Comedians including Shappi Khorsandi, Sofie Hagen and Danny Posthill have come out in support of Russell Howard after he walked off during a Bristol gig last week because a member of the audience started filming him.
Howard, who originates from Bristol and who attended the University of the West of England (UWE) quickly became angered at the woman filming his untested material.
We reported last week that Mr Howard told the woman: "That's literally the worst thing you can do."
He told the woman to "live in the moment" and asked her how she would like it if someone started filming her at her place of work, before mimicking doing so by taking out his phone and aiming the camera at her.
However, despite the gig not advertising a ban on recording, a number of comedians have taken to Twitter, including Shappi Khorsandi to support Russell's attitude to recording, reports The Mirror.
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Sharing Mirror Online's story of the incident, comedian Shappi Khorsandi wrote on Twitter: "[100 emoji] with Russell on this. Last year woman did this to me...kills spontaneity, trust and intimacy of a live show".
Fellow comedian Sofie Hagen shared Shappi's verdict, agreeing with her.
Sofie tweeted: "I agree 1000% percent with Shappi and Russell."
Fellow comedian Danny Posthill tweeted in agreement, writing: "Good for you @russellhoward I don’t blame you, there’s too many people getting their phones out at gigs. If the performer wants his stuff recorded he will get it recorded at his own accord".
Additionally many others were in agreement that Russell was right to call out the audience members recording his gig.
One follower of Shappi's wrote: "Also, as an audience member, I don’t want to be watching the performance through someone’s smartphone screen!"
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Another person commented: "Good on him - these idiots who spend their whole time on their phone. It is so distracting in the audience when you can see all these lights in front of you when you want to see the stage. The whole ifyoudon'ttakeaphotoitdidn'thappen is so childish!"
Finally, one Twitter user concluded: "This growing expectation that venues or organisers are at fault for not providing full instructions on how to conduct themselves - decency, courtesy and respect - is quite tedious. But a reflection of where some people exist."
After the initial reports of Russell's upset at the decision to record, a spokesperson confirmed the incident.
They said: "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 its intended for the room only."
