A Night In with Ella Al-Shamahi
Fane Online presents A Night In with Ella Al-Shamahi
The ‘stream and book’ package includes a unique ticket for the stream, and a copy of The Handshake, deliverable to any UK or International address.
For one night only, the event will be broadcast on 10th September 2021 at 18:30 UK time. It will be available to view up to a week after the event has ended and can be accessed Worldwide. If you live in a time zone that does not suit the initial broadcast time you can watch it at any point after the initial showing for one week.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
Strangers do it. Friends do it. Politicians do it. Even chimpanzees do it.
The handshake is so embedded in our history and culture that paleoanthropologist, TV presenter and stand-up comic Ella Al-Shamahi argues it’s possible that the handshake is older than humanity itself.
In conversation for this exclusive event, join Ella as she reveals the secrets of one of our most ancient social gestures. From placing hands on holy books to take oaths, asking for someone’s hand in marriage to palm reading, it’s obvious we’re obsessed with hands. From its origins in prehistory to the timeline of its demise in the age of COVID; from the most famous handshakes in history (think Princess Diana shaking the hand of an AIDS patient) to the most infamous snubs, Ella will examine this ancient ritual through an anthropological, cultural, religious, historical and political lens. She’ll also touch on her own experience with the handshake, growing up following strict Muslim law, in which the majority of Muslim scholars believe that men and women should not have any physical contact.
As we mark the first anniversary of the temporary demise of the handshake due to the pandemic, don’t miss the opportunity to celebrate its history and its future. It’s gone for now, but it’ll be back. We can shake on it.