Category: Podcast

Ben and Kerr discuss accompaniment Ben’s accompaniment techniques for films he played for toward the end of 2025: Keaton’s “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” at the Barrymore Film Center, Mary Pickford in “Sparrows” at the Library of Congress, and Max Davidson in “Pass the Gravy” at the Silent Clowns Film Series in NYC. Ben gives an update…

Episode 72 Show Notes: 2025 Year-End Roundup Opening Banter: Kerr talks about the difference of seeing The Bishop’s Wife with sizeable theater audience – the comedy and other values played at a higher level than on television.Ben shares a similar experience with Laurel & Hardy talkies, and with an Our Gang comedyThe difference in theatrical…

Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s busy Halloween season, underscoring the unmasking scene in “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925) at Angel Nyack, and his encounters with theater ghosts; also covered are Ben’s accompanying “Her Sister From Paris” (1925) with Constance Talmadge at the Silent Clowns Film Series, the differences between playing a church pipe…

Episode 71 Show Notes: Phantoms and Pipe Organs Sign up for Ben’s regular email here to keep up with all his activities.

Episode 70 Show Notes: Flappers, Roscoe, and Laura LaPlante Sign up for Ben’s regular email here to keep up with all his activities.

Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s shows at MoMA’s “Silent Movie Week” of “Saxophon Susi” and “Berlin: Symphony of a Great City”, and at the Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for an early Louise Brooks Paramount feature. Ben discusses adjusting his approach to laying down a recorded score when scoring “Poisoned Paradise” (1924) with Clara…

Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s recent shows in the Adirondacks and NYC, his in-progress recording of scores for a new Arbuckle Blu-ray set, the art and craft of a venue’s developing an audience for silent films, accompanying Chaplin’s “The Kid” (1921) and Harold Lloyd’s “The Freshman” (1925), and Ben’s managing being able to practice…

Episode 69 Show Notes: Back to Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd Sign up for Ben’s regular email here to keep up with all his activities.

Ben and Kerr talk about Ben’s new book “The Silent Film Universe” on this mini-episode. Ben discusses the various aspects of silent film language covered in each chapter and how we as viewers are engaged with them, his own development and honing of the ideas in the book, and his rationale for writing and publishing…