Key Points
- Joe White was part way through his stand-up show when someone in his audience called him the N-word.
- He decided to deal with the situation with empathy, compassion, understanding and education.
- Audience members later reached out to say they were disappointed they had not tried to intervene.
Comedian Joe White had been performing his stand-up comedy show to sold-out crowds for almost two weeks at Fringe World Festival in Perth when an audience member “completely sucked the energy out of the room”.
A person who’d been heckling throughout part of White’s show on Friday night referred to the comedian using the N-word.
White, born Tilahun Hailu, is an Ethiopian refugee who came to Australia from Sudan as a child, and didn’t ask for security to escort the man from the venue.
Stand-up comedian Joe White enjoys meeting with audience members following his shows, as he's been doing at Perth's Fringe World Festival. Source: Supplied
During the show
The comedian, who admitted he was “thrown” by the man using the N-word and directing it at him, responded directly to the heckler and allowed him to stay.
He said it was obvious the rest of the crowd was not impressed by the man’s language, as they fell silent apart from some tut-tutting.
At that moment White told the audience he would handle the situation and while he was smiling on the outside, he said that was just his typical reaction to confrontation - he can’t help but smile.
Audience members later reached out to say he and his friends were disappointed with themselves that they had not tried to intervene, but White said he was glad they had not.
“I don't want any violence on my show, it was a small room, I had lovely people at my show, an elderly couple in the front who decided to come and take a chance on me, my number one concern was not even my emotions or trying to teach this guy lesson then and there, it was more the safety of my audience,” White told SBS News.
“I said, ‘wow, I can't believe you said that. I can't believe you used the N-word, why would you say that? That's crazy, look, you've sucked the energy out of this place and now this is what I have to work with,’” he said.
While White said the man played down the seriousness of his language and the offence he’d caused, the comedian made sure to focus parts of his act back to the man throughout the show, making him the butt of his jokes and reminding him that what he said was not okay.
When he ended the show, White thanked the audience, minus the man who had used the racial slur.
After the show
While taking a breather after his performance he was surprised to hear that the man was waiting outside the venue, hoping to speak with him.
White said he was glad to have a chance to speak to the man without being on stage to reinforce that his actions were “unacceptable,” but surprised at how “clueless” he initially was to the offence he caused.
“He welcomed me with applause, he was clapping and was like, man, that was the best show, you killed it, you’re so funny.”
While the two men shook hands, White said he looked at him and I said “no you killed that show, you did a terrible job, I can't believe you said the N-word to me” going on to explain how the word is “used to make black people feel inferior and subhuman”.
White said the conversation ended with the audience member apologising “hand on heart”, and the comedian came away believing the individual would at least think twice before ever directing the word at someone in the future.
He told SBS News while he knows individuals may have handled the situation differently, but he approached the situation in a way that was true to himself. White admitted it was frustrating having to educate others.
“I don't want to be educating people about race, it’s crazy when we have access to the internet and books about it. So for me, I definitely don't want to be that person, I'm not qualified to be that person, I'm not a race relations expert,” White said.
A couple of days prior to the incident, Joe White was among the Fringe World Perth performers chosen to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese while he was in Perth. Source: Supplied
An ‘isolated incident’
The comedian, who’s performed internationally and for thousands of people across seven Perth Fringe World Festivals, said last week was an “isolated incident” that he had never experienced before.
White said the festival’s management had reached out to him as soon as they were informed about what happened to check in with him.
Just a couple of days before the show, he was one of three acts from the festival who were chosen to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, when he visited the festival while on a visit to Perth.
While White's run of solo shows for the festival has now wrapped up, he’s looking forward to being part of a “Best of Africa” show.
He put together the show featuring a group of black comics, many of whom he’d mentored after getting into comedy and realising he saw very few African people in stand-up comedy in Australia.
