Comedians defending Jerry Sadowitz

[FenlandFuckwit]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-62533592

His latest gig has been cancelled after he told racist jokes and got his dick out. Why are other comedians defending his right to do this? This behaviour is not ok, AIBU to think this is indecent and disgusting behaviour and the venue were correct in cancelling him.

Some of this also stems from the fact that the Fringe is a lot more about seeing comics Off The Telly now, rather than circuit comedians who have built up a following.

So many punters now go expecting everyone to be like Michael Macintyre or Russell Howard, and are gobsmacked that it’s not all like that - or even most of it. They’re the only sort of people who might inadvertently end up at JS gig without realising what they’re in for. But the vast majority will have chosen to go in the full knowledge of what they would get.

It’s changed so much since so many comedians became much more well known than before, largely die to the internet. I look back fondly to the old days when you genuinely discovered people you’d never otherwise have heard of doing a ten minute set behind a pub at 11.30.

No-one said he was anti-trans @JemimaPuddlegoose TRAs complaining about someone doesn't mean they're anti-trans.

You also seem to have missed the point about free speech.

I don't want to see penis puppets - I don't buy tickets for Puppetry of the Penis. I don't want to see a penis in the theatre - I don't buy tickets to the version of The Crucible that was staged a while ago. I don't like brutal, late night comedy, I don't go to adult shows or JS.

My DH and I have completely different views of certain comedians. Whose opinion wins out?

But schedules and performances shouldn't be determined by what I like or what offends me. That's not free speech. It's not creative freedom.

He didn't. He said that the Tory party only see Rishi as a p**i.

Commenting on other peoples racism is not racism

If he has done or said something that breaks a law then the matter should be referred to the police, but as this hasn't happened I think people complaining about his behaviour are being unreasonable.

I had to laugh at the comment from the director of the venue who cancelled him.

They said "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."

Quite a feat to contradict yourself so resoundingly in just two sentences.

To those saying he’s an equal opportunity offender, is this really true? I don’t know much about his work but I often find when people claim comedians offend everyone that in reality their jokes are 90% about visible minorities, Muslims and women.

If they do tell jokes that focus on white people it will be about ‘gammons’ or Trump supporters which doesn’t impact most white people or something benign about white people e.g. ability to dance.

Has he said anything outrageously antisemitic or about white heterosexual males as a class in his shows?

Agreed, but equally Sadowitz isn't some 80s throwback, he gigs constantly and his material changes accordingly. It's not like a 20 year old booker has booked this dude called Jim Davidson and is completely shocked he's a bit racist...

You're asking if a famous Jewish comedian is anti-Semitic?
Maybe Google him. MNers can't summarise his career for you in a post.

When I saw him at Leicester Square last year, there was a moment when some guy in the crowd clapped and cheered in agreement to something JS said. It was an extremely jarring moment. Sadowitz's face changed and he broke out of his stage persona and said "You're not supposed to fucking agree with me. This is an act, this isn't some fucking rally"

To those saying he’s an equal opportunity offender, is this really true?

From twitter, I understand that he opened a show in Canada with "Hello, Moosefuckers!" and then said something about them "stealing the land from the Indians" which ended with him getting punched on stage.

My brain's been somersaulting reading this thread. Or maybe whiplash would be more accurate.

‘You're asking if a famous Jewish comedian is anti-Semitic?’

No I’m not asking if a Jewish comedian is antisemitic. I asked whether he has told any outrageously antisemitic jokes. My point being that if he’s truly an equal opportunity offender as some of his fans say, then he will also have made offensive jokes about his own race as well as white hetero men.

I say this because in my experience when comedians are lauded for offending ‘everybody’ when you unpick it, it’s normally not true. I’m not reading through the content of all of his gigs to find out. I was asking a question of his fans who say he abuses ‘everyone’. I’m 100% not a believer in cancel culture and am not easily offended but at the same time I often find the ‘he abuses everyone’ defence as BS or if they do say a joke about a white hetero man for example, it’s benign, and maybe only 5% of all their ‘abusing everyone’ jokes.

endless I saw him once mid 90s and he/his persona was misanthropic, bitter, vitriolic - hating everyone in equal measure. Too much ranting for me but I like magic tricks. Not sure what his current routine consists of but a review from 2019 says he came on pro Trump and Brexit, berating English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. I will say one thing though - his support of Mark Blanco's mum and desire to see justice done is laudable.
As to comedians defending him, it will be more the defending of free speech/art/expression than content - unless quoted fully and in context, we do not know what he is cancelled for exactly. He used to make a joke about layers of irony - whether this was to skewer the irony defence others use or it belied a truth, he does believe the bile, dunno. Richard Herring had an interview in the Scotsman about him that was an interesting take.

