Jerry Sadowitz - what did he do?

[cunningman]

I'm intrigued.  He's edgy.  What did he say that got the second gig immediately cancelled?

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[mr.bluesky]

Whatever the reason  its probably another win for the woke/ snowflake brigade

[scutty brown]

who?

[bigden40]

Reports suggest he used a racial slur to describe Rishi Sunak and also got his dick out. 

Not sure what people expect with Sadowitz though, there’s no surprises here he’s been full-on offensive since the '80s. If it’s not your bag then don’t go see him.

[ulstersubbie]

I'm surprised he's still around. I saw the prick back in the 80's and he was utter shite.

[maxQ]

He had a program on channel 5 back in the day, The people Vs Jerry Sadowitz, almost anything could happen, which is why it didn't last long

Jerry 

[SoapyTW]

who?

One of the early guys to out Jimmy Saville - sadly ignored

[mills_and_bhuna]

One of the early guys to out Jimmy Saville - sadly ignored

and Savile was never cancelled.
Which should tell you something

[myothernameis]

Whatever the reason  its probably another win for the woke/ snowflake brigade

So from what I can make out, members of the public bought tickets for the show, and they were horrified with what was being said, ie jokes

Now I would say, if I was going to buy a ticket, I have an idea of the content of the show, and if I dont like what might be said, I either dont go, and should be no reason to complain

With a show like this, that might contain offensive material, I believe the ticket should have a disclaimer like:   This show may contain offensive material, and if you are offended by this sort of material , then this show may not be for you

By buying this ticket and entering the venue, you give up your right to make any sort of complaint about the material

[JontyR]

Sadowitz is offensive. Always has been. No one is above being the subject of his abuse. And the levels of that abuse is off the scale compared to anything on the telly. And I think this is somewhat of the problem, folks thinking stand up in a theatre is going to be just like the Apollo.

Strange thing is though, for all that Sadowitz isn't spiteful. He doesn't encourage the hate against a subject or sections of society. I see things much more mean spirited on daytime TV.

[bigden40]

and Savile was never cancelled.
Which should tell you something

Really?  I think Saville is pretty much completely cancelled beyond the odd documentary about what happened.  Can’t recall seeing any of his stuff on TV lately.

[JontyR]

Really?  I think Saville is pretty much completely cancelled beyond the odd documentary about what happened.  Can’t recall seeing any of his stuff on TV lately.

I think his career was more curtailed by his death rather than any police investigation.

[Matrix]

It's like some people don't understand what a joke is. 

[Bopcrown]

Got his dick out on stage, racial slur against Sunak, racial & sexist slur.

From the Promo Video for his act:
“He’s gonna be funny. He’s gonna be rude. He’s gonna do magic tricks. “He’s gonna do impressions. He’s gonna get his d*** out. “He’s gonna do every f****** thing, so make sure you go and see him.”
    A further show description posted online said Sadowitz would return with his “whacky impressions of Greta Thunberg, Frankie Boyle and deep vein thrombosis It said 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”.
    He added: “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.”

Eye witness statement (Scottish Sun)
One audience member said: “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”.

Also he's just not funny.

[mills_and_bhuna]

Really?  I think Saville is pretty much completely cancelled beyond the odd documentary about what happened.  Can’t recall seeing any of his stuff on TV lately.

He's dead though. I don't think he'll notice

[bigden40]

He's dead though. I don't think he'll notice

Indeed.

However, would have been difficult to cancel him in his lifetime given that the allegations against him were only allowed to surface posthumously. 

[Marmalade]

With a show like this, that might contain offensive material, I believe the ticket should have a disclaimer like:   This show may contain offensive material, and if you are offended by this sort of material , then this show may not be for you

By buying this ticket and entering the venue, you give up your right to make any sort of complaint about the material

Excellent suggestion (hard to enforce, but worth a shot).

I wonder if some people went specifically so they could complain?? Sadowitz-haters. He’s famous enough, why the fuck would you buy a ticket if you don’t like the sort of stuff he does??

