featuring Martin Suckling’s Musical Postcard No. 3
Caird Hall, Dundee Thursday 14 February, 7.30pm
Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh Friday 15 February, 7.30pm
City Halls, Glasgow Saturday 16 February, 7.30pm
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