Comedy punter indignant over stand-up's banter

An irritating comedy club punter has demanded a written retraction after a stand-up hinted that he might be paedophile.

Freddie Quinne directed the quip at the man, called Carl, while on stage in Lancashire earlier this week.

Carl had become an early feature of the night as the compere had talked to him during hthe warm-up  about being overly chatty and distracted by his phone.

So when a bloke stumbled into the room during Quinne’s opening set, the comic decided to reincorporate Carl into his response.

He told the guy he had walked into a  paedophile support group, and joked that Carl would be speaking next: ‘Tell the group what you've been doing this week to battle your urges,’ Quinne said, earning a laugh.

In the interval, a disgruntled Carl complained to the promoter, insisting Quinne go back on stage and retract what he said. But by that time the comic had left.

At the end of the night Carl, this time backed up by his wife, complained again that the statement has not been retracted.

Quinne said: ‘Carl insisted with the management that I email him a written retraction in the morning. He actually wanted it in writing that he wasn't a paedophile.’

So he sent the following email

‘Hi Carl

I believe there were some issues with regards to last night’s performance… I have told that you wish for a retraction to be made.

‘I am happy to go on record and state that I do not believe that you are a paedophile. However, I would also like to add that I don’t know you very well and I haven’t done the necessary criminal background checks.

‘I reserve the right to withdraw this statement should new evidence ever come to light, and would like to once again that I do not believe you are a danger to children. This was intended as a joke.’

When Quinne posted the anecdote on Facebook, fellow comic Meryl O’Rourke came forward with a similar story of her own.

She revealed that last year she put down a very persistent heckler with a line she often uses about their conversation being ‘the longest chat he's had with a woman without a rape alarm going off’.

He stormed out and asked the show manager if ‘they give the comics our names so they can Google the audience’, adding:  That was a bit close to home.’

‘The show manager felt he should tell me off for making an audience member leave,’ O’Rourke said. ‘But it was confusing because we seemed to be dealing with a rapist who didn't like being called a potential rapist.’ 

Published: 6 Sep 2018