"This sinister interplay of irony and sincerity"

Andrew Lawrence has previously bemoaned the lot of the right-wing stand-up comedian, claiming that simply for expressing themselves they instantly "become the target of a witch-hunt". If only there was a safe space in which these snowflakes could just be themselves without fear of discrimination or abuse, eh?

Well, now it seems there is: the monthly Comedy Unleashed night in London. When Vice's Yohann Koshy paid a visit recently, Lawrence was the headliner of a bill of comedians all enjoying the freedom to say what exactly they wanted, unencumbered by (self-)censorship - which seems to have translated largely as telling stale, trying-too-hard-to-be-offensive non-jokes that punched down rather than up.

The night's co-founder Andrew Doyle, who is also a co-creator of the Jonathan Pie character, took offence at Koshy's article (chortle), insisting that Comedy Unleashed book left-wing comedians as well as those who are right of centre. But when your event is attended by the likes of Paul Joseph Watson, James Delingpole and Toby Young, it's clear the crowd to which the free speech banner is playing.

Lawrence has recommended the night to other comics: "You will get a lot of abuse on Twitter afterwards from some very dogmatic individuals, but you will never perform in front of a more open-minded audience." If by "open-minded" he means "prepared to put up with unfunny material designed to appeal to the 'political-correctness-gone-mad', 'you-can't-say-anything-these days' Daily Mail reader", then he's got a point.