Jerry Sadowitz

[Tichtheid]

Sadowitz has had a show cancelled at the Edinburgh festival.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/62543162

I've seen both his stand up and his magic show several times, he is an exceptional close-up magician.

Why is this important or noteworthy news?

Well for me he is an extreme version of Al Murray's Pub Landlord or Alf Garnet, the target of his ire is the ones who might hold the views he is seemingly espousing.
It's never easy listening and if you have a taboo he will get to it eventually in his act. I saw people hurting themselves laughing like drains at some parts of his act who then walked out after a joke which they found offensive.

His act carried a warning at the time of booking, "This show contains strong language and themes some may find distressing."

Whilst that in itself isn't a licence to then say anything you want, almost everyone has the power of google at their fingertips and it's easy enough to find out about the sort of material he writes.

Whenever I've seen him I never got the impression that he was the bully, he was more railing at the world in general. Sometimes his jokes are a matter of taste, "Nelson Mandela, what a cunt. Terry Waite, fucking bastard. I dunno, you lend some people a fiver, you never see them again"
Other times he is right on the button, at the start of his act at teh Montreal Comedy Festival he walked onstage and said, "Hello moosefuckers! I tell you why I hate Canada, half of you speak French, and the other half let them. Why don't you speak Indian? You might as well speak the language of the people you stole the country off of in the first place."

That last line is what Sadowitz claims led to someone jumping up on stage and knocking him out.

The Edinburgh Festival have claimed his show was cancelled due to it being "extreme in its racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny".

Sadowitz said his act contains "a lot of silly, exaggerated irony and nonsense, real fake and exaggerated anger and bile... for the purpose of the funny line which follows it".

He added: "I have never once courted a mainstream audience to come to my shows because guess what? In real life I really don't want to upset anyone.

"The show is what it is, for those who enjoy it. The rest of you...please stick to Carry On Films."

[dpedin]

Sadowitz has had a show cancelled at the Edinburgh festival.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/62543162

I've seen both his stand up and his magic show several times, he is an exceptional close-up magician.

Why is this important or noteworthy news?

Well for me he is an extreme version of Al Murray's Pub Landlord or Alf Garnet, the target of his ire is the ones who might hold the views he is seemingly espousing.
It's never easy listening and if you have a taboo he will get to it eventually in his act. I saw people hurting themselves laughing like drains at some parts of his act who then walked out after a joke which they found offensive.

His act carried a warning at the time of booking, "This show contains strong language and themes some may find distressing."

Whilst that in itself isn't a licence to then say anything you want, almost everyone has the power of google at their fingertips and it's easy enough to find out about the sort of material he writes.

Whenever I've seen him I never got the impression that he was the bully, he was more railing at the world in general. Sometimes his jokes are a matter of taste, "Nelson Mandela, what a cunt. Terry Waite, fucking bastard. I dunno, you lend some people a fiver, you never see them again"
Other times he is right on the button, at the start of his act at teh Montreal Comedy Festival he walked onstage and said, "Hello moosefuckers! I tell you why I hate Canada, half of you speak French, and the other half let them. Why don't you speak Indian? You might as well speak the language of the people you stole the country off of in the first place."

That last line is what Sadowitz claims led to someone jumping up on stage and knocking him out.

The Edinburgh Festival have claimed his show was cancelled due to it being "extreme in its racism, sexism, homophobia and misogyny".

Sadowitz said his act contains "a lot of silly, exaggerated irony and nonsense, real fake and exaggerated anger and bile... for the purpose of the funny line which follows it".

He added: "I have never once courted a mainstream audience to come to my shows because guess what? In real life I really don't want to upset anyone.

"The show is what it is, for those who enjoy it. The rest of you...please stick to Carry On Films."

Saw him many years ago at the fringe and easily one of the funniest acts I have ever seen. He can be extremely rude and language is crude but his jokes are always aimed at the right targets - the racists, the xenophobes and the right wing twats. As Tichtheid says everyone knows what is shows are like and there are warnings when buying a ticket to go see him so if easily offended or if you don't understand his style then don't go.