Jerry Sadowitz made fun of his Jewish heritage all the time as part of his act.

And his Scottish heritage.

And everything else.

Yes @Endlesssummer2022 he makes jokes about Jewish people too, I hadn’t heard of him before today but there is this amazing thing called google that I recommend you try, it took me a few seconds to answer your question.

Well, I can’t find a mention of why Sadowitz was cancelled so I’m going to go ahead and assume that he made a joke about men who think they’re women. Nothing else gets someone silenced as viciously and quickly - not racism, and certainly not nudity. (And btw it wasn’t racist to suggest that Tory party voters see Rishi primarily as a p**i, that was calling out racism 🤦‍♀️).

Trans activists always go after the income of those they deem insufficiently obedient, and I assume that happened here. They don’t want anyone shining a light on their politics, let alone encouraging actual debate.

Sadowitz, kudos to you for publicly calling out Jimmy Saville as a paedophile decades before the world caught up, sorry you got cancelled for that. I expect the world will catch up with you on whatever you said this time, in due course. In the meantime congrats for a career spent making people laugh while shining a spotlight on people and issues who prefer silence and secrecy.

post edited by Mumsnet HQ to redact an offensive term

Well said 👏👏👏

www.richardherring.com/press/6286/interview_with_the_scotsman_about_jerry_sadowitz.html

Thank you, @SequinsandStilettos The article was an interesting read.

Legend. I believe the full quote goes,

”Hello, moose fuckers. I’ll tell you why I hate Canada: half of you speak French, and the other half let them.”

I think he got attacked by the audience for that.

The Daily Mail article included all the tweets. I saw it this morning and had all that info.

I used to watch his show on Channel 5

Indecent exposure is OK now is it?

“Indecent exposure is defined in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It is an offence for a person to intentionally expose their genitals with the intention for someone to see them and be alarmed or distressed. This is the main indecent exposure offence.
There are two parts to the offence, both of which require ‘specific intent’. Specific intent means intentional exposure and intention that one’s genitals will be seen and cause alarm or distress.”

I suspect the intent being to make people laugh means it’s not indecent exposure.

It’s not indecent exposure, it’s part of his act complaining about it is like complaining about seeing genitals on a nudist beach.

For the love of God, it's NOT indecent exposure.

If that was the case, there would be no burlesque shows, no strip acts, no shows like "puppetry of the penis" at the Fringe, no stage dramas where there is nudity like Daniel Radcliffe in Equus, no TV shows like Naked Attraction.

In a situation where nudity is EXPECTED AND ANTICIPATED, it is not remotely the same as being exposed to genitals against your will in a place where you wouldn't expect to see them.

Again, Sadowitz has been doing this as part of his act for DECADES.
It's well known.

It IS NOT indecent exposure.

Indecent exposure is OK now is it?

It is well known that if you go and see Sadowitz you run the risk of him getting his knob out. It even said in the promo for his latest tour that 'he'll get his dick out' it's part of the act. Not indecent exposure.

I've seen Sadowitz live twice. He is a brilliant performer, literally nothing is off limits. Not a single thing. The character he portrays on stage is not meant to be agreed with. That's not what he's about. If anecdotes from those who've met him outside of a performance, are to be believed he's a really nice guy and nothing like his stage act, my DH met him after a gig once and said he was very friendly. He's also an amazing close up magician.

I don't believe this venue didn't know exactly what they were getting when booking him, especially seeing as they've had him before, his act hasn't changed that much.

Is the theatre compensating JS for loss of earnings given it was their choice to cancel?

What's leaping out at me-

He has an established, provocative act, and has done for years.
He has hidden nothing about it.
He's regularly booked and is established with that provocative act.
The venue knew exactly who he was and what he does.
He was blacklisted for highlighting Saville's crimes.

Someone got it shut down despite all the above.

It's not an act I'd want to see. It's not an act I'd want to see shut down.