Michael McIntyre walked offstage during his gig last night due to a noisy women in the front row. The show, at Darlington Civic Centre, was a warm-up for his forthcoming Happy & Glorious arena tour.

According to the Northern Echo McIntyre asked security to intervene, having spotted a woman at the front who had reportedly been talking and using her mobile phone while he was performing.

McIntyre left the stage saying “I’ll be back” while theatre staff spoke to the woman and others in the crowd demanded her removal. He returned shortly afterwards to finish his show.

This is the latest example of comedians reacting strongly to inappropriate audience behaviour when they are onstage. Richard Herring previously took an audience member's phone from them and threw it on the ground. Lee Hurst has taken a phone from a fan and smashed it because he thought they were filming his gig.

There is one comedian on the circuit that Beyond The Joke has heard uses a phone jammer onstage. He keeps it in his pocket while he is doing his set which means that nobody within range can receive a signal to make calls or send texts. This would not, however, stop fans filming sets and taking photos, which is another major irritation. And as audience members do not know that he has it they may keep trying to use their phones, which could also be a problem.