Michael McIntyre 'Worried' About Face Mask Joke Recorded Pre-Lockdown For Netflix Special

Michael McIntyre says he's been worrying for months about a face mask joke in his new Netflix special Showman. You can watch the trailer here:

The 44-year-old comedian's new show dropped on the streaming platform today (Tuesday 15 September), but he has admitted to having a few sleepless nights about one gag in particular.

The routine in question - which was filmed in early March at the London Palladium, before the UK entered lockdown - is about a time he accidentally wore disposable underwear as a face mask during a massage in Hong Kong.

In the show, he recalls: "I'd never seen these disposable massage pants before - I assumed it was a face mask, for my face."

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Of course, he had 'no idea' at the time how critical, prevalent and divisive face masks were to become half a year later.

Speaking to the Metro, he said: "It's completely crazy. It would be completely normal now to have a massage [with a face mask].

"Who would have thought that? I mean, who would have thought half of this stuff... but yes, I had no idea.

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"I have to be honest with you, I've been worrying about it for months about whether that joke is still funny.

"I would wake my wife up in the middle of the night and go, 'Is this thing funny?'

"In Asia, they would wear those masks.

"I was gigging out there and a lot of people wore masks. I referred to them as pollution masks.

"I had other jokes about it, and now it's commonplace and we're all wearing these masks and it's a completely reasonable mistake to make."

As well as the unanticipated rise of the face mask, McIntyre has also been fretting over the health of Kim Jong-un.

Rumours that the North Korean leader had died began circulating online in May, and if they had been true, it could have made his bantering about his resemblance to the dictator seem a bit distasteful.

He said: "You record something and don't put it out for ages - even down to Kim Jong-un, is he alive? I don't know what's going on.

"I'm like, 'Oh my god I've got that joke, I need him to survive until September'."

Topics: TV and Film, Comedy, Netflix

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey