'Filthy' show banned by outraged villagers
A charity show dubbed "unjustified filth" has been banned by village leaders outraged by its "blasphemous and pornographic" content.
The comedy and music gig, due to have been staged tonight at Cannock Wood village hall, was cancelled after committee members saw Youtube videos promoting the event. Lecturer Matt Toothill, aged 33, who comperes the show in the character of religious bigot Pastor Wendell, says: "They have confused art with reality – it's all a big send up."
The performance, billed as The Bible Gathering, will now go ahead at a new venue, Burntwood Memorial Hall.
In the videos, the Pastor targets his prejudices against gipsies, the disabled, gays, the Spanish and even squirrels.
But committee chairman Bob Shelley today described the footage as "unjustified filth" which was "totally unacceptable for a public show in a public hall."
Most committee members had viewed the videos and were "stunned" by their content, he said.
The hall in Buds Road was booked six weeks ago by Mr Toothill and promoter Brad Walker, both from Chasetown, Burntwood. But they were informed by Mr Shelley on Tuesday that the show, expected to raise £2,000 for cancer research, was being cancelled and that their £185 booking fee would be returned.
Mr Walker said: "We're very disappointed. We think his reaction is really over the top. There's nothing in the show I wouldn't want to put in front of my grandma.
"You can tell it's a joke – it's a pastiche on the American bible-thumping God channel scene. The intent was to make fun of people who bear those ultra right-wing kind of prejudices.
"This is not about having a charity gig cancelled, it's about freedom of expression in a world where it seems to be becoming an endangered rarity."