I am a bit pissed off about him being cancelled, he is, ironically, a bit of the Fringe history, a legend and everyone should go and see him at least once. There are many more acts I've seen who should have been cancelled for just being shite or 'big name comedians' just there to rip off the public. In some ways he will probably wear this cancellation with a bit of pride!

[Slick]

I think this is incredibly dangerous for the Fringe. I would say most people go for the "edgyness" but at the same time are the same people who would not tolerate blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny etc. Telling these people, and I include myself, what they can and can't watch and in effect are too thick to make up their own minds is a very slippery slope.

I'm going again on Friday with a group of mates and one suggestion was to base ourselves at The Pleasance, but that isn't happening now.

[Margin__Walker]

I'm not sure I can think of a more moronic thing in the world than buying a ticket to one of his shows and then complaining about being offended.

[inactionman]

I saw and enjoyed a fair bit of his TV stuff in the late 90s, and I've heard nothing to suggest that his approach to comedy has changed in the meantime.

He's not exactly an unknown quantity so I'm surprised by this reaction - especially as I'd assumed he was an acquired taste of sorts and most of the audience would have actively sought him out. And surely his approach to life is well known and understood by the pleasance/fringe organisers.

[SaintK]

Shouldn't this be a decision for those who attend his gigs
Doesn't sound like my cup of tea so I wouldn't buy a ticket and therefore would not be offended

[inactionman]

I think this is incredibly dangerous for the Fringe. I would say most people go for the "edgyness" but at the same time are the same people who would not tolerate blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny etc. Telling these people, and I include myself, what they can and can't watch and in effect are too thick to make up their own minds is a very slippery slope.

I'm going again on Friday with a group of mates and one suggestion was to base ourselves at The Pleasance, but that isn't happening now.

I'm very jealous, all I'm going to is a kid's show with my daughter on one of the weekends. Which I'm informed has elements of audience participation.

[GogLais]

Shouldn't this be a decision for those who attend his gigs
Doesn't sound like my cup of tea so I wouldn't buy a ticket and therefore would not be offended

Steady on. Surely we all need something to be offended about in this day and age. I know I do.

[Slick]

I think this is incredibly dangerous for the Fringe. I would say most people go for the "edgyness" but at the same time are the same people who would not tolerate blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny etc. Telling these people, and I include myself, what they can and can't watch and in effect are too thick to make up their own minds is a very slippery slope.

I'm going again on Friday with a group of mates and one suggestion was to base ourselves at The Pleasance, but that isn't happening now.

I'm very jealous, all I'm going to is a kid's show with my daughter on one of the weekends. Which I'm informed has elements of audience participation.

I found myself on stage on Tuesday doing a charade of "Mooncup". I had no idea what it was until 2 minutes ago when I googled it out of interest before replying to you post. FFS, I thought they were laughing out of delight at my amazing charades performance, had no idea.

[Tichtheid]

I think this is incredibly dangerous for the Fringe. I would say most people go for the "edgyness" but at the same time are the same people who would not tolerate blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny etc. Telling these people, and I include myself, what they can and can't watch and in effect are too thick to make up their own minds is a very slippery slope.

I'm going again on Friday with a group of mates and one suggestion was to base ourselves at The Pleasance, but that isn't happening now.

I'm very jealous, all I'm going to is a kid's show with my daughter on one of the weekends. Which I'm informed has elements of audience participation.

I found myself on stage on Tuesday doing a charade of "Mooncup". I had no idea what it was until 2 minutes ago when I googled it out of interest before replying to you post. FFS, I thought they were laughing out of delight at my amazing charades performance, had no idea.

I hope part of the mime was you baring your arse

[Torquemada 1420]

I've been following this one and I confess I have no idea what his routine is but the question is WTF would you sign him if his show didn't "align with our cultural values yada yada"?

Equally, putting our a statement saying "Pleasance champions free speech" whilst in the same breath censoring an act is worthy of No10.

This was quite funny

[Dinsdale Piranha]

I've been following this one and I confess I have no idea what his routine is but the question is WTF would you sign him if his show didn't "align with our cultural values yada yada"?

Equally, putting our a statement saying "Pleasance champions free speech" whilst in the same breath censoring an act is worthy of No10.

