An Israeli man and his friends were allegedly hounded out of London’s Soho Theatre by a large crowd after comedian Paul Currie encouraged his audience to chant ‘get the f*** out’ and ‘free Palestine’.
The ‘absurdist’ comedian from Belfast is alleged to have produced a Palestinian and Ukrainian flag to use as props as his one-hour show came to a close at the central London theatre – which used to be a synagogue – on Saturday night.
One member of the 200-strong audience said they started to feel ‘uneasy’ when Currie pulled the flags out and demanded the crowd stand and applaud – before he then allegedly launched a verbal attack on an Israeli man who stayed sat down.
They claimed: ‘When we all sat down again, [Mr Currie] looked towards a young man sitting in the second row and said “You didn’t stand, why? Didn’t you enjoy my show?”
‘The young man, who we soon realised was Israeli, replied: “I enjoyed the show until you brought out the Palestinian flag”.
‘Paul Currie retorted “get out of my show”, which instantaneously escalated in to screaming at this young man, repeatedly shouting “leave my f***ing show, now!”.’
Paul Currie is an ‘absurdist’ comedian who is from Belfast. He is alleged to have told an Israeli man and his friends to leave his show
The Soho Theatre was where the shocking incident occurred. It also used to be a synagogue
The Soho Theatre issued a full apology for the incident and said that they would be investigating
Paul Currie often posts pro-Palestine content and posted this video of himself at a rally
Were you at the comedy gig? Contact: [email protected]
The comedian, who often shares pro-Palestine content and attends rallies, allegedly continued shouting at the young man to get out as he and his partner rose to leave.
The eye witness said they also got up to leave and added that it ‘felt like the entire audience were on their feet shouting ‘free Palestine’ and ‘get out’.
The Soho Theatre has apologised for the ‘upset and hurt’ caused by the incident to some of their customers and will be investigating what happened.
They wrote: ‘We are sorry and saddened by an incident that took place at our venue at the end of a performance of Paul Currie: Shtoom on Saturday 10 of February which has caused upset and hurt to members of audience attending and others.
‘We take this very seriously and are looking into the detail of what happened as thoroughly, as sensitively, and as quickly as we can.
‘It is important to us that Soho Theatre is welcoming and inclusive place for all.’
Campaign Against Antisemitism said they are assisting Jewish guests who were allegedly hounded out of the Soho Theatre in London.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘What the Jewish audience-members have recounted is atrocious, and we are working with them and our lawyers to ensure that those who instigated and enabled it are held to account.
‘These allegations are of deeply disturbing discriminatory abuse against Jews. Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but hounding Jews out of theatres is reminiscent of humanity’s darkest days, and must have no place in central London in 2024.’
MailOnline has contacted Paul Currie for comment.
Paul Currie at a pro-Palestine march
In October last year, the Metropolitan Police reported that anti-Semitic offences have soared in London by more than 1,353 per cent compared to the year before.
The horrifying murder of 1,400 Israelis on October 7 ignited a significant spike in hate crime across Britain, with 218 anti-Semitic offences reported in London between October 1 and 18, compared with 15 during the same period in 2022.
And the Union of Jewish student’s welfare hotline has had more than 150 calls since October 7, from people reporting offences including verbal abuse and intimidation.
In one incident from October last year, which many Jewish people found terrifying, a tube driver chanted ‘Free, Free Palestine’, through the train’s Tannoy system before some commuters responded, ‘Palestine’.
The driver has since returned to work – to the disbelief of many.
London bus drivers also allegedly refused to pick up Jewish schoolchildren at the end of November last year.
The Metropolitan Police and Transport for London (TfL) previously confirmed they are looking into two reported incidents, which occurred in Stamford Hill and Hackney last week.
Were you at the comedy gig? Contact: [email protected]
