It was a squirm-inducing moment of awkwardness, straight out of one of his own sitcoms. At a BBC comedy showcase last week, the corporation’s head of comedy, Jon Petrie, was asked if he thought its biggest hit, Mrs Brown’s Boys, was funny. Rather than reply, Petrie sat in excruciating silence. “I’ll take that as a no, then,” said the hack who’d posed the question.
The fact that the event was held at braying media hangout Soho House and the innuendo-laden adventures of Irish “mammy” Agnes Brown are hardly the epitome of urban cool may have contributed to Petrie’s reticence. However, it doesn’t exactly indicate pride in his own stable. He issued a statement “clarifying his comments” the next day, presumably after a stern word from Beeb higher-ups.
