Traveller comedian hit by racist heckles
'This should not be part of the job' says David Alfie Ward
Stand-up David Alfie Ward has told how he was subject to racist abuse on stage at the weekend for being a Traveller.
The comic was repeatedly heckled with the shout of ‘pikey’ during a show at the Bath Halls in Scunthorpe last Friday.
And while the man was eventually thrown out of the venue, Ward says the incident shows how prejudice towards Travellers is not taken as seriously as abuse of other racial groups.
Taking to Instagram to explain what happened, Ward said: ‘I was talking about my Traveller heritage when a man in the crowd started shouting "pikey". Not once. Not as a joke. Repeatedly.
‘I asked him to stop. He did not. I paused the show and asked for him to be removed. Then another audience member shouted, "Just get on with it. It’s meant to be comedy. I’m fat and get called a fat c*** all the time.
‘I explained to the room that if I was an Asian or Black comic and someone shouted the N-word or the P-word, no one would tolerate it.’
He also said he was surprised there was not a stronger reaction to the slur.
‘What hit me hardest was realising I had to convince the room and the staff that this was not acceptable,’ he said. ‘I was fighting for myself in the middle of my own show.
‘Racist behaviour towards Travellers is still treated as acceptable in too many spaces. And it has real consequences. Traveller and Gypsy communities have some of the highest suicide rates in the UK. This should not be part of the job.
‘I walked off stage thinking less about the slur itself and more about how quickly it was minimised… As if racist abuse towards Travellers does not really count. As if it is something you are expected to handle so everyone else can stay comfortable.
‘That is the part people do not see. The emotional work of having to argue for your own dignity while still trying to perform. The sense that you are fighting alone.’
Theatre manager Robin Byers confirmed the incident during the venue’s regular Baths Laughs comedy night, but said said his staff acted quickly once it was apparent the tone was racist.
He told Chortle: ‘We host a lot of comedy events across our three performance spaces, and occasionally get issues, which we need to respond to.
‘Once it was clear the back-and-forth David was having with the audience had crossed over into racism, the audience member was ejected by our duty manager and security.
‘The drunkenness of the person concerned, combined with the compact layout of the room meant that this was perhaps not as swift as we would like, but I don’t believe there was any hesitancy in deciding the person needed to leave.
‘Our staff, are experienced in dealing with all types of customer issues, and in conjunction with our security team, are there to ensure the safety of all our customers and performers.’
It’s thought Ward is the only comedian from an Irish Traveller background currently working in the UK. In Ireland, Galway’s Martin 'Beanz' Warde also comes from the same community.
Ward told Chortle that he’d not been racially abused on stage before, and that Friday's incident ‘was actually worse than I made out… there was more swearing aimed at me’.
According to the NHS Race and Health Observatory, members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community are up to seven times more likely to die by suicide than the wider population.
Published: 29 Apr 2026
