Comedian's brutal response to venue cancelling shows over Renee Good joke
A comedian who sparked controversy after making a joke about the death of Renee Good has hit back after a string of his shows were cancelled.
Ben Bankas was booked to perform six stand-up gigs at a venue in Minnesota, which is the US state where the mother-of-three was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on 7 January.
But his sold-out shows have now been axed by bosses at the Laugh Camp Comedy Club in the city of St Paul, with the owner announcing he had been 'left with no option but to cancel'.
Bankas is currently being berated by a host of social media users after he made a wisecrack about the fatal shooting of Good a few weeks back, which sparked mass anti-ICE protests across Minnesota and the entire country.
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Just weeks after her death in Minneapolis, ICU nurse Alex Pretti was also gunned down by a Border Patrol agent in the same city.
While on stage at a gig in Poughkeepsie, New York, in January, Bankas tried to make light of Good's death - with shock footage showing how he branded her a ''dumb, crazy r****ded lesbian'.
Telling the audience that he 'hated' her, the Toronto-born comedian then coldly said that Good should have been 'shot 10 minutes before' ICE agent Jonathan Ross pulled the trigger.
Warning: video contains strong language:
These gags attracted some cackles from the audience, who appeared to also find Bankas' comparing the victim's widow, Becca, to a 'dog' quite funny too.
In the footage, which was shared to social media, Bankas sarcastically said: "That’s what you don’t want when you’re dealing with the police. Your lesbian wife [saying], ‘Drive baby drive.’
"Her last name was Good. That’s what I said after they shot her in the face."
The comedian's clip has been viewed millions of times and sparked outrage among both social media users and locals.
In the wake of the footage going viral, the Minnesota Star and Tribune reported that several St. Paul residents planned to stage protests at Bankas' scheduled performances in Minnesota, which were due to kick off on Friday (January 30) and conclude on Sunday (1 February).
Despite selling out tickets to the six stand-up sets, the Laugh Camp Comedy Club then announced that Bankas' gigs were being scrapped.
The owner of the venue, Bill Collins, told People in a statement that the 'risks are too great' for any chances to be taken in Minnesota at the moment.
"After discussions with, and concern from, public authorities, legal counsel and staff, combined with heightened threats, increasing media attention and civil disorder, we have determined the risks and related liabilities cannot be overcome,” Collins said. "A small club like ours does not have the needed resources to mitigate current risks.
"We are obligated to place the highest priority on the safety of our guests, staff, and talent, and we are left with no option but to cancel. The risks to our community, staff, and guests are too great."
Collins claimed that the Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents the comedian, demanded compensation for Bankas' cancelled shows while vowing to forbid any of its other talent from performing at the Laugh Camp Comedy Club until a resolution is reached.
Bankas himself then responded to the reports regarding his axed gigs with another savage monologue on stage.
When an audience member yelled out 'f**k them' in regards to the venue, the funnyman said: "Well, yeah f**k em obviously...they wanted to cancel last week.
"Then we were like, you're going to have to pay me, we just sold out six shows," Bankas continued. "They were p***ying out because they got a weird voicemail from a liberal being like, 'You're really going to have a guy on your f***ing stage who made a joke about f***ing Renee Good?'
"They cancelled the shows and you know, listen...I was ready. I was ready to spend a lot of my own money and make a lot less money to hire armed security. Like I was doing a show in f***ing Mexico City."
Bankas said he was working to find a way still perform in Minnesota, as he believes that the 'normal' natives are 'good people deserve to laugh', as he added: "And it's cathartic to laugh at some f***ed up s**t!
"I feel bad for all of the people who really were excited to feel like, look at all this chaos happening in our city and still Ben is going to come here and make us feel like everythings going to be okay and normal...the comedy club where we were supposed to perform is called 'laugh camp' - it's kind of like Auschwitz," Bankas said.
"I said to God today when I saw what was happening, please keep me safe in Minneapolis. Then they cancelled the show. God was like, 'Yeah, I can't guarantee that - you're going to have to skip this one if you're going to see your children'."
LADbible Group has contacted CAA for comment.
Olivia Burke