Sarah Silverman booed in London
US comic Sarah Silverman’s first British gig ended in uproar after she cut her set to just 40 minutes.
A furious crowd exploded in booing and catcalls as the famously edgy comedienne walked off less than an hour in.
Expectations had been high for her British debut.
The 37-year-old’s dangerous, taboo-busting comic style – frequently touching on uncomfortable topics such as religion and racism – has won many fans on this side of the Atlantic through the Sarah Silverman Show on Paramount Comedy, and appearances in films like School Of Rock.
And at up to £50 a ticket fans had been hoping for their money’s worth.
However, the night started badly when the warm-up cancelled, and after Silverman’s brief performance the crowd started taunting her with chants like “I’ve seen longer clips on YouTube!” and “Sarah - you’re overrated!”.
On coming back on stage, the comedienne insisted: “It was a great show - what more do you want? Go home!”, before launching into an awkward ten minutes of ad hoc banter and confessing: "I’m really not used to crowd work…”
thelondonpaper readers were unimpressed. “At least we had time to head to a local restaurant for some dinner and get home earlier than expected - was much more entertaining than sitting through anymore of her unoriginal, old-hat performance,” said one poster on the website.
“The 45 minutes or so she was on stage were terrific,” said another. “Sadly, it was way too short for the £50 I paid for a ticket.”
-Tom Chivers and Stuart McGurk
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