Comedian Kevin Birdges has become embroiled in a controversy following his comments at his gig on the day of the Queen's death.
While some comedy events were cancelled at short notice, Bridges' show at the Ovo Hydro in Glasgow went ahead. The doors of the venue had already been opened shortly before the announced was made of the Queen's death.
When Bridges took to the stage he is alleged to have made some jokes about the events of the day. After saying "Welcome to the only fucking show going ahead in Britain this evening. The doors were at half six, she hung on it's what she would have wanted" he is reported to have said that he was wearing a black suit as a tribute and words to the effect that the Queen would not be the only old woman to die this winter and also that the title King Charles sounded like a small dog. He added that people were checking their phones to see if they had the day off.
Needless to say Twitter went into the usual frenzy over the remarks, with calls for Bridges to be cancelled, despite the fact that comedy is famously a way of breaking tension.
Mike Carter tweeted: "Seeing the Gammon Brigade twist itself into a million knots over wanting to cancel Kevin Bridges but not cancel the football is hilarious."
While Louise Law tweeted: "Was a bit tame for me. I was expecting something way more disrespectful for all the wailing and moaning."
Kevin Bridges' tour dates are here.
Elsewhere the comedy world has been dealing with the death of the monarch in different ways. The launch of the new BBC Two Dylan Moran comedy Stuck was postponed last night. On Dave Late Night Mash, which had already been recorded, went ahead at 10pm as scheduled, but there were no adverts during the broadcast.
Tonight (Friday) The Last Leg will not be airing on Channel 4. Co-presenter Adam Hills tweeted: "We’ve decided not to do an episode of @thelastleg tonight. It just doesn’t feel right. We’ll pay tribute to Her Majesty next week but for now our thoughts are with her family, and all those affected by the news. We hope you understand."
