Comic takes drastic action against punters filming his gigs

Big-name comics such as Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Hannah Gadsby prevent fans from recording shows by demanding audiences lock their phones in custom-made pouches.

But if Stewart Lee catches anyone with their mobile out, he deploys a different sort of pouch – shoving offending punters' phones down his arse crack for the remainder of the performance.

True to form, he did just that during his Snowflake/Tornado tour at St David's Hall in Cardiff last night. Having issuing a warning about illicit recording at the top of the show, Lee paused partway through, put down his mic and jumped from the stage to remonstrate with a woman in the middle rows who'd allegedly been filming him.

Confiscating the offending handset before returning to the spotlight, he then stuffed it into his underwear, Wales Online reported.

'I don't want stuff ending up on YouTube out of context,' the comedian said, before then appearing to wedge the phone between his bum cheeks.

‘So, after you show me you've deleted that, you can have your phone back at the end - covered in my shit.’

Tweeting afterwards, 'Victor Mildew' posted: 'Had the best seat for Stewart Lee last night, which meant I had a litteral [sic] front row seat for him taking a woman's phone off her for filming, despite being asked not to, then sticking it in his arse crack and performing the last 25 minutes with it still in there'.

The punter added that rather than immediately return the phone when the show finished, Lee ran straight off to the lobby to sign books.

After similar incidents in Oxford, Stafford and at the Leicester Square Theatre in London, some audience members have speculated that Lee might be using a plant. But for the banishment of doubt, the Stafford show was reviewed by the Morning Star thus:

'Spotting someone on a mobile phone, he marches up the aisle and confiscates it. Back on the stage, he secretes it down the back of his trousers between his bum cheeks.

'I’d previously assumed that these confrontations with the audience are pre-arranged set-pieces but on this occasion I know it’s spontaneous – the hapless victim is a friend of mine.’

So you can't say you haven't been warned.

• Lee has just added more dates to his Snowflake/Tornado tour including a sixth night at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank.

Published: 5 Mar 2020