Brendhan Lovegrove says Cam Cumming "wasn't very coherent" when he crashed the stage at the Whangaparaoa bar. Photo / Supplied
Brendhan Lovegrove says Cam Cumming "wasn't very coherent" when he crashed the stage at the Whangaparaoa bar. Photo / Supplied
An aspiring comedian who rushed the stage at his local bar and stole the microphone off a star comedian says "too much vodka" was to blame for his actions.
Cam Cumming, 25, woke up with a hangover and a few blank spots in his memory the morning after he went to JAC's Trading Co Bar & Restaurant in Whangaparaoa.
As the pieces came together, Mr Cumming posted an apology on Facebook yesterday for nicking comedian Brendhan Lovegrove's microphone.
Mr Cumming said he had "decided the comedians weren't funny" so he had walked up and stolen the microphone from Lovegrove.
"I really, really like comedy and I've been told I have a natural ability with stand-up," he wrote.
"I thought like, well, what's the worst that could happen ... I'll just give it a shot."
Lovegrove said although there were better ways for aspiring comedians to make an impact, he accepted the apology.
"The poor guy probably feels pretty bad and he probably feels hungover and, bless his soul, he'll learn not to do stuff like that again."
He said Mr Cumming "wasn't very coherent" when he got on stage and the audience gave him an "earful".
He rejected the gatecrasher's suggestion the crowd was stale and the acts not funny.
"I thought everyone did really well."
Cam Cumming thought the comedians weren't funny so attempted to get up and show the crowd what he could offer. Photo / Supplied
Lovegrove said he had some suspicions Mr Cumming had drunk a few before the gig - but the 25-year-old was quiet during the show, so his arrival on stage was a bit of a surprise.
The comedian, who leaves for Noumea today for a gig on a cruise ship, said stage crashers were an occasional occupational hazard. Often, drunkenness was involved.
"When you're making irrational decisions like that, you're clearly not reading the situation at all."
Lovegrove said he left the stage when Mr Cumming took the microphone, leaving the venue manager to deal with the situation. He said after Mr Cumming was escorted off stage, the manager apologised to the audience and the rest of the gig went well.
Mr Cumming's flatmate Katie Atkins said he got carried away.
"I could see that Cam was kind of gagging for the microphone from the minute we got there," she said.
Mr Cumming who had 'one too many' said "I can do this, I'm funny, you know I'm funny" to his friends before crashing the stage. Photo / Supplied
"Then some more vodkas happened, and some wine. Definitely some wine," she said.
Ms Atkins said she and her friend Tim had to restrain Mr Cumming to stop him crashing the stage.
"He was like, 'I can do this, I'm funny, you know I'm funny'," she said. "I was like, 'Cam, I know you're funny [but] there is a right way to go about being a stand-up comedian - this is not it'."
The bar's owner, Jez Cameron, was a good friend of Ms Atkins, and both she and Mr Cumming said they had called to apologise.
