Russell Howard abruptly halted his performance and stormed off stage after he spotted an audience member filming him.
The comedian took to the stage at Bristol outdoor terrace bar Bambalan in the city centre on Thursday evening, but his set reportedly only lasted five minutes.
Russell, who grew up in Bristol, quickly became annoyed after he caught a woman in the front row recording after pointing her phone at him.
According to Bristol Live, the 40-year-old said “that’s literally the worst thing you can do” after he believed she was filming him.
Russell Howard stormed out of a gig in Bristol on Thursday night after he caught a member of the audience filming him (Image: BristolLive/BPM)
Not happy with the audience member, he was visibly frustrated, saying “you’ve ruined it now”.
He then told her to “live in the moment,” asking her how would she feel if someone came to her work and started recording her.
And to hammer his point home, Russell them quickly got out his phone and pretended to record the lady.
The comedian grabbed his bag and stormed off stage (Image: Getty Images)
Russell was practising his material prior to his upcoming tour, and explained the reason he was irked was that comedians are a “dying breed” because they’re apprehensive of people filming their new content and putting it on social media, which could potentially ruin their act.
After his passionate speech, he said: “I was really looking forward to this gig.”
He swiftly apologised, picked up his bag, and left the gig.
Russell told the lady ‘you’ve ruined it now’ (Image: PA)
The publication added that the woman reportedly looked flustered and embarrassed, and turned to other audience members, insisting she was just taking a few snaps and a few videos like others.
However, a man, who was sat at the other end of the terrace, shouted: “You were filming the whole f***ing thing”.
A spokesperson for Russell Howard told BristolLive: “Any comedian whose set is being recorded at a new material night would find it distracting.
“The beauty of live performance particularly at this strange time is it’s intended for the room only.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