Personally I’ve never found him very funny: but a lot of people do — and surely they have a right to see their favourite comedian? Why pay good money just to exercise your right to be offended?

Fucking wankers. 

[SoapyTW]

Compare and contrast... the Harry Potter guy got his cock out on stage. He was only 17 at the time, and was having an 'erotic relationship with a horse'. I guess this was more acceptable behaviour in 2006 

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[Marmalade]

Compare and contrast... the Harry Potter guy got his cock out on stage. He was only 17 at the time, and was having an 'erotic relationship with a horse'. I guess this was more acceptable behaviour in 2006 

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It raises a very good point. Such nudity is somehow acceptable as art in serious theatre or film.

They usually contain some silly warning about “contains nudity”. There is something about it being artistically relevant so it ‘ain’t porn’. A guy on stage isn’t the latest arthouse movie — but hardly the Kew Gardens flasher either.

Maybe someone should have warned him the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has gone woke.

[petermisc]

Compare and contrast... the Harry Potter guy got his cock out on stage. He was only 17 at the time, and was having an 'erotic relationship with a horse'. I guess this was more acceptable behaviour in 2006 

As Marmalade says, the audience would have been warned about it.  And Radcliffe's performance would have been carefully choreographed.

Whereas Sadowitz basically just exposed himself full-on at the audience without any warning.  Not sure how many people want to see a 60+ years old flasher.  And I doubt that many venues would want to be associated with such a performance.

[bigden40]

Interesting take from Konstantin Kisin

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[Marmalade]

Interesting take from Konstantin Kisin

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A good report.

Yet it hasn’t affected some comedians. Ricky Gervais quips (?) that he gets his lawyer to check all his jokes first. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy Carr doesn’t as well. But they are both pretty clever individuals …

I have to say I don’t find Sadowitz funny. I wonder, if you find a routine funny don’t you tend to judge it less harshly? Bill Burr has done some brilliant shows which really satirise women, I find them funny, and partly (I hope) as I think he also respects women. Katherine Ryan on the other hand does the same thing but satirises men. She’s a top comedian with her own hosting shows. After ten minutes all I can think of is, how the fuck does a boyfriend put up with her??

Sadowitz is gutter-style working class political humour. If you’re offended by racist slurs from the housing estates, you shouldn’t go and see him (just as I wouldn’t honestly go to see Katherine Ryan unless with a female partner who wanted to see her.)  Unlike Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr or Ricky Gervais, he doesn’t intellectualise and justify his jokes during his show (as far as I know). For that, he’ll quite possibly get cancelled - and not just for Edinburgh’s Fringe.

[bigden40]

A good report.

Yet it hasn’t affected some comedians. Ricky Gervais quips (?) that he gets his lawyer to check all his jokes first. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy Carr doesn’t as well. But they are both pretty clever individuals …

I have to say I don’t find Sadowitz funny. I wonder, if you find a routine funny don’t you tend to judge it less harshly? Bill Burr has done some brilliant shows which really satirise women, I find them funny, and partly (I hope) as I think he also respects women. Katherine Ryan on the other hand does the same thing but satirises men. She’s a top comedian with her own hosting shows. After ten minutes all I can think of is, how the fuck does a boyfriend put up with her??

Sadowitz is gutter-style working class political humour. If you’re offended by racist slurs from the housing estates, you shouldn’t go and see him (just as I wouldn’t honestly go to see Katherine Ryan unless with a female partner who wanted to see her.)  Unlike Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr or Ricky Gervais, he doesn’t intellectualise and justify his jokes during his show (as far as I know). For that, he’ll quite possibly get cancelled - and not just for Edinburgh’s Fringe.

The likes of Carr and Gervais are fortunate enough to be above the woke gatekeepers as they have a big enough following.  Just like Dave Chapelle was able to rise above the attempted cancellation following his last Netflix special.

