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Jerry Sadowitz Got Cancelled At Edinburgh – But Then He Did Ask To Be

Published Sun, 14 Aug 2022 11:28:10 -0500

Last updated Sun, 04 Sep 2022 05:00:41 -0500

Back in 2020, I ran a story about stand-up comedian, magician and cartoonist Jerry Sadowitz relaunching his comedy show. Relying on only a few fans who would come out and see his August show, Not For Anyone was held in the height of lockdown, with the bumf: "Jerry Sadowitz – comedian magician psychopath- is the perfect antidote to man-made viruses designed to slow down climate change by ridding the world of people like you. Whether you've had the Coronavirus or just thinking about it… come and aerate your lungs at the world's no.1 offensive forced isolating, comedy scaremongerer. HAVE A LAUGH – as you receive texts in the dark to show that your loved ones have just DIED. THRILL – to the knowledge that MORE ACCESSIBLE comedians will be forced to cancel their show because their audience numbers exceed 500. SMELL – the horror Sadowitz faces because you b**tards stockpiled toilet paper and soap from the supermarkets months before. GO – &%#* yourself. Please note – Mr. Sadowitz will NOT be contracting the coronavirus as he is a comedian "too big to fail" and refunds will NOT be given to mid or post-show punter fatalities."

At the time I pointed out that Sadowitz was one of the most brilliant live comedians I have ever seen, and – as well as his magic tricks – perform another trick to portray himself as the very worst of the worst, the scum on your shoe, a person beneath your contempt and for whom the whole world has shat upon. Which means that any joke he then tells, against any target, using the worst possible language available to him, is somehow punching up. It's quite remarkable. The last time I saw him, he was complaining that no one had tried to cancel him. That, unlike some stars, no one had caught him in a hotel room with two underage girls, and he really wished they would. Though to be fair, he'd just be happy with the hotel room. But he'd also really like the publicity that Louis CK got. He then proceeded to whip his penis out on stage and leave it dangling there for some time, just wishing that this might get the Daily Mail outraged at him, but was resigned to the fact that it would not." It was very funny indeed.

Well, a couple of years later, Jerry Sadowitz has finally got what he asked for. Performing his Not For Anyone routine at the Pleasance Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has seen his show cancelled by the venue, seemingly for the act of, well, getting his cock out. Ar least it is that which seems to have garnered the most complaints. He 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."

Well, he made it into the Daily Mail. And being defended by JK Rowling. That may be a mistake on her part, there is nothing Jerry Sadowitz' character on stage hates more than someone defending him. So back to London's Leicester Square Theatre, it is then, Jerry. They, after all, have seen it all before. And what are the odds that Jerry will pack the place to the rafters now?

But if you really want a laugh, the theatre's director Anthony Alderson stated "The Pleasance is a venue that champions freedom of speech and we do not censor comedians' material. While we acknowledge that Jerry Sadowitz has often been controversial, the material presented at his first show is not acceptable and does not align with our values. This type of material has no place on the festival and the Pleasance will not be presenting his second and final show". Have you ever seen such a paragraph contradict itself two sentences in?