THE comedy genius of Buster Keaton is being set to live orchestral music in Birmingham this weekend.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's Friday Night Classics series of concerts at the Symphony Hall features the 1920s superstar's The General and The Play House.

A spokesman for the CBSO said: "Until you’ve heard a full symphony orchestra accompanying a film live, you haven’t experienced the ultimate in movie surround sound.

"Veteran movie maestro Carl Davis conducts the CBSO in a live soundtrack to one of the greatest film comedies of all time, Buster Keaton’s runaway-train classic The General."

"We have even got a ‘B’ feature too - The Play House."

Born Joseph Keaton in 1895 into a family who travelled the country performing in vaudeville theatre he got the name Buster when his father’s friend Harry Houdini saw him fall down some stairs as a baby.

He went on to become a star in silent movies having millions of fans across the world in the 1920s. His slapstick visual comedy is still seen as the high-watermark of physical comedy on film.

Orson Welles described The General as the greatest comedy ever made and is seen as the career high point of Keaton whose stoic expression earned him the nickname The Great Stone Face.

The concert starts at 7.30pm on Friday, May 9 at the Symphony Hall, for more information visit www.cbso.co.uk or phone 0121 345 0600.