The turnout at Sunday’s “Flying Deuces” monthly meeting was slim, but the riotous laughter coming from the Pikes Peak Library District-East Library’s viewing room was lively and excited, much like the Laurel and Hardy appreciation group founder’s hopes for the new chapter in Colorado Springs.

Daniel Beehler, 37, remembers growing up watching the comedy team’s zany antics and loving their slapstick humor and simple plot lines. After attending a Laurel and Hardy convention in Los Angeles this year, Beehler decided to start “The Flying Deuces” chapter in Colorado Springs, the first of its kind in the Pikes Peak region.

“Laurel and Hardy are just pure family entertainment, and you can easily see how so much of the current comedians and comedy acts got their inspiration from,” Beehler said. “Every cartoon from the 1920s to today got their slapstick start from these guys.”

Briton Stan Laurel and American Oliver Hardy were a comedy act during the early classical Hollywood era from the late 1920s through the mid-1940s. They appeared together in 107 films, of which 32 were silent films, 40 short sound films and 23 full-length features.

Beehler’s Flying Deuces is a tent, or chapter, of The Sons of the Desert, the international Laurel and Hardy appreciation society, which is made up of over 150 tents throughout North America and Europe.

Nick Taylor, a 66-year-old Anglican priest from Colorado Springs and a Laurel and Hardy lifelong aficionado, was one of the first to join the Flying Deuces.

As the 1929 “Men O’ War” short film played in its original black and white, Taylor laughed with every punchline and joke, clutching a large biographical book on the comedy duo.

“The Laurel and Hardy movies were genius because they were produced as short-length films, not longer than 10 minutes or so,” Taylor said. “It was too difficult to stretch their routine beyond that, and the comedy worked in shorter snippets.”

For Beehler, the films’ short length and slapstick humor make Laurel and Hardy perfect audiences in 2014 – nearly 100 years after the comedy team’s debut.

“I would really like our group to grow and to involve more children, because I really think that Laurel and Hardy’s humor clicks with kids because it’s simple without being mindless,” Beehler said.

“I would like to work with schools, children’s groups and organizations. We can expose children to the comedy, and hopefully they’ll like it.”

The Flying Deuces meet the first Sunday of every month at the Pikes Peak Library District-East Library, at 5550 N. Union Blvd., at 1:30 p.m. Meetings are open to the public.

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Contact Andrea Sinclair: 636-0235

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In between Laurel and Hardy films, Nick Taylor looks up some facts about the comedy duo. The Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society in Colorado Springs meets every first Sunday of the month at the East Library. In the background, Josh Bridgers and Daniel Beehler (right to left), have a conversation before starting the next film on Sunday, August 3, 2014. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett)

Every first Sunday of the month, the Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society meet to watch films by the comic duo. Laurel and Hardy enthusiast Andy Williams (cq) is sihlouetted against the screen while “County Hospital” is shown at the East Library on Sunday, August 3, 2014. (The Gazette/Jerilee Bennett)