Brummie comedian Joe Lycett has spoken out about a shameful experience on stage. Joe was speaking on a podcast when he revealed he once walked off stage after telling a joke about Madeleine McCann.
The 33-year-old was doing a stand-up challenge at a club while at university when he told the joke about the missing Midlands girl, who vanished when she was on holiday with her family in Portugal in 2007. She was just three years old at the time.
“I had one joke, which was about Madeleine. The silence was the reaction of the room.
“I wasn’t gonged off, and I just walked off. I was mortified. Friends there didn’t want to be with me, and I thought comedy was saying something shocking.”
Joe has gone on to have great success after the failure. He has appeared on TV shows, including Live at the Apollo, Taskmaster and 8 Out of 10 Cats. He has also hosted his shows – Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back and Travel Man.
The disappearance of Madeleine McCann was once used in a stand-up routine by comic Joe Lycett.
The Great British, Sewing Bee star has now said that the reaction left him “mortified”.
Madeleine disappeared from her holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.
She was aged just three years old.
As expected, Joe admitted his cruel joke about Madeleine fell flat.
He recalled a stand-up challenge that he took part in while at university.
Now 33, Joe has reflected on the joke, and as a result, it appears to be something he regrets.
He explained to the Changes podcast: “People get up, and the audience has cards. If they don’t like you, they put the card up, and you get gonged.
“I had one joke, which was about Madeleine. The silence was the reaction of the room,” he said.
Joe continued to say: “I wasn’t gonged off. I just walked off – I was mortified.
“Friends there didn’t want to be with me,” he said as a result of the joke.
Joe then went on to explain what it was that made him crack a joke about the missing child.
“I thought comedy was saying something shocking,” he said.
Thankfully it seems Joe learnt his lesson and, as a result, didn’t reveal the joke he told about Madeleine.
The admission comes just after the 15th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
Her mother, Kate McCann, was said to have “fought back the tears” as she read a poem at a vigil held to mark the anniversary.
Meanwhile, it’s also been claimed that prime suspect Christian Brueckner had “face-changing surgery” just four months after Madeleine’s disappearance.
Comedian Joe Lycett claimed he ‘wanted to be in jail’ after being looked into by police due to an audience paper taking offence to a gag at his show in Belfast early this month.
The 33-year-old first revealed on Instagram on Tuesday that he had been questioned by the PSNI ( Police Service of Northern Ireland ) following his practice.
“So someone came to my trip show a few weeks back and was upset by one of the jokes. And their perfectly understandable reply was… to call the police,” he wrote.
And in an aspect on The One Show on Friday evening, the stand-up notify hosts Alex Jones and Ronan Keating: “Anything can occur when you’re performing too many people, and everyone has differing opinions.
“But it was pretty great the police were called because the jest in question to me isn’t offensive at all. It’s rather unusual, and it’s quite a full-on thing to hear, but it’s not offensive to any group of people, it’s not racist or homophobic, it’s not misogynist or Anything.
He continued: “It’s just silly. But I can also see somebody might be a bit restive or cross about it.
“I found the whole thing so comical, and when the police chime, I thought it was hilarious. I desire to go to court – I wanted to be in jail for it! It’s so funny that the police got involved. It’s been a fun week, and watching it all unfold.”
After penning a letter describing the joke’s context, the star told fans the business was fortunately closed.
He said: “Charmed and confidently amused, the rozzers have since closed the matter. You’ll be glad to know that the joke I contemplate as one of the best I’ve ever written remains tightly and proudly in the show.