Frankie Boyle is a big disappointment these days.  He’s just not funny any more.

I was listening to the Triggernometry guys on Joe Rogan, they made a great point about how diversity in comedy (on UK TV) was just people of different races, genders, etc speaking from the same script. 

I don’t find Sadowitz funny either.  Played my Uni in the late 80s, wasn’t funny and was dying on his arse, therefore he got his dick out. I may not like what he has to say, but I absolutely defend his right to say it. 

[willie loman]

he was attacked on stage in canada around 30 years ago, he has been offending people now for a long time,

[Marmalade]

I can well believe that about Boyle. It seemed to me that sometimes his political opinions were getting in the way of the jokes.

[willie loman]

I can well believe that about Boyle. It seemed to me that sometimes his political opinions were getting in the way of the jokes.

it was sadowitz who was attacked.

[lamboman]

Frankie Boyle is a big disappointment these days.  He’s just not funny any more.

Was he ever?
As for Sadowitz it's the venues fault really,how would they not know what he's like.
I seem to remember he was quite funny when he was on TV years ago although I'd probably think he was shit if I viewed him now.

[Marmalade]

it was sadowitz who was attacked.

My comment was in reply to BigDen40 Willie. Perhaps I should have made that clearer with a precise quote…

[Ali Katt]

As a sadowitz fan.
Jimmy Savile - indeed he did out him around 86 or was it later? The audio tape was called Gobshite and it was withdrawn because of libel towards Uncle Jimmy. It might be on Archive.org. the joke is something like "when a kid disappears they should send in an expert to find him like Jimmy Savile etc" and "he sounds like if someone vocalised having a wank"

In Canada: It was Montreal just for laughs festival, I think early 90s at a guess. He opened with"Good evening Moose fuckers", but what got him punched was "I hate Canadians. The trouble with you is half of you speak French and the other half let them".

I've listened to some of his bootlegs, newest one I've heard is 2013,but I've got a 2018 one as well. It does indeed say chink, paki, mong, spastic, nigger, jew boy and loads of other offensive words as well as rape jokes, paedo jokes, sexist jokes, holocaust jokes. As I've said the harshest stuff is usually directed towards himself and it shouldn't be taken at face value he rips into everyone.

You can see a downward spiral in comedy in recent years. Frankie Boyle IMO hasn't been funny since he started doing that new world order TV program, Jim Jeffries still has some howlers, but not as funny as he was 10 years ago, Stanhope has always been hit and miss so I don't know. This year Chubby Brown had a gig cancelled in Sheffield and Andrew Lawrence isn't touring because he dropped by his management company.

It's not people telling jokes which is a problem, it's people telling the wrong kind of jokes. Sometimes Sadowitz tells real barrel scraping Christmas cracker jokes, occasionally he says something thought provoking and truthful. Not defending racist jokes, but I will defend free speech. We saw the same bollocks in the late 90s were they burnt crosses and got a load of comedians cancelled - Manning, Carson, Mick Miller etc. Even Lee Hurst. I think a lot of it is professional jealousy Sadowitz, Chubby, Davidson can sell out on name alone and word of mouth were as people like Sara Pascoe have to do crap podcasts and panel shows to flog their arse.

[Marmalade]

Very interesting to hear another side of him Ali. 

While comedy seems to be pretty Marmite it’s always interesting to get an articulate opinion from a fan of someone I’ve never really warmed to before. Opens a doorway. Improves the chance of increasing one’s enjoyment and appreciation.

[Ali Katt]

Very interesting to hear another side of him Ali. 

While comedy seems to be pretty Marmite it’s always interesting to get an articulate opinion from a fan of someone I’ve never really warmed to before. Opens a doorway. Improves the chance of increasing one’s enjoyment and appreciation.

