Andrew Lawrence has some claim to being Britain’s most-cancelled comedian. For more than a decade now, the 37-year-old stand-up has been losing himself work, friends and representation due to his wilfully offensive style of comedy / commentary.
In a 2014 Facebook post, he took aim at BBC panel shows on which ‘aging, balding, fat men, ethnic comedians and women-posing-as-comedians, sit congratulating themselves on how enlightened they are about the fact that Ukip are ridiculous and pathetic’.
It is facile, censorious and philistine for comedy clubs to treat jokes as if they are straightforwardly sincere statements and no-platform comedians because they are offensive
After England’s Euros penalties defeat in 2021 he wrote on Twitter: ‘All I’m saying is, the white guys scored.’ Given the tournament began with a row over England players taking the knee and ended with a moral panic about racist England fans abusing black players online (when the posts predominantly came from overseas), his timing couldn’t have been more explosive.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in