Another Fine Mess Tent's Website

Thank you for visiting the website of the Another Fine Mess Tent of Northern Ireland OASIS #248, a Chapter of the Sons of the Desert — the worldwide Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society.

The Grand and

Vice Sheiks hard

at work as

usual!

The raison d'être for this website and our society is simple: to honour the memory of Arthur Stanley Jefferson (better known as Stan Laurel) and Oliver Norvell Hardy ('Babe' to his friends) and to help preserve their work by bringing it to future generations.

We believe that, above all other comedians of their time, the humour in the films of Laurel and Hardy has stood up to the passage of time and maintains a freshness that allows the films to be enjoyed in the 21st century just as much as they were in the early 20th century when first they were released. We regularly have audiences comprising of people from all walks of life and ranging in age from 4 to 94 years.

We continue to enjoy seeing young children, who are from an entirely different age, and who have grown up with computers and sophisticated toys, rocking in their seats with laughter at the antics of 'the boys', as they are affectionately known. And, amazingly enough, this applies equally to the silent two reelers — in fact, on occasions, the children tell us that the silent selections were their favourites!

We hope that our meetings will help to inspire some Laurel and Hardy fans of the future, and that ultimately our society will venture into the 22nd century and beyond.

When the idea for a Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society was put to Stan Laurel just before his death in 1965, he embraced the idea enthusiastically but requested that the society should be based on the mock 'secret' society parodied in their 1933 movie of the same name The Sons of the Desert, and that it should have, in Stan's own words, "a half-assed dignity about it". Accordingly, everything about the society has a desert theme, including each individual branch, or chapter, which is known as a 'tent'!

Our tent, The Another Fine Mess Tent of Northern Ireland, was 'foundered' in November 2004 and held its first meeting on Monday 21 February 2005 to mark the 40th anniversary of Stan Laurel's death on 23rd February 2005.

Membership has steadily increased since then: by the end of the second meeting, on Saturday 21 May 2005, the tent had 36 members; and, at the end of year one the numbers had swollen to 60...Gee that's swell! [By the end of year two membership reached 80!]

Tent membership comes mainly from Northern Ireland, but we also have members from across the British Isles and in the USA. Members are welcome from anywhere across the globe.

Our meetings are now held at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion (the NI Civil Service Social Club) within the beautiful and perfectly manicured grounds at Stormont. Our meeting room is conducive to members casually meeting one another and having a good old chin-wag! It also, importantly for us, is child-friendly. The room has floor to ceiling windows that open out onto raised decking, which in turn look out over Stormont's international cricket ground. Finally, there is a private bar in the room and the price of drinks is subsidised...need we say any more?

We also hope to meet on a less frequent basis at our former meeting place, the Tudor cinema in Comber. It is a very special place indeed, being a miniature recreation of an Art Deco style cinema built by twin brothers Noel and Roy Spence 30 years ago. It seats 66 people and provides just the right atmosphere in which to watch Laurel and Hardy films. [Note: In compliance with house rules such events will be restricted to adults and children over 14 years of age.]

Our meetings provide good, clean family entertainment, and families are particularly welcome with special membership rates and reduced admittance charges helping to encourage families to leave behind Saturday TV once every quarter for an evening in the company of two very special gentlemen...and we don't mean Keith and Gerry!

We hope you enjoy our site and welcome comments from anyone who visits on any subject (Laurel-and-Hardy-related that is of course!). We also welcome correspondence from anyone and always like to hear from people of all nationalities and backgrounds who appreciate the work of Stan and Babe.

Here's to the memory of Laurel and Hardy and to all of those around the world who are doing their bit to keep their memory and their work alive!

[Technical Note: This site is best viewed at a screen resolution of 800x600dpi]