He's deliberately polarising. I think he's like the son of Derek and Clive and Alexei Sayle, but those names I think are cleverer with it. Although like I say occasionally Sadowitz will come out with something profound. TBF I think he's just an outsider in comedy and I think a few comedians considered lefty would defend him at least I hope so. I got bored of hearing the "my girlfriend does this and it's so frustrating" in the 90s and mainstream comedy has gone back that way. But every comedian seemed unique then on the same bill you could have: Lee Evans, Jack Dee, Frank Skinner and Jo Brand. Now you have four comedians basically saying the same shit.

[JontyR]

Good post Ali Katt. I agree with much of what you say. However I do wonder about the mentions of some of the other comics in the last paragraph...

It's not people telling jokes which is a problem, it's people telling the wrong kind of jokes. Sometimes Sadowitz tells real barrel scraping Christmas cracker jokes, occasionally he says something thought provoking and truthful. Not defending racist jokes, but I will defend free speech. We saw the same bollocks in the late 90s were they burnt crosses and got a load of comedians cancelled - Manning, Carson, Mick Miller etc. Even Lee Hurst. I think a lot of it is professional jealousy Sadowitz, Chubby, Davidson can sell out on name alone and word of mouth were as people like Sara Pascoe have to do crap podcasts and panel shows to flog their arse.

I think that folks may have gone to Manning and Davidson to hear them say "paki" and "mong" and them to be specific targets of jokes. I don't think there is much of a cross over with a Sadowitz audience who wouldn't go for that per se. This is why after all he is at the fringe and those others, whilst they may have had a 'popular' audience didn't perform at the fringe.

The fringe is on the edges of the Edinburgh International Arts festival. And whilst I think it is over-egging it a lot to call Sadowitz's comedy an art form, it certainly does try and stretch the genre. As you say a lot of times it fails, but sometimes it sparkles brighter than the sanitised form of comedy which you get on the panel shows / Apollo. John Cleese happily concedes that you can say the same about a lot of the Python TV shows.

[petermisc]

Interesting take from Konstantin Kisin
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KK just seem to be using this as fuel for their anti-woke bandwagon (like some on here).  They make no mention whatsoever that at least part of the reason for his cancellation might have been due to Sadowitz exposing himself on stage.

I find it hard to believe that the theatre would have booked him without doing a bit of research first.  And their warnings suggest that they were well aware of his material.  What they clearly were not expecting was a 60+ year old flasher doing a live sex act.  It was not what he said, but what he did, that got him cancelled.

[Marmalade]

The fringe is on the edges of the Edinburgh International Arts festival.

Small point but I do have to correct this.

In spite of the name, the Fringe is THE principle event. The International is very small by comparison and more expensive, top orchestras etc. Whereas the Fringe is fucking huge, over 3000 shows.

There’s five festivals running in August altogether in Edimburgh. The Fringe. The International. The Arts Festival. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The Book Festival.

Planning nightmare if you decide to do it properly.

[JontyR]

Small point but I do have to correct this.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

[willie loman]

the festival came first post war, the fringe came after hence the name, it was small amateur , student drama groups, taking advantage of the main festivals audience, the fringe which started out tiny is indeed bigger than all the other festivals,

[Ali Katt]

KK just seem to be using this as fuel for their anti-woke bandwagon (like some on here).  They make no mention whatsoever that at least part of the reason for his cancellation might have been due to Sadowitz exposing himself on stage.

I find it hard to believe that the theatre would have booked him without doing a bit of research first.  And their warnings suggest that they were well aware of his material.  What they clearly were not expecting was a 60+ year old flasher doing a live sex act.  It was not what he said, but what he did, that got him cancelled.

Sadowitz has been exposing himself for years. There was a picture of his nob on his own website at one point, he did the same at the Fringe donkeys ago as well to a heckler. More to the point unlike most celebrities he is actually hung.

With regards anti-woke I want balance. It's really insulting to the public's intelligence if they are told they can't see Chubby or whoever, but they can see one of identikit feminist comedians instead. Let the public decide if it is offensive.

[Ali Katt]

Good post Ali Katt. I agree with much of what you say. However I do wonder about the mentions of some of the other comics in the last paragraph...

