Father Ted writer performs outside Scottish parliament after two gig cancellations

By Paul Cargill, PA Scotland

Father Ted writer Graham Linehan has performed a comedy routine outside the Scottish Parliament after two venues in Edinburgh refused to host him.

The Irishman spoke to crowds from a podium outside Holyrood after the original venue for his planned show, Leith Arches, and a second unnamed venue cancelled the show he was due to appear in.

Linehan was said to be welling up with tears as he wrapped up his routine, reportedly telling his audience: “Comedy is my first love, it’s the thing I love to do, but I have not been allowed to do that for five years.”

Leith Arches took the decision to cancel their booking of Linehan earlier this week, saying his views did not “align” with their overall values.

People gathering for to oddest gig at the #EdFringe @UnleashedComedy pic.twitter.com/13PAAdATkN

— The Andy Bore (@AndyShaw1) August 17, 2023

Linehan, who also wrote TV sitcoms The IT Crowd and Black Books, is a vocal critic of the trans rights movement.

Leith Arches said: “We work very closely with the LGBT+ community, it is a considerable part of our revenue, we believe hosting this one-off show would have a negative effect on future bookings.”

Comedy Unleashed said it did find a second proper venue to host Linehan’s performance but it too decided to pull the show.

Our replacement venue has cancelled on us too, but we’re still going ahead tonight at 7.30!
Ticket holders have been emailed with the new location. https://t.co/QpxDYVRyI3

— Comedy Unleashed (@UnleashedComedy) August 17, 2023

The club said on X, the micro-blogging site formerly known as Twitter: “Our replacement venue has cancelled on us too, but we’re still going ahead tonight at 7.30!”

Earlier this week, Linehan told TalkTV’s Julia Hartley-Brewer he would consider suing Leith Arches for cancelling his gig if it refused to take him back.

He said: “If they apologise and put the gig on, I’ll say no more about it, but otherwise I’ll be looking at legal action.”