It all comes down to timing, in both music and comedy. However, for the latter to work, one often has to deliberately mess up the point of entry or exit, giving new meaning to the notion of perfect rhythm. And so, what else can Laurel & Hardy do – on the clarinet and horn, respectively – other than sabotage the harmonic unity of the orchestra in which they are playing? Fired and evicted, they are forced to reinvent themselves as travelling musicians. It is an opportunity to add a new dimension to their structureless art, on the streets of a city that seems more treacherous than a jungle, with all those gaping voids hidden under manholes and steamrollers ready to flatten their instruments. You’re Darn Tootin’ begins with music and ends with a dance. In the wake of The Battle of the Century (screened at the festival last year), a petty squabble gradually expands to take on the dimensions of a mammoth brawl. The sidewalk becomes a stage on which bodies collide according to a precisely planned and executed choreography. Glenn Mitchell’s The Laurel & Hardy Encyclopedia calls it the greatest street battle the duo ever staged. As a bonus, the final steps are reserved for a collective striptease number.

Andrea Meneghelli