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I read last night that Roy “Chubby” Brown has had another show cancelled. He was due to appear in Morecambe but the theatre and Lancaster Council have put a stop to it after they received a petition with a grand total of 59 signatures. That is far fewer people than actually bought tickets to see the show.
This has happened to him before. When a show in Sheffield was cancelled, 20,000 people signed a petition in protest. But the theatre and council would not budge and issued a pompous statement saying Brown and his work was “not compatible with their values.” Which makes you wonder why they booked him. Who did they think they were getting? A children’s entertainer?
Brown’s offence is his act is deemed to be “racist, sexist and homophobic.” Of course, you cannot sin against the great secular god of Diversity. But it is only ever the protestors who get to decide what is wrong.
I have seen Brown’s act. I would not say I am a complete fan but I recognise he is a talented, popular, successful and hard working performer. One of a dying breed who puts in the hard yards travelling the country.
Why can’t the people who dislike him (as is their right) just decide not to watch him? Or protest outside the theatre? Why do they think they have the right to silence him?
The number of people who buy tickets to see his shows is much greater. Why should they be prevented from seeing him by a small group of activists who think they know best?
It’s a difficult one.
I find it hard to be objective, because in the past I’ve heard and seen a bit of Chubby Brown on TV and it’s absolutely not for me.
In fact it brings out the dreadful snob (never far below the surface!) in me as I regard it as narrow minded, white (correct me if I’m wrong – does he attract an ethnically-diverse audience?), working class humour and I feel it’s stuck in the 1970s.
Does that mean I want it banned?
Difficult.
I don’t want anything that might endorse and incite “hate,” and just because it’s labelled “comedy” doesn’t mean it can’t have that effect.
But tbh if a load of knuckle-dragging, white, thickos, want to listen to material that went out of fashion with flared trousers, so long as they’re not subsequently hurting anyone (specifically me) I don’t care either way.
I’ve never signed a petition to ban anything in my life – sounds too much like hard work!
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"“…But it is only ever the protestors who get to decide what is wrong…”
In my view, it’s not the protestors who are the decision makers in this and similar situations. Protestors have a right to assembly and protest to state their views provided it’s carried out lawfully. However, I take exception to the “real” decision makers, the censors, the universal baby-sitters who cower behind their public titles, whether elected or appointed, and decisions based not on the will of the majority but only to appease the few. That’s the real problem with today’\s decision makers!
Moreover, did the Lancaster Council have any legal grounds to cancel his show? What right do they have to prevent him from making a living? He should challenge this ruling in court.
I’m guessing here, but I would wager that his act is tame compared to what went on in the seventies and the eighties. Yet, the world survived!
The theatre has their right to free speech too if they don’t want him performing but as you say, who the hell booked him if that’s the case? He’s been around decades and is pretty much a byword for blue comedy.
It’s like having Fred West round to do your patio then complaining when the old bill shows up.
Now it is Jerry Sadowitz’s turn. He has been banned from a venue at the Edinburgh Festival.
The venue’s director, Anthony Alderson, said: “The Pleasance is a venue that champions freedom of speech and we do not censor comedians’ material. While we acknowledge that Jerry Sadowitz has often been controversial, the material presented at his first show is not acceptable and does not align with our values.”
Why the hell did they book him then, if they are so delicate about their values?
Sadowitz might have in effect been banned by gutless television companies (which prefer to book safe comedians who think they are edgy) but his act is hardly unknown.
Even the publicity for his current show, which was presumably included in the material issued by the venue, advises that it contains “strong language and themes some may find distressing”.
It appears there were a few complaints after his first show. That is not unusual for him and anyone has the right to not like him or his material. But is that sufficient grounds for cancelling his next performance?
As another performer tweeted “To cancel his show and then declare yourselves ‘champions of free speech’ is truly putrid stuff.”
‘We do not censor comedians’ material’.
‘Jerry Sadowitz is not welcome at our venue due to his material’.
Not sure he’s he’s been in effect banned by TV companies though, he goes out of his way to make sure his stuff doesn’t even appear on YouTube etc so I can’t imagine he particularly wants to be on TV.
Roy Chubby Brown wandered into my sister’s pub in Dunoon a few
yeats ago. He decided to stand up and do an impromptu act. He lasted
about 5 minutes before he was booed out. Nuff said.There’s a world of difference between selling tickets for an organised show and rocking up at a pub unannounced.
If I walk into a pub and start loudly shouting offensive things I’d probably be kicked out. Equally if I pay to go to a Chubby Brown gig and start complaining about the language I would expect a hostile reaction.
I can understand Sadowitz taking material off YouTube. His live show is about his only way to make a living.
He was on television back in the 1990s, in two short lived series. One of them, “The Pall Bearers Revue”, became one of the most complained about shows in the history of British television. Alan Yentob decided he did not like it and moved it to a graveyard slot. It was cancelled after one series, has never been repeated and never released on DVD.
His other show was “The People v Jerry Sadowitz”, in the early days of Channel 5. It also did not last long.
I have seen his live show and he is a brilliant performer. Not everything he does works but he is superb when he gets it right. He is also an outstanding magician.
It seems like part of the reason for his ban in Edinburgh is because he exposed himself onstage. I can understand why that might have shocked some of the audience. But it seems to me that a quiet word from the venue owner to not do it again would have been preferable to banning him.
Why didn’t the venue mention it in their press release, instead of putting out a ridiculous statement about supporting freedom of speech and not censoring anyone? When that is precisely what they have done!
The audience in the second house who had paid to see him were entitled to do so and should not have been denied just because a few people took offence at a show where there is a very clear warning about possible offensive content.
There’s a bigger picture to look at here: the infantilisation of the public. You’re not allowed to make your own decisions but are told what is acceptable and what isn’t.
And if people aren’t allowed to think for themselves, they become idiots. Which is exactly what our neoliberal overlords want.
But he sells out theatres up and down the country.
Fair comment CAS, but like Richard says turning up at a
pub, on the Karaoke stage and spouting out is a bit
different.It’s not the topics themselves, Billy Connoly has included
just about any “should not be spoken” topic in his shows for
years, the difference is he is funny. I remember we used to
get “shock jocks” on the radio, some were quite funny at times,
but they are disappearing into the mists of time, they have
done their bit.If there’s still an audience for RCB, fair Do’s, I just don’t
think they’re the kind of people I’d like to sit down and have
a pint with.Just my opinion, I just don’t get it
As with Chubby Brown, I don’t need Jerry Sadowitz to be cancelled to avoid seeing him.
My tightness with money and dislike of stand-up “comedy” is sufficient.
Unless Sadowitz can be demonstrated to be inciting hate-related crimes, let him strut his stuff.
I won’t be there.
So I don’t care.
Chezza’s a poet.
But then he always did know it.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"It turns out the second show was cancelled because ONE person complained.
She was so offended she said nothing at the time and did not walk out.
That is sufficient for a theatre to stop a show.
Hundreds of people did not complain.
There are people who would buy a ticket to watch Boxing then complain about being forced to watch people hitting each other.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"The Guardian is now claiming 40 people walked out, although Sadowitz says he did not see anyone do so.
The venue seems to be trying to make itself look even more absurd, if that is possible. It has said “racism, homophobia, sexism and misogynistic language has no place in its venues.”
But it booked Jerry Sadowitz.
It went on to say “while Jerry Sadowitz is a controversial comedian, we could not have known the specifics of his performance.”
I suppose so, if you had been living in a cave for the last thirty years.
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