COMEDIAN Jim Davidson has apologised to fans for cancelling his gig in the county because the stage was too high.
The former Celebrity Big Brother winner was due to perform the latest leg of his ‘No Further Action’ tour at the Regal in Evesham on Saturday evening (January 31).
But the 61-year-old pulled out around an hour before the curtain was due to come up and blamed ‘technical reasons’.
Fans criticised his no-show on social media but the comedian explained the move on his Twitter page.
“Sorry to all who went to the regal cinema last night. The stage was 12 feet high. I couldn’t stand on it. Simple as that. Sorry,” he wrote.
“I have done 68 gigs since september and have not cancelled one. I just could not stand on a stage that high. Madness.”
And speaking to the Observer, Mr Davidson said: “I was supposed to arrive at 6pm for a soundcheck, I turned up at this place and thought this looks good.
“I went inside, didn’t see any posters promoting me and I thought ‘Have I got the wrong place’, turns out I hadn’t.
“To my horror, I then saw the stage which must have been 10/12 feet off the ground. I thought I can’t stand up, how on earth can I talk to the audience.
“I’m six foot, so if I could have got up there I’d have been 16,18 feet above the audience and talking to the tops of their heads.
“I’ve never been able to stand on a chair, change a lightbulb yet I can jump out of airplanes! When I am connected the ground I have a problem, sorry to say.”
“I used to live in Dubai in a lovely place with a balcony. I never used it, I had to give up smoking because I couldn’t stand on the balcony,” he added.
In response, Laurence Wiper, manager of the Regal said: “When Mr Davidson arrived prior to the show he appeared agitated and remained in the building for approximately four minutes before storming out.
“A few moments later he tweeted the wholly untruthful message, “gig tonight is cancelled due to technical reasons” despite the fact that there were no technical problems whatsoever at the Regal.
“Mr Davidson later amended his original untruth with another one, tweeting: The stage was 12 feet high. I couldn’t stand on it. Simple as that. Sorry”.
“The stage at the Regal is in fact seven foot six ins high and a full description was provided to Mr Davidson’s management as part of our signed contract, which contains full technical details, drawings and photographs of the stage.
“Our first priority today has been to contact all our customers, who were informed of the truth of the situation on the night, and arrange refunds.
“We would like to thank them all for their kindness and their many messages of support,” he added.
