Comedian James Acaster has been accused of derailing his own Cornwall show after being heckled.
The stand-up and panel show comedian is on for four nights at the Hall for Cornwall this week and some spectators have accused him of not giving them the show they paid for when he apparently had a go at them for not 'getting it' and for heckling him.
In his new show, Acaster plays Craig Simons, the UK's number one James Acaster tribute act.
Some audience members who went to see the 41-year-old comedian, Taskmaster veteran and Mock the Week panel regular perform in Truro earlier this week took to Reddit to vent their disappointment, even accusing the Northamptonshire comedian of snobbery.
One fan who started the thread on Reddit after seeing Acaster's show on Tuesday evening said: "Really sad that the show went completely off the rails again tonight in Truro. James is clearly too in his own head about hecklers. I don’t think it's really okay to just give up halfway through a show though. So many paying audience members didn't get to see what we paid for."
Another said they were five rows back from the stage, adding: "It seemed to me like the audience (myself included) were really enjoying the show and were obviously fans as they were getting the Taskmaster, Off Menu references, etc.
"James obviously had a different perception and helped the derailment to a certain extent by criticising the audience and suggesting that they weren't enjoying themselves. I'm so disappointed that we didn’t get to see the show we'd paid for."
Another added: "Yeah it was a shame. I saw the same show at the Southbank centre and it was incredible, but tonight felt like he didn't trust the Cornish audience to get it."
That comment prompted others to talk about what they saw as snobbery in Acaster's shows.
One said: "There's something about his pattern of being on form for audiences in London and the Fringe (in Edinburgh) that feels like snobbery.
"I guess really what it is is that he gets in his head if he thinks an audience won't get him, but inherently, that is snobbery if you consistently perceive 'regional Reformy city hall audiences' vs 'liberal comedy literate' audiences in London except for when they decamp to Edinburgh for the Fringe.
"It's a shame. I've been in both 'types' of audience that he seems to perceive and if I can be in either audience so can anyone else."
Some in the audience believe the warm-up tribute singer probably did not help Acaster get in the mood and that the audience at the Hall for Cornwall was impatient for him to get on with it.
One audience member said: "I am not saying there are not hecklers being irritating at times. However I think even small things get into Acaster's head that then allow him to justify punishing the whole crowd with a substandard/incomplete set.
"He is suffering from a mixture of unconscious (conscious?) bias and self fulfilling prophecy.
"I don’t think it helps that his show content is maybe only 7/10 and is irritating some of his audience with a singer as a warm up act leads to one or two people not being in his zone when he performs."
On a post by the Hall for Cornwall on Facebook showing Acaster enjoying a cocktail on Lemon Quay, some audience members said: "Just seen this show. The artist kept saying he was a tribute act for James Acaster. If this was the case it would explain why he was not very funny, but if it was the real James Acaster he was very disappointing."
Another said: "It was very, very disappointing! Worst comedy gig we have ever been to and stunned at the singer at the beginning. It took longer for us to drive from Looe to the venue than he was on stage."
Others, however, have criticised the hecklers themselves for ruining it for everyone.
One woman wrote: "I found the heckling absolutely ruined tonight's show (Tuesday, August 25)." Another added: "Hecklers are such d**ks. I felt James dealt with it brilliantly."
Acaster Accused of Derailing Truro Show Over Hecklers