#12 1 April 2020 Welcome to issue 12 of THE LOST LAUGH. I hope, wherever this reaches you, that you’re coping OK with these troubled times, and keeping safe and well. These old, funny films are a great form of escapism and light relief at times like these. In fact, I was thinking the other day that the times they were made in had their fair share of troubles : two world wars, the 1918 flu pandemic, the Wall Street Crash and the great depression, to name a few. Yet, these comics made people smile, often even making fun out of the anxi- eties of the day. That they can still make us smile through our own troubles, worlds away from their own, is testament to how special they are. I hope reading this issue helps you forget the outside world for a while and perhaps gives you some new ideas for films to seek out to pass some time in lockdown. Thanks to our contributors this issue: David Glass, David Wyatt and Ben Model; if you haven't seen them yet, Ben’s online silent comedy events are a terrific idea that help to keep the essence of live silent cinema alive. Ben has very kindly taken time to answer some questions about the shows. As always, please do get in touch at
[email protected] with any comments or suggestions, or if you’d like to contribute an article (or plug a project of your own!) in a future issue. Finally, don’t for- get that there are more articles, including films to watch online, at thelostlaugh.com.