Celebrating 100 Years of
LAUREL & HARDY
Centenary Tour 2026
Presented By Neil Brand
19th April 2026
Palace Theatre, Westcliff
UK Tour Feb 1st – 16th May 2026
Supported by Yamaha Music
*Premier at the London BFI on Sunday 11th January 2026 at 3pm*
Tickets & dates: Centenary Tour | Laurel & Hardy Presented by Neil Brand
WORLD EXPERT ON SILENT FILMS NEIL BRAND TOURS THE UK AND BRINGS BACK TO LIFE THE HILARIOUS ANTICS OF LAUREL & HARDY
LIVE IMPROVISED MUSIC
100-YEAR-OLD CLIPS RESTORED AND UNVEILED
AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT + Q&A
“I’ve stolen from Laurel & Hardy all my career”
Ricky Gervais
LAUREL & HARDY
Centenary Tour 2026
Presented By Neil Brand
19th April 2026
Palace Theatre, Westcliff
UK Tour Feb 1st – 16th May 2026
Supported by Yamaha Music
*Premier at the London BFI on Sunday 11th January 2026 at 3pm*
Tickets & dates: Centenary Tour | Laurel & Hardy Presented by Neil Brand
WORLD EXPERT ON SILENT FILMS NEIL BRAND TOURS THE UK AND BRINGS BACK TO LIFE THE HILARIOUS ANTICS OF LAUREL & HARDY
LIVE IMPROVISED MUSIC
100-YEAR-OLD CLIPS RESTORED AND UNVEILED
AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT + Q&A
“I’ve stolen from Laurel & Hardy all my career”
Ricky Gervais
LAUREL & HARDY - arguably the most important and influential comedy partnership of all time – will be celebrated in 2026 with a new 100th anniversary touring show, presented by TV personality, musician and world authority on silent films, Neil Brand.
The Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour will visit over fifty towns and cities across the UK. Audiences will be taken back in time to the era of the silent film, where the music was played live and often improvised alongside the 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.
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.
Neil Brand said:
“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.”
Neil Brand’s Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour 2026 runs February 1st – May 16th 2026. Tickets & info: Centenary Tour | Laurel & Hardy Presented by Neil Brand
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.
The Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour will visit over fifty towns and cities across the UK. Audiences will be taken back in time to the era of the silent film, where the music was played live and often improvised alongside the 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.
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.
Neil Brand said:
“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.”
Neil Brand’s Laurel & Hardy Centenary Tour 2026 runs February 1st – May 16th 2026. Tickets & info: Centenary Tour | Laurel & Hardy Presented by Neil Brand
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.
TOUR DATES
Date
Venue
01/02/2026
Rex Cinema, Wareham
07/02/2026
Bishop Auckland Town Hall
08/02/2026
The Apex, Bury St Edmunds
09/02/2026
Dorking Halls, Dorking
11/02/2026
Barnfield Theatre, Exeter
12/02/2026
Esher Theatre
15/02/2026
Pavilion Theatre, Worthing
18/02/2026
Mill Arts centre, Banbury
19/02/2026
Swindon Arts Centre, Swindon
22/02/2026
Astor Theatre, Deal
25/02/2026
Beck Theatre, Hayes
26/02/2026
Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
27/02/2026
Darwen Library Theatre, Darwen
28/02/2026
Lyceum Theatre, Crewe
05/03/2026
Playhouse, Weston-Super-Mare
06/03/2026
Walker Theatre, Shrewsbury
08/03/2026
Huntingdon Hall, Worcester
10/03/2026
The Fire Station, Sunderland
