John's outburst stuns fans

John Bishop stunned his audience last night when he lost his cool with a fan he thought had insulted his family.

Some of those at the show in Southport Theatre described the normally mild-mannered comedian’s outburst as ‘a bit excruciating’ and a ‘meltdown’.

Bishop eventually regained his composure and apologised, though many punters were surprised by the uncharacteristic intensity of the comic’s response.

Actor Kent Riley was one of several in the audience who wrote about the gig on Twitter.

He tweeted: ‘Haha I went to see John Bishop and he lost it an threatened to quote “twat fuck out of you” to an audience member who heckled him.’

Stuart Wright, from Liverpool, said: ‘Weird experience at John Bishop tonight. All really funny up until the point he lost it with a heckler and threatened to kick their teeth in.’

Michael Hill tweeted: ‘Still bemused by John Bishop losing his rag on stage last night. Bizarre and a bit excruciating. Killed atmosphere yet still a great show.’

Neil Illing from Preston said: ‘[I have] never seen a comic have a meltdown. If you want an audience to participate don't get offended by their replies.’

After the gig, Liverpudlian Bishop also used the social network site to apologise, saying: ‘I hope my rant towards the idiot didn't ruin for everyone else.

An hour later, he added: ‘To clear things up I mistook a comment as an insult to my mum so lost my temper a bit. I was mistaken but the rest of the gig was lovely.’

The incident came when the comedian, who recently completed his first primetime BBC One show, asked the audience for suggestions of words and phrases that might be on the corporation’s list of the words viewers found most offensive. Someone at the front shouted something which Bishop took personally.

Bishop’s publicist said: ‘John misinterpreted what he had heard and thought it was a direct insult towards his family. He took great offence which he expressed towards him. However, he did apologise there and then, and also shook hands with him after the show, which cleared up the misunderstanding.’

Published: 4 Nov 2010