Two Jewish comedians, Rachel Creeger (pictured) and Philip Simon, have spoken out after their Edinburgh Fringe shows were cancelled at the last minute.

Both performers had shows at Free Fringe venue Whistlebinkies cancelled after staff raised concerns that their performances might prompt protests in the context of the conflict in Gaza, despite neither show being political.

Simon then had another Free Fringe show cancelled at Banshee Labyrinth, after staff there said that past social media posts by the comedian “displayed rhetoric or symbology associated with discriminatory groups”, something he denies.

In a statement to Chortle, Free Fringe CEO Luke Meredith confirmed the decision to cancel the shows at Whistlebinkies was made by the venue.

“So far as we understand, this was a staff decision based on last year’s experience when they experienced a significant rise in both ‘Free Palestine’ and Zionist graffiti, together with police notices that they said made them feel unsafe”.

Ironically, those police notices were meant to make Fringe venues feel safer, with local police reportedly told to check in on venues where Jewish comedians are performing to ensure that those performers are not the targets of antisemitism.

Speaking to Times Radio, Creeger said that last year, when performing at the same venue, staff worked hard to ensure if felt like a safe space. But this year they had taken a different approach.

Creeger explained, “They said that they felt the extra safety precautions that many Jewish performers are subject to at the moment due to rising antisemitism made them feel, ironically, more unsafe”.

“The precautions”, she then added, include a policy that when “the extra police allocated for the Festival have their beat patrols allocated they will pass by the beginning and the end of where Jewish shows were happening”.

Additionally, venues should have “contact numbers by the phone in case they needed advice or to report any kind of antisemitic incident”.

Creeger also noted that the venue had mentioned the increased graffiti in its toilets “which they found threatening”, but – she pointed out – “we certainly weren’t the people creating the graffiti”. She then reiterated, “the shows are not political, we’re not political performers”.

It seems that Whistlebinkies staff initially raised the safety concerns with Free Fringe organisers in May, but Meredith thought that – having explained the police’s plans were just precautionary and no actual threats had been made – the matter had been resolved. But last week it transpired it had not, by which time it was difficult for the shows to be moved to another Free Fringe space.

Regarding the decision to cancel Simon’s show at its venue, the Banshee Labyrinth told Chortle that, after news broke that his Whistlebinkies show had been cancelled, “our management had a duty of care to our customers and staff members to review the political statements and opinions expressed by the performer”.

The venue has highlighted various social media posts by Simon – some of which are collated here by Chortle – which it says it found concerning. The venue concluded, “We found that the views concerning the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine expressed by the performer are in significant conflict with our venue’s stance against the current Israeli government’s policy and actions”.

Responding on social media, Simon writes, “Anyone who knows me will know I have never expressed support for anything other than freeing the hostages and finding a way for peace. It is sad to think that these views could conflict with anyone who wants to see a lasting peace in Gaza and Israel”.

“As a Jewish person living in Britain it is possible, and increasingly common, to have a love for Israel without supporting the actions of the government”, he added. “I am still processing the concept that in 2025 I can be cancelled just for being Jewish”.

Photo: Ruth Bloch