A Jewish couple last night spoke of their horror after they were hounded out of a comedy gig and branded ‘baby killers’ for heckling a joke about Israel.
The husband and wife said their treatment at Reginald D Hunter’s stand-up show in Edinburgh last Sunday amounted to ‘absolute hatred’.
The wife said the Fringe show audience had ‘hate in their eyes’ as they turned on them, leaving the couple fearing they wanted to ‘attack us and beat us’.
The UK-born couple, who recently made Aliyah – the process of a Jewish person moving to Israel – feel their country of birth is no longer a safe place for British Jews amid a recent increase in anti-Jewish sentiment.
The pair, who asked not to be named, found themselves targeted both by the US comedian and the audience after they ‘politely’ heckled the star act for his joke about Israel, saying it was ‘not funny’.
Reginald D Hunter’s show in East Renfrewshire has been cancelled following the row
But after the 55-year-old stand-up comedian told them, ‘I’ve been waiting for people like you all summer’, other audience members at the Assembly George Square Studios began shouting ‘baby killers’ and ‘genocidal maniacs’.
The wife said: ‘I am normally a really strong person.
‘But it was horrible. Worse than horrible. Not one person in that audience of more than 300 people – not one – had the balls to stand up and say, “Stop this”.
‘It was meant to be a lovely holiday and now I just feel miserable.’
Her husband, who is disabled, added: ‘You do not know for certain that Jews will always be safe in the UK.
‘No matter how much they might love Britain, Jews in this country will always have that mental backpack packed in case they need to flee.’
The wife admitted she had not enjoyed the show from the start, while her husband felt that his mobility issues meant they should stay put.
However, about midway through Mr Hunter’s performance, the comedian told a joke about a Channel 5 documentary on domestic abuse, remarking, ‘It’s like being married to Israel’.
Despite a ripple of laughter, the husband retorted with a quick, ‘Not funny’.
He explained: ‘It’s a comedy show – you’re normally allowed to heckle.
‘Good comedians should be able to deal with a heckle without it being turned into absolute hatred.’
But the atmosphere in the room shifted instantly, with Hunter hitting back saying: ‘I’ve been waiting for people like you all summer, where the f*** you been?’
The wife said the looks on people’s faces in the audience made it seem ‘like they wanted to attack us and beat us’.
She added: ‘There was so much hate in their eyes – angry that we were daring to be alive.’
Smirking, Hunter – spurred on by the hostility in the room – added: ‘You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish.’
According to the couple, the comedian then raised his fists in a mock fighting stance and told them he’d meet them ‘outside’.
Incredibly, the couple – who left the show because they were sickened by the crowd rather than scared of it – had not intended to report their ordeal to the police.
But the shameful incident was exposed by a newspaper reviewer who branded the show, Fluffy Fluffy Beavers, ‘the most unpleasant comedy gig’ he’d ever attended – awarding it just one star.
That sparked a police investigation, although officers confirmed last night that, after reviewing all the information gathered, ‘no crime’ was committed at the comedy gig.
The woman said she was horrified by the bullying behaviour of the audicne
Meanwhile, Hunter has said he regrets the ‘unfortunate incident’.
His remaining shows at the venue – which has apologised to the couple – will continue as scheduled.
However, the comic’s forthcoming gig at Eastwood Theatre, in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, has been axed in the wake of the furore.
East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure, which runs Eastwood Theatre, said it cancelled the September 28 show due to Hunter’s ‘controversial comments’.
The couple who were abused in Edinburgh say they now want to use their platform to tackle the rising wave of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel racism in Britain.
The wife added: ‘I do have an important message to get across and that is that people must stand up and not let hate win.
‘I’ve always spoken out, whether it’s about something Jewish or not.
‘I abhor bullies and it is my firm belief that silence only helps the aggressor.’