Police called to Taskmaster star’s comedy gig as fight breaks out over heckling
Paul Chowdhry filmed the incident at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend
A comedy show in Essex descended into chaos on Saturday night, requiring police to be called after a fight in the audience.
The altercation, which reportedly resulted in an assault, followed Paul Chowdhry’s performance of his "Englandia Tour" at the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend.
A video posted to Instagram by Chowdhry himself captured a portion of the incident. The 50-year-old is best known for his appearances in Taskmaster and 8 out of 10 Cats. In 2021 he launched the podcast: The Paul Chowdhry PudCast.
The footage shows several audience members engaged in a heated argument in the stalls area of the venue.
While the exact trigger for the fight remains unclear, it appears to have stemmed from a heckler disrupting the performance. Essex Police confirmed they attended the scene following reports of a disturbance.
“Big fight is broken out after the show. It’s properly kicked off out here this evening,” he said.
“There was some riots here and now some people are probably kicking off tonight.”
Aiming the camera at one woman dressed in black, looking frustrated and pointing in multiple directions, he said: “She’s kicking off.”
Some audience members attempted to intervene and calm others down.
“I want to keep out of harm’s way because I might get jumped,” Chowdhry said during the video.
Responding to the incident, a spokesperson from Trafalgar Entertainment, operators of the Cliffs Pavilion, said they were aware of the incident.
“A small number of customers expressed their frustration towards another customer who had been heckling the act throughout the evening,” they said in a statement.
“Our team responded swiftly to defuse the situation,” they added.
“We take the safety of our audiences, staff and performers very seriously and condemn acts of violence and discrimination in the strongest possible terms.
“We will not hesitate to take action, including liaising with the police, should this be deemed necessary.
“We would like to remind all our customers to be respectful to each other, to performers and to our staff at future events.”
Essex police were called to the disturbance at about 9.35pm that evening.
An Essex Police spokesperson said: “It was reported a fight had broken out and a man was assaulted.
“No serious injuries were reported, officers attended and inquiries are ongoing.”