I think that folks may have gone to Manning and Davidson to hear them say "paki" and "mong" and them to be specific targets of jokes. I don't think there is much of a cross over with a Sadowitz audience who wouldn't go for that per se. This is why after all he is at the fringe and those others, whilst they may have had a 'popular' audience didn't perform at the fringe.

The fringe is on the edges of the Edinburgh International Arts festival. And whilst I think it is over-egging it a lot to call Sadowitz's comedy an art form, it certainly does try and stretch the genre. As you say a lot of times it fails, but sometimes it sparkles brighter than the sanitised form of comedy which you get on the panel shows / Apollo. John Cleese happily concedes that you can say the same about a lot of the Python TV shows.

The message got lost, but the point I was making was people like Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning were primetime comedians really up until the mid-90s then they became considered racist, sexist, homophobic etc not saying their acts aren't just there was a witch hunt which came from jealous comedians who couldn't get on TV. I don't find the names mentioned particularly funny, but a lot of new comedians are dreadful at their craft, Manning can actually tell a joke with great timing.

[willie loman]

The message got lost, but the point I was making was people like Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning were primetime comedians really up until the mid-90s then they became considered racist, sexist, homophobic etc not saying their acts aren't just there was a witch hunt which came from jealous comedians who couldn't get on TV. I don't find the names mentioned particularly funny, but a lot of new comedians are dreadful at their craft, Manning can actually tell a joke with great timing.

there was never a witch hunt , the world had moved on, manning , tarbuck , etc were people who recited gags,and had a very good run for their money, they were never comedians in the modern sense of the word

[David1970]

there was never a witch hunt , the world had moved on, manning , tarbuck , etc were people who recited gags,and had a very good run for their money, they were never comedians in the modern sense of the word

Got to agree with you Willie, the audience’s humour moved on, but the comics did not. No one got cancelled, they just kept doing the same old type of jokes and the audience had moved on.

[Ali Katt]

there was never a witch hunt , the world had moved on, manning , tarbuck , etc were people who recited gags,and had a very good run for their money, they were never comedians in the modern sense of the word

Tarby was always crap. I think a lot of it did stem from professional jealousy, heroes become villains and all that. It's easy to see why when Manning, Chubby, Jethro whoever sold millions of VHS tapes (back in the 90s) and virtually nobody was buying a lot of the newer comedians stuff. A lot of newer comedians are still gag men with a team of writers: Jimmy Carr, Stewart Francis, Milton Jones etc - they just don't do Mick and Darkie jokes.

[bigden40]

The message got lost, but the point I was making was people like Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning were primetime comedians really up until the mid-90s then they became considered racist, sexist, homophobic etc not saying their acts aren't just there was a witch hunt which came from jealous comedians who couldn't get on TV. I don't find the names mentioned particularly funny, but a lot of new comedians are dreadful at their craft, Manning can actually tell a joke with great timing.

You are right that they were prime time comedians, especially with shows like Generation Game and Big Break which showcased Davidson as a leading light entertainer

HOWEVER his material didn’t become considered racist, etc. IT WAS racist, etc.  Davidson's standup material consisted of the “aren’t Irish people stupid.” and “do you know why West Indians have flat noses?” cartoon racism.  I grew up with the guy on TV and don’t think I ever found him funny.  Ditto Manning who was on the way out long before the 90s came around. 

Fortunately there were plenty great comedians around that didn’t have to resort to that - Billy Connolly, Dave Allan, the Pythons, Rowan Atkinson, Smith and Jones, the Two Ronnie, and many more.  And from the US George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Eddie Murphy, Roseanne Barr, etc.

[petermisc]

You are right that they were prime time comedians, especially with shows like Generation Game and Big Break which showcased Davidson as a leading light entertainer

HOWEVER his material didn’t become considered racist, etc. IT WAS racist, etc.  Davidson's standup material consisted of the “aren’t Irish people stupid.” and “do you know why West Indians have flat noses?” cartoon racism.  I grew up with the guy on TV and don’t think I ever found him funny.  Ditto Manning who was on the way out long before the 90s came around. 

