A ‘drunken idiot’ forced a venue to cancel an appearance by American comic Doug Stanhope after sending an illiterate death threat via social media.

The historic Ritz Theater in Scranton, Pennsylvania, got cold feet about tomorrow night’s gig after a Facebook user called Gareth Patrick Keenan threatened to shoot the comedian.

He posted: ‘if u r I wiL fkN shooT u deED my self!… carry on commie scumm…’

The troll also posted a link video of The Wolfe Tones’ rebel song Highland Paddy, which calls upon Feinians to ‘spill the blood upon this holy ground’ and – bizarrely – another link to a National Geographic Channel video of orcas charging a giant blue whale.

He also got the date of the gig wrong, starting his message with 'July 12th' – rather than tomorrow's date.

Stanhope did not take the threat seriously, sharing the message with the hashtags ‘#DrunkenIdidotFBDeathThreat’ ‘#WeDidntCareButTheyDid’.

And a source close to the stand-up dismissed it as ‘clearly some drunk posting after a bit too much – alas the venue took it seriously.’

Luckily, the comedian found a nearby venue willing to accommodate the show, which will now take place at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel.

It may be coincidence, but Gareth Keenan is the name of Mackenzie Crook’s character in The Office – a member of the Territorial Army obsessed – some may say delusional – about his military prowess.

And the US version of The Office is set in Scranton.

Published: 24 Jun 2017