Monday, October 28

Graham Linehan: Edinburgh comedy occasion broadcasts new venue for cancelled gig

A comedy occasion involving Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan is ready to go forward at a brand new venue – after the unique venue cancelled the present.

Leith Arches pulled the plug on the Comedy Unleashed’s occasion following complaints that the Dublin-born author, who has been an outspoken critic of transgender self-identification, was on the invoice.

The Edinburgh venue stated it was not made conscious of the line-up prematurely and that it believed the present was “not a good fit [for] our venue”.

However, Comedy Unleashed introduced on X, previously generally known as Twitter, on Wednesday {that a} new venue had been discovered for Thursday’s gig.

The title of the venue was not revealed.

“We have found a venue for tomorrow’s gig! The show goes on! (Ticket holders will be emailed with the new address tomorrow afternoon),” the group stated within the publish.

Mr Linehan stated on Wednesday that he would think about taking authorized motion in opposition to Leith Arches until it apologised and U-turned over its determination to cancel the present – which was billed as an Edinburgh Fringe Event however doesn’t seem on the official line-up.

Leith Arches stated in a press release to Sky News the present would have a “negative effect on future bookings” and was “not a good fit” for the venue.

A spokesperson stated: “We are a really small impartial enterprise.

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“We work very closely with the LGBT+ community – it is a considerable part of our revenue. We believe hosting this one-off event would have a negative effect on future bookings.

“The determination is just not influenced by on-line activists, however by our common neighborhood who use our venue on a day by day, weekly and month-to-month foundation.

“We are not against freedom of speech. The show is not a good fit [for] our venue.”

The venue claimed in an earlier publish on Instagram it didn’t know Mr Linehan, who additionally wrote The IT Crowd and Black Books, had been booked to carry out beforehand.

The publish stated: “We would like to thank members of the public and our community for bringing to our attention a comedy act billed to perform at our venue this Thursday.

“We weren’t made conscious of the line-up of this present prematurely.

“We have made the decision to cancel this show, as we are an inclusive venue and this does not align with our overall values.”

Mr Linehan was banned from X, previously generally known as Twitter, in 2020 for breaking its guidelines round “hateful conduct” with feedback about trans folks, however his account was reinstated after Elon Musk took over.

He stated: “The most important view I have is that it is a crime against humanity to tell children that they may have been born in the wrong body.”

He additionally believes girls deserve “fair sport” and stated Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and tennis legend Martina Navratilova have been “abused” for his or her views on trans athletes.

Content Source: information.sky.com