Punters at £149-a-head charity dinner boo comedian for his anti-Brexit jokes

Nish Kumar was pelted with a bread roll as he volunteered a performance for cricket charity the Lord’s Taverners, whose audience at the £125-a-head dinner appeared not to like the subject matter of his performance, which was reported to be anti-Brexit and left-leaning.

Radio 1 DJ Greg James, who is an ambassador for the charity, said in a tweet that Kumar’s treatment was “appalling”.

An eight-minute clip of the performance posted to YouTube shows the Mash Report comedian dealing with a constant barrage of heckling, whistling and slow hand-claps from an audience that appeared largely elderly.

“Why is this the rowdiest thing I’ve ever done?” he said getting a laugh as he looked round the plush venue.

When one member of the audience called out for him to ‘do some jokes’, he said: “Do some jokes? I was going to before you started throwing bread at me. It’s difficult, I’m trying to stay off carbs.”

Being told by a heckler not to “do politics”, he said: “Ok, I was trying to start a conversation here. But clearly the conversation I’ve prompted is: ‘this guy’s a bit of a dickhead’.”

However, he seemed keen to ensure that the charity itself would not lose out from the bad reaction he got.

“What I don’t want to do at any point is detract from any of the fantastic work done by the charity,” he said, gaining applause and emphasising that the chrity is politically neutral.

Because I'm seeing some inaccurate press reports, I'd just like to say that the treatment of @MrNishKumar by some members of the crowd at the @LordsTaverners fundraising Christmas lunch yesterday was appalling. It's a charity I was proud to be an ambassador of...
— Greg James (@gregjames) December 3, 2019
 

He continued: “In fact, what I would say is, how about you all donate some more, so that they can get a budget to pay some right-wing idiots?

“Just donate a little more money and then they don’t have to ask me to do it for free.”

Radio 1’s Greg James tweeted: “I’d just like to say that the treatment of @MrNishKumar by some members of the crowd at the @LordsTaverners fundraising Christmas lunch yesterday was appalling.”

He added: “I was embarrassed to be there. On an afternoon that was supposed to be about kindness, there was a distinct lack of it in the room.”

I was embarrassed to be there. On an afternoon that was supposed to be about kindness, there was a distinct lack of it in the room.
— Greg James (@gregjames) December 3, 2019
 

After the event, Kumar tweeted: “In my defence, it was only one bread roll and it missed me.”

A comic inspired by the travails of @MrNishKumar. Hat tip also to @EwaSR and @Scriblit pic.twitter.com/IB41AD1GfZ
— Wreck The Walls With Bowls of Jelly (@DocHackenbush) December 3, 2019