This was quite funny

"Pleasance champions free speech" That's right up there with:

"Your call is important to us"

"$COMPANY takes security seriously"

Absolutely gutless by the Pleasance and a nasty slippery slope. Hopefully another venue picks him up.

[Torquemada 1420]

I think this is incredibly dangerous for the Fringe. I would say most people go for the "edgyness" but at the same time are the same people who would not tolerate blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny etc. Telling these people, and I include myself, what they can and can't watch and in effect are too thick to make up their own minds is a very slippery slope.

I'm going again on Friday with a group of mates and one suggestion was to base ourselves at The Pleasance, but that isn't happening now.

See the video in my post above. Seems it's not very fringe these days.

[inactionman]

I think this is incredibly dangerous for the Fringe. I would say most people go for the "edgyness" but at the same time are the same people who would not tolerate blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny etc. Telling these people, and I include myself, what they can and can't watch and in effect are too thick to make up their own minds is a very slippery slope.

I'm going again on Friday with a group of mates and one suggestion was to base ourselves at The Pleasance, but that isn't happening now.

I'm very jealous, all I'm going to is a kid's show with my daughter on one of the weekends. Which I'm informed has elements of audience participation.

I found myself on stage on Tuesday doing a charade of "Mooncup". I had no idea what it was until 2 minutes ago when I googled it out of interest before replying to you post. FFS, I thought they were laughing out of delight at my amazing charades performance, had no idea.

I had to google it, and I'm left wondering how that could be conveyed in mime.

[inactionman]

I've been following this one and I confess I have no idea what his routine is but the question is WTF would you sign him if his show didn't "align with our cultural values yada yada"?

Equally, putting our a statement saying "Pleasance champions free speech" whilst in the same breath censoring an act is worthy of No10.

This was quite funny

I'm not comfortable with Jerry Sadowitz being in any way compared - unless by way of vast contrast - with Roy Chubby Brown.

[Torquemada 1420]

I'm not comfortable with Jerry Sadowitz being in any way compared - unless by way of vast contrast - with Roy Chubby Brown.

Agree. At least nobody mentioned Bernard Manning.

[Tichtheid]

I don't know who the three guys in that video are. After looking up the name Mark Dolan, it seems he co-hosted "If Katie Hopkins Ruled The World" with Hopkins.

I've never watched GBNews, but I do know that it's home to some people, Farage, Neil Oliver, with whom I fundamentally disagree.

I think the Pleasance has got the Sadowitz decision wrong, but that doesn't mean GB News is any less wrong.

[robmatic]

I don't know who the three guys in that video are. After looking up the name Mark Dolan, it seems he co-hosted "If Katie Hopkins Ruled The World" with Hopkins.

I've never watched GBNews, but I do know that it's home to some people, Farage, Neil Oliver, with whom I fundamentally disagree.

I think the Pleasance has got the Sadowitz decision wrong, but that doesn't mean GB News is any less wrong.

Pleasance were so wrong they made GB News look reasonable. That's how bad the decision and justification of it is.

[Blackmac]

I think the festival is on a slippery slope anyway. It used to be a pretty cheap and cheerful thing to enjoy. You could spend a day attending half a dozen shows and if half of them were shite, so what, they only cost a couple of quid. Now you are looking at £15 to £20 for everything, the cost of food and drink at the venues is astronomical and you have many, many performers saying they will no longer be attending due to the outrageous costs involved.

[Torquemada 1420]

I don't know who the three guys in that video are. After looking up the name Mark Dolan, it seems he co-hosted "If Katie Hopkins Ruled The World" with Hopkins.

I've never watched GBNews, but I do know that it's home to some people, Farage, Neil Oliver, with whom I fundamentally disagree.

I think the Pleasance has got the Sadowitz decision wrong, but that doesn't mean GB News is any less wrong.

I'd never even heard of GB news. I was searching for an explanation of what Sadowitz had done to be banned (note that Pleasance has passed judgement whilst refusing to state upon what basis its judgement was made). It looked very Sky like as a channel but the criticism of Pleasance seemed accurate and was funny to me.

[Torquemada 1420]

I don't know who the three guys in that video are. After looking up the name Mark Dolan, it seems he co-hosted "If Katie Hopkins Ruled The World" with Hopkins.

