Jerry Sadowitz and Comedy Cancellation

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  • It was wrong to cancel his shows

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VoR

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Anyone been following this? I've never seen his act since he (understandably) very rarely appears on television, but I was aware of him. It's a bit of a blurred line because he's well known for being extremely offensive, but also makes no secret that it's very much an act, unlike the likes of Jim Davidson, Dave Chappelle, Gervais etc who actively peddle hate.


The Scottish comedian Jerry Sadowitz has had his Edinburgh fringe show cancelled by the venue after complaints from staff and audience members.

Sadowitz played just one night, on Friday, before the Pleasance banned him from performing again. His show was entitled Jerry Sadowitz: Not for Anyone and carried a warning that it contained “strong language and themes some may find distressing”.

Yesterday 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.”

It was claimed that he had used a racist term and exposed his penis to an audience member.

Apparently the racist term (or one of them) was that he referred to Rishi Sunak as a P*ki.

Here's his response:



He'll probably end up getting bigger crowds as a result of this, but they'll probably also be a larger proportion of people he actively despises, so I guess nobody wins really.
 
I only really remember him from a very unfunny show he did in the early days of Channel 5, most likely completely unlike his regular act.
 
Context is everything so it's hard to judge at face value, although his rambling apology does sound like he kind of wings it onstage for the sake of provoking a reaction which sounds utterly terrible and a recipe for disaster.
 
Part of me thinks that these comedians who mean no specific harm but use offensive language as part of the act just need to get smarter about their material. Surely you could get much the same effect without the racial slurs? The waving your dick around thing might just be a no-go though. :D

Anyway, 60 year old white comic doesn't get to say P*ki any more isn't going on top of my list of global tragedies, but I did think it was an interesting case.

He's also known for calling out Jimmy Saville publicly decades before anyone else in the mainstream did.



(Apologies for quoting the awful Jeremy Vine, but it was the first one to come up)
 
What response was he expecting from peddling that racial slur? A chuckle? A hearty guffaw? Context does matter I suppose but it's just a lazy insult so I can't really imagine any scenario where it would add to the humour.
 
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What response was he expecting from peddling that racial slur? A chuckle? A hearty guffaw? Context does matter I suppose but it's just a lazy insult so I can't really imagine any scenario where it would add to the humour.
I suppose if he was parodying a racist gammon in some way, like a more extreme version of Al Murray’s act. I don’t really know much about his schtick though, I’d assume everyone who bought a ticket to his show would have been aware of what to expect.
 
I'm on the horns with this one - on the one hand, a bad booking - the wrong venue at the wrong time. The low ticket sales confirm this. On the other, the Pleasance absolutely knew what they were getting into and it feels a bit weak from a theatre that will have presented material with worse themes and more nudity. In fact, my first thought is that they were doing it for damage control after he got his dick out and waved it in people's faces, perhaps fearing legal action.

For Sadowicz's shtick to hold up, it has to have some movement with the times; in 2022 Sadowicz finds himself an angry riled-up man spitting bile in every direction in an angry, riled-up country spitting bile in every direction, a risky position.

I like Sadowicz in principle but I've chosen not to go and see him over the years. I know what I would get and I wouldn't want to sit through it to get to the jokes. My choice.
 
I find Jimmy Carr much more offensive than Sadowicz, by the way.
 
In that Saville clip it was just seconds in before he calls him a "big nosed Jewish bastard". I stopped right there thank you very much. So no, I'm not buying it.
 
He frequently refers to himself with that phrase. He's done whole routines about Judaism, taking on the various stereotypes with the usual verbal bludgeon. He had a whole piece as "Rabbi Burns" which was genuinely funny but that was about 30 years ago.
 

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