It’s a cold night in the middle of the comedy festival. The warm wooden interiors of the Melbourne Recital Centre beckon you in from the rain and wind. The band tunes up, the projectionist starts the reel and Three Short Comedies brings the true genius of Keaton’s films to life.

Blue Grassy Knoll (Gus Macmillan, Mark Elton, Phil McLeod, Simon Barefoot and Steph O’Hara) are well known for their passion in the ways of classic vaudeville comedian and silent film-maker Buston Keaton. They’ve done this before. The reason they keep coming back is because they do it so well.

The term “silent film” is actually something of a misnomer, explains Barefoot before the performance. Movies were never screened in silence, there was always some form of accompaniment – be it a full orchestra or just the vicar on piano. Blue Grass Knoll resurrect this live element to Keaton’s work with their own scores, and the result is a truly enjoyable night out. On display this season are three short films from Keaton’s peak in the 1920s: One Week, The Playhouse and the lesser known The Boat.

Blue Grassy Knoll achieve a wonderful aim with this show: you don’t notice they are there. That might sound like an odd achievement for a performing band, but really it’s an art in and of itself. Your attention is focussed entirely on the screen – watching the gags roll out, clapping, cheering and booing like a cheesy pantomime audience – so much so that the band blends seamlessly into the cinema space. Synchronised sound effects, appropriately slapstick banjo accompaniment – even the rowdy babble of a dinner party in full flight – these boys create the missing aural elements to great cinematic moments.

My only complaint to this great performance may be the quality of the print used – Keaton’s works are now long out of copyright, and it must be hard (and expensive) to get hold of properly remastered reels. Those in use at Three Short Comedies could do with a run through some Hollywood production houses. But this certainly doesn’t detract from the overall effect – a genuine step back in time to the experience of attending a picture show in the 1920s.