I've never watched GBNews, but I do know that it's home to some people, Farage, Neil Oliver, with whom I fundamentally disagree.

I think the Pleasance has got the Sadowitz decision wrong, but that doesn't mean GB News is any less wrong.

Pleasance were so wrong they made GB News look reasonable. That's how bad the decision and justification of it is.

I'm guessing from this (and the "GB" bit in the title) that this lot are a tad right of Ghengis Khan?

[inactionman]

I think the festival is on a slippery slope anyway. It used to be a pretty cheap and cheerful thing to enjoy. You could spend a day attending half a dozen shows and if half of them were shite, so what, they only cost a couple of quid. Now you are looking at £15 to £20 for everything, the cost of food and drink at the venues is astronomical and you have many, many performers saying they will no longer be attending due to the outrageous costs involved.

I've heard a fair few comedians say that the Fringe is a necessary evil, which they do almost out of duty. I did wonder if that was just a bit of burnout talking, but cost and stress seem to be quite high.

There was talk of splitting the various festivals in terms of the timings in the year, so that the literature and international festivals don't clash with the fringe, but the fringe is so big that it'll always be oversubscribed.

(I've lost track, what's happened to the lit festival? It's usually in Charlotte Square but there was nothing there when I drove past last week)

[C69]

I'm off to Edinburgh later int he week

[Slick]

I think the festival is on a slippery slope anyway. It used to be a pretty cheap and cheerful thing to enjoy. You could spend a day attending half a dozen shows and if half of them were shite, so what, they only cost a couple of quid. Now you are looking at £15 to £20 for everything, the cost of food and drink at the venues is astronomical and you have many, many performers saying they will no longer be attending due to the outrageous costs involved.

I've heard a fair few comedians say that the Fringe is a necessary evil, which they do almost out of duty. I did wonder if that was just a bit of burnout talking, but cost and stress seem to be quite high.

There was talk of splitting the various festivals in terms of the timings in the year, so that the literature and international festivals don't clash with the fringe, but the fringe is so big that it'll always be oversubscribed.

(I've lost track, what's happened to the lit festival? It's usually in Charlotte Square but there was nothing there when I drove past last week)

moved to Edinburgh Uni

[Big D]

I was told it was event staff rather than the audience that had the issues. Not sure if true.

[robmatic]

I don't know who the three guys in that video are. After looking up the name Mark Dolan, it seems he co-hosted "If Katie Hopkins Ruled The World" with Hopkins.

I've never watched GBNews, but I do know that it's home to some people, Farage, Neil Oliver, with whom I fundamentally disagree.

I think the Pleasance has got the Sadowitz decision wrong, but that doesn't mean GB News is any less wrong.

Pleasance were so wrong they made GB News look reasonable. That's how bad the decision and justification of it is.

I'm guessing from this (and the "GB" bit in the title) that this lot are a tad right of Ghengis Khan?

They are aimed squarely at the UKIP audience.

[robmatic]

I think the festival is on a slippery slope anyway. It used to be a pretty cheap and cheerful thing to enjoy. You could spend a day attending half a dozen shows and if half of them were shite, so what, they only cost a couple of quid. Now you are looking at £15 to £20 for everything, the cost of food and drink at the venues is astronomical and you have many, many performers saying they will no longer be attending due to the outrageous costs involved.

Between the high costs for the punters and high expenses for the performers, someone (presumably the venues) must be making a reasonable amount out of it.

[Slick]

I think the festival is on a slippery slope anyway. It used to be a pretty cheap and cheerful thing to enjoy. You could spend a day attending half a dozen shows and if half of them were shite, so what, they only cost a couple of quid. Now you are looking at £15 to £20 for everything, the cost of food and drink at the venues is astronomical and you have many, many performers saying they will no longer be attending due to the outrageous costs involved.

Yup, even in the 5 years that we have been here the prices have at least doubled. Just get the feeling it’s going to eat itself.

Ona other note, I’ve tried to get you on a couple of other threads, but are you looking for any more customers? Our old neighbours are looking for some ongoing help and I said I would ask

[Kawazaki]

If comedians like Bernard Manning, Roy Chubby Brown, Jim Davidson etc have been cancelled then why shouldn't this guy?

