Comic fends off man at barracks show

Terry Alderton has fought off a drink-fuelled attack while performing at a charity event attended by Princess Anne.

The comic said he ‘decked’ the man who jumped on stage at the soldiers’ show at Prince William of Gloucester Barracks in Grantham, Lincolnshire on Thursday night.

The Princess Royal had left the gala, a 20th anniversary beat retreat and dinner, when the incident occurred near the end of Alderton's set.

The comic tweeted: 'Can't get over last nights performance for Princes [sic] Anne. Towards the end of my stint a guy jumps on stage to attack me so... I decked him!'

His assailant then fell off the stage. Alderton added: 'Why did he jump me? Although he went down like a wet rag, Shame.'

It is unclear what provoked the reaction but Chortle understands that organisers were hugely apologetic towards the comedian, who was performing for free. A spokesperson at the base said they were unaware of the incident. Bespoke Comedy, the corporate events firm which hosted the gala, declined to comment.

Fellow stand-ups expressed their support for Alderton, with Dave Fulton tweeting: 'Remember, Jim Jefferies got punched when I [sic] guy jumped on stage @ComedyStoreMCR and now he as [sic] a show in the states'.

As happened with the Jefferies assault at the Manchester Comedy Store in 2007, Alderton has promised to post footage of the attack online.

Alderton is also currently performing at UK military bases with Bespoke as part of the Funny Fokkers tour.

-by Jay Richardson

Published: 6 Apr 2013