CinePunked

CinePunked are saddened to learn of the death of our friend and collaborator, the actor and comedian Tony Slattery on 14 January 2025 at the age of 65, and wish to extend our condolences to his family and friends.

CinePunked’s Robert JE Simpson pays tribute and discusses how Tony became part of the CinePunked family:

Over the years I’ve had the good fortune to meet several of my performing heroes, but its not everyone that one gets to work with. As a young adult in the 1990s I’d been an avid watcher of the UK version of Who’s Line Is It Anyway, and Tony Slattery stood out as a performer – quick witted, articulate and unpredictable.

I’d been very aware of the difficulties he’d faced with addiction and his mental health when I met him in person after a gig we were both attending in London in 2018. Over the next year our paths crossed repeatedly and I got to know him better and witness his warm soul first hand. I watched him perform, I listened to him talk, and I learned a lot more about what he’d gone through.

Eventually, I proposed Tony come to Belfast for the first time since 1983 to do a couple of shows with us as CinePunked to tie in with our developing strand of mental health programming.

I devised a show exploring the relationship between comedy and mental health entitled A Comedy of Madness, with the help of my friend, comedy historian Robert Ross. Our plan was to try it out a couple of times, and if it had legs, develop it for touring in some capacity. Tony was to join us on stage at the Crescent Arts Centre in November 2019 for that as a guest and share his own insights. Then, on the next night, I was to sit with Tony for an interview before a live audience, on the eve of his 60th birthday.

Tony had been touring with Rob in a live interview show for some time. Tony’s live show with Rob was entertaining, funny, poignant and unpredictable. Rob knew Tony’s career inside out and had a great rapport with him. I didn’t want to tread on his toes, or be a pale imitation of what they were doing onstage. And so, for our show we agreed to a no-holds barred interview that would focus on Tony’s mental health in an educational manner. These two events were a platform for us collectively to address the stigma surrounding mental health awareness, and particularly male mental health. They would let us talk critically about our heroes, and be deeply personal about ourselves. With the longer running time for my conversation (about twice the length of Tony’s usual show) there was scope to explore some of the issues in a little more depth, and if anything came out of it, we had time to follow it.

Tony agreed to both events and promised everything was up for discussion. We could talk freely about his addictions, about mental health, and around the positive developments that were happening in his life.

Then while everything was coming together a team from the BBC’s Horizon programme started filming a documentary about Tony and asked to cover his visit to Belfast because of our mental health thrust. Also joining us as a surprise, was Tony’s partner Mark Hutchinson. I knew from previous interviews I’d conducted, and with the intended discussion areas, that there was potential for some harsh revelations during our sessions, and I was reassured that Tony was surrounded by support – the team from Sundog Pictures who were making the documentary for the BBC made sure there was a psychologist in attendance for both events. The day after filming Tony would meet with him and made a break-through, which was captured for the documentary.

I always knew there was potential for the trip to make an impact for Tony personally. I’d always felt that Tony had things he needed to explore to find peace and to recover. We tried to set up a safe zone around him so he could do the show on his terms, without negativity, and the result, was an engaging, entertaining, poignant interview. There are moments of real honesty, self-awareness, and sharing. Early on we nearly head straight down the rabbit hole, but I had a duty of care to all in attendance, and to Tony, to navigate that with structure, and we held back. It was the right call on the night.

The night ended with an impromptu improv game, and for a few minutes I got to join one of my improv heroes on stage in a round of silliness. The young me bursting with joy at this moment of sharing the space with a hero.

And then after, we retired to the House hotel on Botanic Avenue for a debrief as a group. We were joined by a special guest – one of Tony’s old friends from uni, and by coincidence, my former drama teacher at Queen’s University Belfast, David Grant. A welcome and unexpected reunion full of warmth and love.

On 1 March 2020 I performed with Tony for the last time. We took our Comedy of Madness show to the Comedy Museum in London in a revised, abreviated format. Tony, Rob Ross and I once more discussing our comedy heroes and our own mental health experiences.

These sorts of conversations are difficult enough in private, but to do them in front of an audience takes courage. In each of the events we’ve done together, Tony was frank, insightful, and made valuable contributions. We knew each other well enough now to trade friendly jibes, and to let our respective guards down. There was complete trust. The result I think, were shows that were entertaining and honest, and deeply intimate. Tony’s willingness to allow himself to be vulnerable onstage, in a room full of strangers, was brave, and admirable.

The pandemic put a scuppers on plans to do more with the mental health shows – the documentary What’s the Matter with Tony Slattery aired in the middle of lockdowns in May 2020 and is a powerful watch. A short extract from our Belfast shows is included.

I’d not seen Tony since, though I remained in occasional contact with him and Mark. Coming up on five years since the documentary aired, I’d been wondering if it was finally time to try and bring Tony back to Belfast. I understand that things had massively improved in Tony recently, and I was looking forward to catching up with him again in person. In a Facebook post (since shared publicly) following Tony’s passing, his partner Mark said: “I take comfort from the fact, that 2024 was the happiest year for Tony. It was as if he had banished the dark clouds and the demons and decided to let in the light. He was a joy to be around, almost the old Tony.”

It gives me joy to hear such positive reports of Tony’s changes. I’m saddened that I won’t get to play with him again. He was wonderfully complex, terribly self-deprecating, and gave the best damn hugs. I am immensely proud of the mental health shows we did together, and I hope he was too. I feel very privileged to have spent time with him, to have gotten to know him and Mark, and I will forever cherish the impact he had on my own life. Thank you Tony.

Robert JE Simpson
24 January 2025

[CinePunked has published audio recordings of both of our Belfast shows with Tony as part of the CinePunked podcast – available wherever you get your podcast fix].