- Soho Theater banned comedian in February after ‘hunting’ Jewish guest
A London theater has told white audience members attending a new comedy show at the Arts Council-funded venue to ‘check their privilege at the door’.
Soho Theatre, in the capital’s West End, gave the brief to comedy fans ahead of the Femmes of Color Comedy Club’s performance at the theater on March 25.
The show has been promoted as “an unapologetic celebration of comedians of color who are not cis men.”
During the performance, a stand-up has a routine about Kenya, her native country.
The comedy jokes: ‘(Kenya) was a British colony, and when Kenya was a British colony we had to be like the British. We played British board games, we played Guess Who’s Going to Conquer Us Next?’
The phrase ‘check your privilege’ is believed to have originated in the US and urges white people to acknowledge how their skin color has given them undeserved advantages in life. The Telegraph reports.
A theater in London has told white audience members attending a new comedy show to ‘check their privilege at the door’. Soho Theater (pictured) gave the brief to comedy fans ahead of the Femmes of Color Comedy Club’s performance at the theater on March 25
This comes after Soho Theater banned comedian Paul Currie after he ‘hounded’ a Jewish audience member during his show ‘for refusing to applaud a Palestinian flag’.
Currie is accused of encouraging the audience at the London theater last month to chant “get the fuck out” and “free Palestine” at Israeli ticket holder Liahav Eitan.
Following the incident, Soho Theater has said the under-fire comedian will not be invited back to perform at the venue, adding that his actions were ‘unacceptable and have no place on our stages’.
The company said it would not tolerate “intimidation of spectators, acts of antisemitism or any other form of racism” and is now working with the Campaign Against Antisemitism to speak to all affected spectators.
The theatre, which emphasizes diversity, receives £614,582 a year from Arts Council England (ACE).
While advertising the now-closed 2023-2024 Writers’ Lab program, the venue encouraged applicants who identify as LGBTQ+, disabled or as people from the global majority, which is defined as those who identify as “Black Caribbean, Black African, South Asian, East Asian, Middle Eastern or Latinx.
The show has been promoted as ‘an unapologetic celebration of comedians of color who are not cis men’
Comedian Graham Linehan told The Telegraph: ‘The great thing about comedy is that it’s already inclusive. The best comedians – Dave Chappelle, Shane Gillis, Louis CK – make fun of everyone, often to the delight of their targets, because comedy is the truth and audiences don’t like being lied to.”
An ACE spokesperson said: ‘We support fantastic, high-quality cultural work that caters to the wide range of different tastes of people across the country – from programs encouraging children to read and learn musical instruments to community choirs; and from great opera to excellent theater that tours worldwide.
‘Decisions about the artistic programming and day-to-day management of our funded organizations lie with their management team and board.’