Comedian Jerry Sadowitz's Edinburgh Fringe show axed by venue bosses for 'unacceptable material'

14 August 2022, 08:03 | Updated: 14 August 2022, 17:42

Controversial comedian Jerry Sadowitz had his Edinburgh Fringe show cancelled by the venue after he "got his penis out" on stage and allegedly made a racial slur about Rishi Sunak.

The Scottish comedian, known for his deliberately offensive standup comedy, played just one show on Friday, before he was banned from performing again.

He was due to play again on Saturday but the American-born Scot took to social media to reveal that his second night would not be going ahead.

Pleasance confirmed that it had been pulled because his material "does not align with our values", after reports he had used a racist term and exposed his penis to an audience member.

Yesterday Mr Sadowitz tweeted: “Did a show last night, 75 mins, thought it went well. Didn’t see any walkouts. Today I’m told my show’s been cancelled. Great stuff. I’m truly sorry for everyone who travelled to see the show tonight.”

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The Pleasance’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.

“This type of material has no place on the festival and the Pleasance will not be presenting his second and final show.”

The move came after a female audience member claimed he got his penis out in front of a woman on the front row and used a racial slur to describe Rishi Sunak, the Scottish Sun reported.

It was not clear if the allegedly exposed genitals were a prop.

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She told the paper: "I was at the show. He called Rishi Sunak a 'p***'; said the economy was awful because it is run by 'blacks and women'.

"He got his penis out to a woman in the front row. The problem was not the audience - I knew he was an acquired taste. It was his indefensible content."

The Pleasance has so far refused to confirm what part of the act was deemed offensive.

Some furious fans who were ready to watch Mr Sadowitz perform on Saturday, slammed the venue for being "pathetic".

While fellow comedians also hit out at the Pleasance for cancelling the show.

The comedian and writer Viv Groskop tweeted in response: “If the cancelling of Jerry Sadowitz’s Edinburgh show is about nudity, then loads of other shows should get cancelled too … If it’s about content … then let grown adults Google acts before they buy tickets. It’s not difficult.”

While Comedian Leo Kearse wrote: "Jerry Sadowitz is the funniest comedian I've ever seen. If you don't like him, don't watch him. I don't like sushi so I avoid sushi restaurants - I don't demand that sushi is banned. It's disgusting that intolerant bigots at @ThePleasance have cancelled his Edinburgh show."

The Pleasance said that refunds would be issued to those who bought tickets to the Saturday performance.

The Pleasance said in a statement to LBC: "As previously stated, the Pleasance chose to pull Jerry Sadowitz’s second and final show.

"Due to numerous complaints, we became immediately aware of content that was considered, among other things, extreme in its racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny. We will not associate with content which attacks people’s dignity and the language used on stage was, in our view, completely unacceptable.

" A large number of people walked out of Jerry Sadowitz’s show as they felt uncomfortable and unsafe to remain in the venue. We have received an unprecedented number of complaints that could not be ignored and we had a duty to respond. The subsequent abuse directed to our teams is also equally unacceptable.

"At the Pleasance, our values are to be inclusive, diverse and welcoming. We are proud of the progress we have made across our programming, which includes significant investment and support for Black, Asian and Global Majority artists, LGBTQ+ voices, those from working class backgrounds, and the strong representation of women. We do not believe that racism, homophobia, sexism or misogynistic language have a place in our venues.

" In a changing world, stories and language that were once accepted on stage, whether performed in character or not, need to be challenged. There is a line that we will not cross at the Pleasance, and it was our view that this line was crossed on this occasion.

"We don’t vet the full content of acts in advance and while Jerry Sadowitz is a controversial comedian, we could not have known the specifics of his performance.

"The Pleasance has staged his work numerous times over the years, but as soon as we received complaints from those in the building which caused us great concern, we knew we could not allow the final performance to go ahead.

"The arts and comedy in particular have always pushed the boundaries of social norms but this boundary is always moving. Our industry has to move with it. However, this does not mean that we can allow such content to be on our stages."