Entertainment
Jerry Sadowitz on being cancelled: ‘Getting work is like shock to my system’-Sharon Lougher-Entertainment – Metro
The controversial comedian and magician said he’s a ‘dribbling coward’ when he’s off stage.
Jerry Sadowitz’s show was called-off after one night at Edinburgh Fringe (Picture: Rex)
Comedian and magician Jerry Sadowitz, 61, caused controversy at the Edinburgh Fringe this year after his show was said to be racist, misogynistic and homophobic – after which he said he was ’so much more than that’.
You’ve just had great reviews for the Hammersmith Apollo date of your Not For Anyone show this week. It was cancelled after one night at the Edinburgh Fringe over ‘unacceptable material’. What caused such a fuss there?
As I remember, it was a pretty decent show. I’m not blowing my own trumpet but I did 15 minutes over time and didn’t see any walkouts, so it was a real shock to get an email the next morning. It’s especially ridiculous because that venue has worked with me since 1986.
You’re provocative and savage even about yourself. What would you like to say to the people who walked out in Edinburgh?
I didn’t see anyone walk out! How can I? You remember stuff like that. Let’s say that, in theory, people came along and didn’t know what it was and didn’t like it and walked out asking for a refund. If I go to a movie I don’t like I can’t demand a refund. You take your chances!
Your friend Mark Blanco fell to his death from the balcony of a flat where Pete Doherty and his friends were partying. Are you still campaigning for his death to be reinvestigated?
No, that’s taken a back seat because there’s going to be a big Channel 4 documentary about what happened. I hope that will bear some fruit. I can’t imagine the pain of the victim’s mum. There are so few really great people in the world and he was one. What a way to go, it was so unfair. The fact that somebody walked into a police station and confessed to it and then was told to leave without questioning him – I can’t think about it. It just adds to the upset.
What preoccupies you?
Extreme bitterness. And card magic. Card magic is the constant companion.
Jerry says audience members take their chances seeing him live (Picture: Mark Chilvers/REX/Shutterstock)
Any magic tricks you’re working on at the moment?
I’ve been devising card tricks since I was 13 but the sad truth is card tricks are not as commercial as singing songs. If it was, I’d be a billionaire. For close-up magic to work on stage you need screens and an audience to pay for them, otherwise you end up losing a lot of money.
Which magicians do you admire?
There are about ten names who are really great but they wouldn’t be known to your readers. For instance, Peter Duffie. His level of skill puts me to shame. The things he’s invented are just breathtaking and it’s a real shame the public are not privy to that.
But on the other hand if they were, it would be like destroying it. It’s like analysing a joke. You don’t want to pull back the curtain. I don’t want anyone to see what I’m like off stage because they’d be horrified. I’m a scaredy-cat, dribbling coward. If they saw how incompetent I was they would be very disappointed.
You’re a perfectionist: what frustrates you?
It’s a sad fact that the perfectionism I have for magic has seeped into my life. I do like things to be just right, especially for shows. As I’m now 61, I’m getting used to the idea that people don’t have the expectations I have. But so far with the tour I’ve been doing, everything’s been fine. I can’t complain.
Jerry says he’s a perfectionist when it comes to performing card magic (Picture: Supplied)
You were raised in Glasgow – do you get a different crowd there?
I don’t know. I rarely venture out. I’m like a prisoner. I’m in my flat and don’t do anything. When opportunities for shows happen, it’s a shock to the system. I think, God, this is what I do! I can’t believe someone would want to see it!
Is cancel culture killing comedy?
I talk about that in the show – it would take too long to go through it here. I don’t want to do a one-line soundbite. It’s too important a subject!
You describe your career as a failure – can a 40-year career really be a failure?
I’ve been hanging on the edge of a cliff by my fingernails for nearly 40 years. I don’t sign on, I don’t get government help or benefits, so I have to live very frugally to scrape by.
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What would you like to happen in your life?
I’d definitely like to work more as a stand-up. And I’ve got about 15 TV formats that I think would be great. One is a Eurovision Joke Contest. People from different countries each tell a joke – one clean joke, one rude joke, and one up to five-minute stand-up routine, and they have to do it in full national costume. Not only would it be funny just to see the Germans doing it but I also think Britain would have a really good chance of being in the top three every time!
Will we ever see you on TV again?
The official reason I’m not on TV is because of the stand-up act I do. But none of the formats I’ve devised involve stand-up. I can actually construct a sentence without a swear word!
Jerry Sadowitz is at The Studio, Bradford, tonight. For more tour dates see ents24.com
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