Lee lays into DVD exec

The star of BBC1 sitcom Not Going Out made his tongue-in-cheek rant after discovering that an executive of distribution house 2Entertain was in his audience at a stand-up gig.

He complained that the company had pushed back the scheduled release date after the BBC axed They Think It’s All Over after he’d presented just two series.

‘Why’s my DVD not coming out before Christmas?’ he joked. ‘Just because They Think It’s All Over got cancelled; just because the BBC think I’m a cunt - that’s no reason for you not to release it.’

Mack tried to pin down a release date from the company, to be told ‘November’, but the comic told the audience: ‘Yeah, but he didn’t say which year.’

The comic mockingly complained that he wanted the title on the shelves because he was fed up of trudging round the circuit. ‘I’ve got kids now,’ he said.

He also revealed that he’d been working on a backstage documentary as a DVD extra, but stopped when he was told the release date had been put back.

Mack’s comments – which he joked would jeopardise his career - came after bantering with the audience at the tenth birthday gig of London’s Monday Club. He chanced upon a trio of office girls, who first said they worked in ‘human resources’ and then reluctantly revealed they worked for 2Entertain.

‘So when I said that you fired people, what you should have said is, “Yes, I’ve fired YOU.” It’s the ultimate heckler’s comeback.’

He then asked if the girls’ boss, who’d dealt with his DVD, was in the audience - and he identified himself, sparking the light-hearted riff about the release.

Mack’s DVD, recorded at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre this spring, was initially due out this month – and Amazon still wrongly says it will be released on November 27.

2Entertain is a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and the VCI Group, which has previously issued videos of Catherine Tate, Little Britain and The Office.

Published: 7 Nov 2006