"Comedian" Jim Davidson threw a temper tantrum and refused to perform his show
at the Plymouth theatre last night because the front row was comprised almost
entirely of people in wheelchairs. His warm-up act had already been on
for 15 minutes when he decided to cancel the show.
Davidson had requested that the theatre manager move
the disabled audience members "to the side". Evidently he likened them more to
large ice cream trolleys, or other such unsightly obstacles, than to human
beings who have as much right to enjoy an evening out at a show as anyone
else.
The theatre denied Davidsons ridiculous request and refused to move anyone
who had spent £19 a ticket to be sat where they were sat. In a statement
released on his behalf today, Davidson explained he "took the mick" out of
everyone in the front row of his shows.
"As all the people in the front row were in wheelchairs I feared it would
appear I was specifically targeting disabled people. I asked if just some would
mind moving. Much of my act depends upon audience reaction and in fact one
part of the show involves getting the audience to gang up against the front
row."
This will be
of little consolation to the hundreds of people who wasted their money
on tickets and travel expenses and is a pathetic excuse from
a supposedly experienced stand-up. One of the marks of a great comedian is to
be able to tailor their performance to suit their
audience.
Obviously Mr Davidson cannot cope outside the confines of a set routine,
otherwise the audience would surely have got some sort of performance, albeit a
slightly watered down version of his usual racist, biggotted, predjudiced
"comedy"?
