Jerry Sadowitz has retaliated against the Edinburgh Fringe venue that canceled his performance for “severe racism and misogyny.”
The second of his two evenings at the festival was canceled after the Pleasance received an “unprecedented” number of complaints regarding the show’s content.
But Sadowitz stated that he left the venue “with no indication that anything was amiss.”
The 61-year-old stated that the choice had “cheapened and simplified” his show.
On Friday, Sadowitz, known for his confrontational stand-up performances, performed at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in front of 600 people.
The Pleasance reported that a “significant proportion” of attendees left the performance because they “felt uncomfortable and unsafe remaining in the theatre.”
When explaining why it canceled Saturday’s event, the comedy show operator, who claimed it did not censor its comedians’ material, stated that Sadowitz’s act was “severe in its racism, sexism, homophobia, and misogyny.”
Please limit yourself to Carry On films.
On his Twitter feed, though, Fringe veteran Sadowitz stated: “I performed a 75-minute show for 600 people, which went off without a hitch and was rather successful.
“In addition to being informed that there were many walkouts and staff abuse, my actions are now characterized as unsafe, homophobic, misogynistic, and racist,” the author writes.
Sadowitz stated that his performance consists of “a great deal of foolish, exaggerated sarcasm and nonsense, actual fake and exaggerated fury and bile… for the sake of the humorous line that follows it.”
He added: “I have never once solicited a mainstream audience to attend one of my performances because guess what? In reality, I do not wish to upset anyone.
“Those who appreciate the show must accept it as it is. Please limit themselves to Carry On films.”
Sadowitz also demanded that The Pleasance apologize to those who had purchased tickets for the canceled performance.
Sadowitz, a magician and stand-up comedian, rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s with deliberately offensive and aggressive stage routines.
He has performed numerous times at The Pleasance during the Edinburgh Festival.
The original listing for the venue stated, “This performance contains explicit language and topics that some may find upsetting.”
The Pleasance stated that it did not pre-screen Sadowitz’s material and “could not have known the particulars” of his act when he was booked for 2022.
Other comedians have shown their support for Sadowitz.
Katherine Ryan, a comedian and BBC broadcaster, tweeted, “Very weird to cancel someone’s full run for apparent offense when a content warning is prominently displayed on the booking website.”
Richard Herring wrote on his blog, “To complain about his offensiveness is like asking the actor who portrays Macbeth to be jailed for murder.”
‘Completely unacceptable’
Sunday’s statement from The Pleasance stated: “We were quickly made aware of content that was deemed severe for its racism, sexism, homophobia, and misogyny, among other things.
“We will not connect ourselves with something that demeans individuals, and the language used on stage was, in our opinion, utterly unacceptable.
We were obligated to reply to an unusual amount of complaints that could not be ignored.
