Edinburgh Fringe: Matt Forde's tirade about crying babies was quite justified – Susan Dalgety

For many, the biggest controversy of the Fringe so far is not the Pleasance banning Jerry Sadowitz for being, well, Jerry Sadowitz, but comedian Matt Forde’s tirade against crying babies.

Comedian Matt Forde has divided opinion after asking parents not to bring babies to his Fringe show.

Forde – a former Labour special adviser turned award-winning comedian and podcaster – took to Twitter a few days ago to complain about a shrieking child that had “derailed” his show.

“I get that it must be tough as a new parent but please, don’t bring babies to adult shows. It’s always a problem.”

Predictably his robust approach was met with outrage from parents who think that they, and their kids, have every right to ruin an hour-long comedy show. “What an attitude to have,” tweeted one parent. “Miserable,” said another.

I am with Matt Forde. I thoroughly enjoyed his show last week where he interviewed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, particularly the section where Sarwar described his recent visit to Glasgow Comic Con with his middle son.

“I went dressed as a Demon Slayer,” he laughed, much to Forde’s bemusement as he was clearly not familiar with anime – a popular style of Japanese cartoons.

But it wasn’t all fun. Sarwar talked of his vision for Scotland and the urgent need to tackle the cost-of-living crisis. He also revealed, to his regret, that of all the party leaders at Holyrood, only he and Alex Cole-Hamilton talked to each other.

He said: “You can bitterly disagree on politics, you can even hate what some people stand for on the campaign, but that doesn’t mean you have to dislike and hate each other as individuals.”

I know Anas Sarwar, so I wasn’t surprised that he came across as an empathetic, thoughtful politician with a sense of humour. But for many in the audience, this was their first encounter with the man who could be First Minister.

If the show had been interrupted by a screaming babe-in-arms, they would have missed the opportunity to learn more about him.

Of course children have a place at the Festival. I took my three grandchildren to see Basil Brush at the weekend, but to his midday family show, not his more racy evening gig. Babies and adult comedy are no laughing matter.