Comedian ‘banned from venues’ after making ‘vile’ joke about Liverpool FC parade crash
A comedian has been 'banned from venues' after he made a joke about the recent horrific incident in Liverpool where a car crashed into crowds of people and left many injured.
Around 79 people were injured during Liverpool FC's title parade on 26 May when at around 6pm a car was driven into people on Water Street.
The emergency services were quickly on the scene and several victims had to be taken to hospital, with some of them 'seriously injured', while four people had to be rescued from underneath a car.
Merseyside Police detained a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area at the scene, he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.
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The man, who police believe to have been the driver of the car, remains in custody and is still being questioned.
A comedian has since been barred from performing at a number of venues after he made a joke about the incident.
Controversial comedian Andrew Lawrence wrote on social media: "To be fair, if I was in Liverpool, I'd drive through crowds of people to get the f**k out of there as well."
His attempt at a joke attracted a huge amount of criticism and he's had gigs cancelled over it, with Sky reporting that he'd been pencilled in to perform at Southend venue Caddies on 15 June but they'd since called it off.
In a statement they said: "We do not condone or support the comment that has been made online, and we send everyone impacted by the tragic events in Liverpool our support and prayers."
Lawrence said he would perform somewhere else in Southend, claiming: "This venue lost their courage after being bombarded with abuse and threats of violence from online trolls."
He has since posted a video in which he repeated his previous joke, and also said that if he was really trying to offend Liverpudlians 'I would have written It's a shame that Liverpool parade crackhead wasn't driving a tank'.
Several other comedy clubs have declared that Lawrence is not welcome, with Liverpool's Hot Water Comedy Club describing what he said as 'cruelty, plain and simple'.
They said he wouldn't be part of any of their events and they suggested other venues should 'think carefully' before booking him to perform.
Lawrence has also been barred from The Comedy Store, which is situated in London and Manchester.
The BBC reports that back in 2021 a Hampshire venue cancelled a Lawrence gig after the comedian made racist comments about black footballers in the England team in the wake of the Euro 2020 final, and that the venue received death threats after cancelling the gig.
Topics: UK News, Liverpool, Crime, Social Media
Joe Harker