I wouldn't ban any comedians btw.

[Ymx]

I don't know who the three guys in that video are. After looking up the name Mark Dolan, it seems he co-hosted "If Katie Hopkins Ruled The World" with Hopkins.

I've never watched GBNews, but I do know that it's home to some people, Farage, Neil Oliver, with whom I fundamentally disagree.

I think the Pleasance has got the Sadowitz decision wrong, but that doesn't mean GB News is any less wrong.

I'd never even heard of GB news. I was searching for an explanation of what Sadowitz had done to be banned (note that Pleasance has passed judgement whilst refusing to state upon what basis its judgement was made). It looked very Sky like as a channel but the criticism of Pleasance seemed accurate and was funny to me.

You’ve not heard of GB news?

Are you joking?

Andrew Neil involved in setting it up
Promoted as the Fox News of UK
Anti -woke
Hated by lefties as right wing
Sponsorship dramas
…

[C69]

If comedians like Bernard Manning, Roy Chubby Brown, Jim Davidson etc have been cancelled then why shouldn't this guy?

I wouldn't ban any comedians btw.

Manning has been dead for 15 years ffs

[Biffer]

The chatter I heard was that he got his cock out on stage and that was what led to this. Not sure if that's true or not, but I could understand the venue reacting if it was true as they normally have to give warnings of nudity

[Ymx]

The chatter I heard was that he got his cock out on stage and that was what led to this. Not sure if that's true or not, but I could understand the venue reacting if it was true as they normally have to give warnings of nudity

Actually, that’s what they said on the gb news link above.

[Biffer]

The chatter I heard was that he got his cock out on stage and that was what led to this. Not sure if that's true or not, but I could understand the venue reacting if it was true as they normally have to give warnings of nudity

Actually, that’s what they said on the gb news link above.

It was GBNews so I ain't opening that

But if its what happened you can understand the difference between content / subject matter and nudity.

[Margin__Walker]

The chatter I heard was that he got his cock out on stage and that was what led to this. Not sure if that's true or not, but I could understand the venue reacting if it was true as they normally have to give warnings of nudity

Doesn't he often get his cock out on stage? I thought it was a bit he did.

[Slick]

The chatter I heard was that he got his cock out on stage and that was what led to this. Not sure if that's true or not, but I could understand the venue reacting if it was true as they normally have to give warnings of nudity

Doesn't he often get his cock out on stage? I thought it was a bit he did.

I thought his promo stuff specifically said he did

[Tichtheid]

The chatter I heard was that he got his cock out on stage and that was what led to this. Not sure if that's true or not, but I could understand the venue reacting if it was true as they normally have to give warnings of nudity

Doesn't he often get his cock out on stage? I thought it was a bit he did.

I thought his promo stuff specifically said he did

He does knob jokes and gets his out as part of it, has done for years.

As well as the 18+ rating and the following on the Fringe booking site, "Warnings and additional info: This show contains strong language and themes some may find distressing."

He also wrote this,

Description
Jerry Sadowitz returns with his whacky impressions of Greta Thunberg, Frankie Boyle and deep vein thrombosis. He also promises to do less hate-fuelled swearing and focus more on faux liberal pish in order to appeal to the middle class and their disposable income and personalities. 'Please note that I might just do card tricks and say nothing for a whole hour or I might just do the usual "screaming fascist" schtick. Or both. Patrons may wish to drink alcohol pre-show to avoid boredom, embarrassment and guilt.'


It's difficult to argue that patrons would be surprised at his show.

I'll just reiterate though, he is never punching down in his act.

[Torquemada 1420]

You’ve not heard of GB news?

Are you joking?

Andrew Neil involved in setting it up
Promoted as the Fox News of UK
Anti -woke
Hated by lefties as right wing
Sponsorship dramas
…

I actually watch very little TV outside of rugby.

[Glaston]

The chatter I heard was that he got his cock out on stage and that was what led to this. Not sure if that's true or not, but I could understand the venue reacting if it was true as they normally have to give warnings of nudity

Isn't that part of his act.

Supposedly the flyer for the show says he will get his todger out.

[inactionman]

It must be a rank-bad todger.