All his own work
Apology for 'gag thief' claim
A newspaper has formally apologised to Canadian stand-up Stewart Francis after wrongly claiming that he used stolen material.In a review published last month, the Edinburgh Evening News claimed that the droll one-line merchant ‘borrowed material from other famous comedians’.
However, the paper has today published an apology over the slur – one of the worst professional accusations that can be levelled at a stand-up.
‘We would like to point out that Mr Francis uses only his own material,’ the paper said today. ‘and we apologise for this mistake.’
Despite its mistake, the paper had roundly praised Francis’s gig at The Stand comedy club, calling it a ‘picture-perfect definition of deadpan deliverance… blasting out intelligent puns and double-meaning one-liners.’
Published: 8 Jan 2007
