Slapstick Duo

Much of who I am I owe to the upbringing that my grandparents gave me. I did not grow up in a conventional family, and this fact, in my case, has resulted in the greatest gift that life has given me.

Most of the characters to whom I pay tribute in this collection were very present in my childhood, as my grandparents, my sister and I would watch television together on weeknights or during the weekend. I would be lying on my grandmother’s lap and eventually I’d fall asleep.

My grandfather had a huge preference for two shows: Popeye and Laurel and Hardy. In Colombia, which is where I was born, they are known as “el gordo y el flaco”, or «the fat man and the skinny man», in English. Although my memory does not allow me to remember many situations from my childhood clearly, my mother has told me that my grandfather would burst out laughing watching the act of this crackpot duo.

The world in which they developed their act was one of wars and economic crises where many people lived the darkest of years. With their silly acting, Laurel and Hardy lit up many lives, even if it was, at least, while they watched them perform.

For that reason, and for having made my grandfather smile countless times, I have made “Slapstick Duo”, a tribute to the most legendary of comedy duos, or better, of cinema itself in the history of mankind.