Comic shares narcotics with his audience

Stand-up Liam Mullone distributed half a pound of the stimulant khat to his audience at the Leicester Comedy Festival this weekend.

The narcotic leaves, which have a moderate amphetamine-like effect when chewed, are common on the Horn Of Africa, but set to be outlawed by Home Secretary Theresa May.

Mullone gave out the khat as part of a discussion about Djibouti, during his World Of Comedy show at the Kayal on Saturday.

Most of the population of Djibouti consumes khat every day, and there is a tradition of the khat mabraze, in which friends gather to chew the leaf and chat.

May has said that she will make khat a class C drug later this year, meaning that supply and production will incur a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.

'Like so many things in Britain, what is legal today will be illegal tomorrow,' Mullone said, with his mouth full of foliage.

He also discussed Angola, Chile and North Korea as part of his show –  after all the countries were selected by the audience a week before.

Mullone is not the first comedian to give his audience soon-to-be banned drugs. At the 2005 Glastonbury Festival, Brendon Burns handed out magic mushrooms to the crowd. Under the influence of the same drugs, he climbed scaffolding supporting the comedy tent, but only got about 10ft up.

Published: 24 Feb 2014