August 18, 2024 - 8:00am
Considering that stand-up comedy is by common consent a form of social commentary of largely Jewish origin — albeit with just a slight admixture of Celtic peat — Jews might be excused for registering the serpent’s tooth of ingratitude this week.
The latest expression of what looks uncomfortably like antisemitism came during a set by Reginald D. Hunter at the Edinburgh Fringe. Not, in my view, in the joke itself. Comparing Israel to an abusive spouse that herself complains of abuse might be a bit route one, unpolished, in need of a twist or extra barb to elevate the wound from blunt-force trauma to duelling scar. But it is probably fair comment in the licensed arena of the stage. And from all accounts, it seems to have landed.
The tricky part came with the subsequent inflaming of the audience reaction, when a Jewish audience member had what is universally referred to as the “temerity” to complain.
Events then unfolded in an almost eerie replay of those which attracted controversy in the Soho Theatre in February, when Paul Currie oversaw the expulsion of two Jewish audience members who had refused to applaud his waving of the Palestinian flag.
Yelling, snarling, jeering and generally threatening behaviour from a large audience drove the couple, who didn’t find the joke funny, back out onto the streets, and led Dominic Cavendish, Chief Theatre Critic of the Telegraph and a very experienced comedy-goer, to describe it as “without doubt… the most unpleasant comedy gig I’ve ever attended”.
Hunter, on the other hand, seems to have rather enjoyed all this. The audience reaction told him, he confessed, that he still has “voltage”. And in all honesty, in the heat of the moment, I do understand his reaction.
Churchill famously said there is nothing in life so exhilarating as to be shot at without result. The dangerous, adrenalising thrill of hearing a heckle and at once realising that the audience is on your side is the comic equivalent of that whistling miss.
Hunter has since issued a statement regretting the “incident” and in particular any stress caused. I am inclined to believe and accept his claim, though I note it is not enough for many online who are convinced they see two-tier comedy just as so many of us see a split-level arrangement in, well, everything else.
But that at least is more mollifying than Currie, who has not so much doubled down on his stance as shuffled the decimal point one place to the right. His Instagram even warns “Zionists” to not buy tickets to his Edinburgh show.
Israel is first and foremost a foreign country, a political entity with a government and a military and many critics both domestic and overseas. It should be no more protected from comedic critique, whether clever satire or straight-up bodying, than would Russia, America or Chad.
But equally, you don’t need a PhD in Middle Eastern or 20th-century history to understand that Jews might feel more personally attacked by such material than, say, Americans during Operation Desert Storm.
This iteration will soon blow over. The police have confirmed that they will be taking no action under the particularly draconian hate speech legislation effective in Scotland — which is a relief, both for Hunter and comedy generally. Though it would, I think, have taken a heart of stone not to laugh had the legislation so doggedly pursued by Humza Yousaf found its first high-profile victim in telling a pro-Gaza joke.
But I have a horrible feeling we will be back here, sooner than we think or hope. God, I miss Jerry Sadowitz and his cheerfully waggling cock.
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