Agreed, as David previously said, the world had moved on, but they were stuck in their racist rut.  No surprise that there were many who continued to think there was nothing wrong with racist jokes, and continued to support them.

[Ali Katt]

You are right that they were prime time comedians, especially with shows like Generation Game and Big Break which showcased Davidson as a leading light entertainer

HOWEVER his material didn’t become considered racist, etc. IT WAS racist, etc.  Davidson's standup material consisted of the “aren’t Irish people stupid.” and “do you know why West Indians have flat noses?” cartoon racism.  I grew up with the guy on TV and don’t think I ever found him funny.  Ditto Manning who was on the way out long before the 90s came around. 

Fortunately there were plenty great comedians around that didn’t have to resort to that - Billy Connolly, Dave Allan, the Pythons, Rowan Atkinson, Smith and Jones, the Two Ronnie, and many more.  And from the US George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Eddie Murphy, Roseanne Barr, etc.

I agree with most of this. I could be wrong, but I think Davidson stopped doing the Chalkie White character in the 80s. The way it was reported anybody would think he was still doing on Big Break in the mid-90s (cracking theme tune from Captain Sensible BTW). As for the Paddy jokes, he has Irish heritage; not saying it's right, but it's not as if it's say Nish Kumar going "thick paddys".

Do agree on the latter being funny and progressive; just a sad state we haven't moved on since the late 90s. Also Eddie Murphy was dragged over the coals for making homophobic jokes which were obviously ironic and very absurd, but some people didn't get the joke. With regards Bill Hicks - loved him as a teenager, but I think now it's the emperor's new clothes - I've seen three of his DVDs and most of it is repeated material, he is a great performer, but he is overrated; had he lived people would have seen that.

[bigden40]

I agree with most of this. I could be wrong, but I think Davidson stopped doing the Chalkie White character in the 80s. The way it was reported anybody would think he was still doing on Big Break in the mid-90s (cracking theme tune from Captain Sensible BTW). As for the Paddy jokes, he has Irish heritage; not saying it's right, but it's not as if it's say Nish Kumar going "thick paddys".

Do agree on the latter being funny and progressive; just a sad state we haven't moved on since the late 90s. Also Eddie Murphy was dragged over the coals for making homophobic jokes which were obviously ironic and very absurd, but some people didn't get the joke. With regards Bill Hicks - loved him as a teenager, but I think now it's the emperor's new clothes - I've seen three of his DVDs and most of it is repeated material, he is a great performer, but he is overrated; had he lived people would have seen that.

Gay Mr T? 🤣

[myothernameis]

As for the Paddy jokes

On a Facebook group, someone got a 7 day ban for posting a Paddy joke.  But the same joke was posted in other groups, with no ban, so you have to question Facebook reasons for this

[Ali Katt]

Gay Mr T? 🤣

It was about his girlfriend kissing gay guys and walking off with AIDS on her lips.

[Ali Katt]

On a Facebook group, someone got a 7 day ban for posting a Paddy joke.  But the same joke was posted in other groups, with no ban, so you have to question Facebook reasons for this

Same with Twitter though, some real bullying shit on there, but they deplatform celebrity Trump supporters.

[Marmalade]

On the one hand I feel we need a consciousness about polite language. No point in pissing people off through ignorance. That can of course get overdone if everyone’s claiming offence at obscure things.

But comedy is frequently a group bonding thing. You can make jokes with your mates, privately, for instance about women, but still act and speak with the greatest of respect when around women.

I think British group consciousness has been eroded. No disrespect to such persons individually but when a Muslim and Hindu are paraded as the epitome of Britishness, or a man claims to be a feminist, something’s got lost somewhere.

[myothernameis]

Seems he has just announced his UK tour, and guess what no dates for Edinburgh, or Glasgow