Jack Whitehall defends controversial Prince Harry joke in Fresh Meat sitcom

 
Television programmes: Fresh Meat. Jack Whitehall as JP
John Dunne @jhdunne5 December 2013
The Weekender

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Comedian Jack Whitehall has defended his character’s controversial joke about Prince Harry on Fresh Meat, but admitted that he was prone to “schoolboy mischievousness”.

In the opening instalment of the third Channel 4 series based on the antics of a group of students his character JP refers to the Prince in one of his politically incorrect rants.

The public schoolboy says: “I’ll take you to a place on the King’s Road where Prince Harry got a hand job off an assistant manager at Abercrombie & Fitch.”

Channel 4 said the the joke was “clearly tongue in cheek” while Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell claimed the scripted comment “demeaned broadcasters.”

Whitehall, 25, said: “I don’t like being branded a shock comic, because I’m not. That joke (about Prince Harry in Fresh Meat) was in a scripted show, but the papers acted like I had interrupted production to be offensive.”

However, he conceded that “there is a schoolboy mischievousness that gets the better of me now and again”, referring to a prank when appearing the 2012 Big Fat Quiz of the Year in which he wrote down a number claiming it was fellow panelist Jonathan Ross’s.

He urged the audience to ‘call him whenever you want’ but the number belonged to Rakesh Sagar, a picture researcher who was bombarded with calls as the number was shown on screen.

Meanwhile the comedian brushes off suggestions that he has a tough job claiming there is nothing else he could do.

He said: “I couldn’t do anything that anyone else does because I am incompetent. I had various jobs in pubs, or as a waiter, and I was f****** rubbish at it. The odd hours (of comedy) just mean you have to be more careful with the time you have with your partner and family.”

Referring to acts he brands “game changers” in comedy, Whitehall said: “You get a comedian who makes an impact and suddenly everyone follows that style: an example is Eddie Izzard. The Office came along and every show made for ten years after that was a post-Office sitcom. Now everyone’s reverted to broad slapstick.”

Whitehall said his portrayal of JP had been aided by his own student experiences in Manchester.

He said: “There were plenty of JPs in my life ..."

See tomorrow’s  ES magazine for a full interview with comedians Jack Whitehall and Jack Dee

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