Johnny Vegas: A Gig Too Far?
I've often said that one's response to a performance depends on where one is sitting. You might have a woman with an Amy Winehouse beehive in front of you. You might be squashed between two men the width of Twickenham. Or you might simply be sitting a long way from the stage, as happened with me at Johnny Vegas's controversial surprise gig at the Bloomsbury Theatre last Friday.
During Vegas's performance, part of Stewart Lee's 10 Greatest Stand-Ups season, the charismatic star homed in on a young woman in the front row. He repeatedly came back to her and, in his own scattershot stream-of-consciousness style, attempted to charm her. Quite quickly he ran out of planned material and returning to her, he engineered a situation where she was carried onstage by six "pallbearers".
So far so par for the course for Vegas, but this is where it gets contentious. While the woman lay on the floor Vegas climbed on top of her, kissing and stroking her. According to different reports the extent of his actions varied. But from where I was sitting, my concern was more about his substantial bulk bearing down on her than where his wandering hands were.
Yet since the gig there have been mutterings that Vegas overstepped the mark. Was this borderline sexual harassment? The woman, once coaxed onstage by the performer, could hardly have refused to go along with the star's behaviour.
Our very own Richard Godwin was at the gig and he was closer to the action than me. He clearly felt Vegas went far too far. Others have also made similar allegations, that Vegas took advantage of an innocent woman. The line between audience participation and victim was allegedly crossed. Yet from the back of the theatre she was terrified simply because she had been dragged up onstage, not because of what was going on once she got there.
This story may well gather momentum over the next few days. It may even damage Vegas's reputation in the way that Billy Connolly's status was temporarily dented when he made his ill-timed remark about hostage Ken Bigley. On the other hand, Vegas's selling point as a live performer is his explosive edginess. He often takes things right to the very edge and that is what audiences enjoy about him. But there was clearly a mixed response last Friday. The trouble this time, however, is that according to people with a better view than me, he may have gone over that edge.
I too was at the show on Friday and from my vantage point in the second row, I can honestly say that the female audience member in question appeared to thoroughly enjoy the experience. Coming off stage she looked as if she had just won the lottery. I have seen Johnny Vegas perform many times and yes he does sail close to the wind but I firmly believe that if he had felt the individual concerned was in any way intimidated or uncomfortable he would readily have changed tack.
Surely comedy is all about pushing boundaries? Would Mr Dessau have reacted in the same way if Jerry Sadowitz had taken up Stewart Lee's request to perform his stand-up routine or would that have been okay as audiences expect him to be dangerous or offensive?
Posted by: micky | 30/04/2008 at 12:55 PM
quote "The woman, once coaxed onstage by the performer, could hardly have refused to go along with the star's behaviour. "
Complete and utter rubbish, of course she could have objected.
Posted by: B WILSON | 30/04/2008 at 03:23 PM
If you ask me, Brucie D is just jealous and wished it were he under the perspiring, quaking weight of Vegas on stage!
Posted by: Paulo Uccello | 01/05/2008 at 11:06 AM
To quote B Wilson's response: 'quote "The woman, once coaxed onstage by the performer, could hardly have refused to go along with the star's behaviour. "
Complete and utter rubbish, of course she could have objected.'
I have to say that I disagree. Yes, as a woman, I like to think that in that young woman's position I would have vocally refused to go along with Vegas' behaviour and done everything in my power to get away from him. I would not have wanted to even stay at the gig. However, there are a lot of power dynamics to consider. Any person that's put in a very public on-the-spot position like that is going to be intimidated. All eyes are on you and you know that he's going to make an even bigger deal about it if you refuse to go onstage. Once you're there, it's going to be hard to leave when you feel pressured and scared by his lewd, aggressive talk. Yes, she should have told him to get off of her, but he also should have been responsible enough to not publicly straddle a woman if she's clearly uncomfortable with it. And the vast majority of people who were there are saying that she looked at least a bit scared. If they were two people alone in the bedroom it would be unacceptable for him to do things that she was clearly uncomfortable with, and the same applies in this twisted public situation. I agree that controversy is funny, and I know that Vegas was apparently trying to get some kind of funny, self-deprecating discourse going, but as the most powerful individual in the room he had no right to even risk making the woman feel taken advantage of. End of. By all means plant a consenting actress in the audience to play the role (not that I think that would be any funnier, but it's more ethical) but don't try that with an unsuspecting woman. And don't try telling me that the woman could have been a plant - don't you think that with all the negative publicity, Vegas' agents might have made themselves available for comment if they had any form of excuse? Think about it.
Posted by: Lucy | 01/05/2008 at 04:30 PM