Dara O Briain was forced to cancel a comedy show in Bedford this week when the venue was flooded.
On Thursday evening, the Irish comedian and former Mock The Week host posted a video with his Twitter followers of a downpour in the Corn Exchange’s sound and lighting control room.
O Briain, 51, was compelled to make the news less than an hour before the next stop on his So, Where Were We? tour, which was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
He wrote: ‘Bedford! This was the sound and lighting control room in the Corn Exchange about 15 minutes ago, so we’ve had to cancel the show tonight.
‘We will try to re-arrange so keep in touch with the venue!’
The comedian, who had to cancel a concert in Woking in 2010 due to the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, claimed his newest show was sold out.
Staff at Bedford Corn Exchange, a Grade II-listed building, wrote on Facebook: ‘Due to extensive flooding of the venue we have had to sadly cancel the Dara O Briain show this evening.
‘All customers will receive information in due course regarding a reschedule date. We are very sorry for the inconvenience regarding this unfortunate incident.’
Dara was the host of Mock The Week for 17 years until it was cancelled in August 2020, with the final episode aired in October.
The half-hour panel show included two teams of comedians who used stand-up comedy and improvisational games to take sarcastic jabs at current events, pop culture, and international affairs.
Last summer, O’Briain confirmed the axing, cynically stating that the “UK has finally ran out of news.”
‘The storylines were getting crazier and crazier – global pandemics, divorce from Europe, novelty short-term prime ministers,’ he said. ‘It couldn’t go on.
‘And so, regretfully, we are closing the doors on Dara and Hugh’s Academy for Baby Comedians.
‘We just couldn’t be more silly than the news was already. Huge thanks to all our guests over the years, so many of whom went on to huge successes of their own, and never write or call. It was a joy!’