12/03/2026
Redgrave Theatre, Bristol
13/03/2026
Taunton Brewhouse, Taunton
14/03/2026
Swansea Grand Depot Studio
15/03/2026
The Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne
19/03/2026
Savoy Theatre, Monmouth
20/03/2026
City Hall, Salisbury
21/03/2026
Royal Theatre, Northampton
22/03/2026
City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds
26/03/2026
The Atkinson, Southport
27/03/2026
Tung Auditorium, Liverpool
28/03/2026
Storyhouse, Chester
29/03/2026
The Alex, Faversham
08/04/2026
Harrogate Theatre. Harrogate
09/04/2026
The Concorde, Eastleigh (Private)
10/04/2026
Eric Morecambe Centre, Harpenden
11/04/2026
The Hawth Studio, Crawley
12/04/2026
Norman Bragg Studio, Aylesbury
15/04/2026
The Grand Theatre, Blackpool
16/04/2026
Palace Theatre, Newark
19/04/2026
Palace Theatre, Westcliff
21/04/2026
Loughborough Town Hall
22/04/2026
The Brindley Theatre, Runcorn
23/04/2026
Walsall Arena, Walsall
24/04/2026
The Core Theatre, Solihull
30/04/2026
Electric Palace, Bridport
01/05/2026
Teignmouth Pavilions
03/05/2026
Evesham Town Hall, Evesham
09/05/2026
The Hub at St Marys, Lichfield
10/05/2026
Assembly Hall, Tunbridge Wells
12/05/2026
The Gaiety Theatre, Ayr
13/05/2026
The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh
14/05/2026
Town Hall, Airdrie
15/05/2026
OneTouch, Eden Court Inverness
16/05/2026
Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy
Date
Venue
01/02/2026
Rex Cinema, Wareham
07/02/2026
Bishop Auckland Town Hall
08/02/2026
The Apex, Bury St Edmunds
09/02/2026
Dorking Halls, Dorking
11/02/2026
Barnfield Theatre, Exeter
12/02/2026
Esher Theatre
15/02/2026
Pavilion Theatre, Worthing
18/02/2026
Mill Arts centre, Banbury
19/02/2026
Swindon Arts Centre, Swindon
22/02/2026
Astor Theatre, Deal
25/02/2026
Beck Theatre, Hayes
26/02/2026
Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
27/02/2026
Darwen Library Theatre, Darwen
28/02/2026
Lyceum Theatre, Crewe
05/03/2026
Playhouse, Weston-Super-Mare
06/03/2026
Walker Theatre, Shrewsbury
08/03/2026
Huntingdon Hall, Worcester
10/03/2026
The Fire Station, Sunderland
12/03/2026
Redgrave Theatre, Bristol
13/03/2026
Taunton Brewhouse, Taunton
14/03/2026
Swansea Grand Depot Studio
15/03/2026
The Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne
19/03/2026
Savoy Theatre, Monmouth
20/03/2026
City Hall, Salisbury
21/03/2026
Royal Theatre, Northampton
22/03/2026
City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds
26/03/2026
The Atkinson, Southport
27/03/2026
Tung Auditorium, Liverpool
28/03/2026
Storyhouse, Chester
29/03/2026
The Alex, Faversham
08/04/2026
Harrogate Theatre. Harrogate
09/04/2026
The Concorde, Eastleigh (Private)
10/04/2026
Eric Morecambe Centre, Harpenden
11/04/2026
The Hawth Studio, Crawley
12/04/2026
Norman Bragg Studio, Aylesbury
15/04/2026
The Grand Theatre, Blackpool
16/04/2026
Palace Theatre, Newark
19/04/2026
Palace Theatre, Westcliff
21/04/2026
Loughborough Town Hall
22/04/2026
The Brindley Theatre, Runcorn
23/04/2026
Walsall Arena, Walsall
24/04/2026
The Core Theatre, Solihull
30/04/2026
Electric Palace, Bridport
01/05/2026
Teignmouth Pavilions
03/05/2026
Evesham Town Hall, Evesham
09/05/2026
The Hub at St Marys, Lichfield
10/05/2026
Assembly Hall, Tunbridge Wells
12/05/2026
The Gaiety Theatre, Ayr
13/05/2026
The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh
14/05/2026
Town Hall, Airdrie
15/05/2026
OneTouch, Eden Court Inverness
16/05/2026
Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy