Comedian Matt Forde sparks debate after complaining about baby that cried through his show

Comedian Matt Forde has divided Twitter users after criticising a parent who didn't leave his Edinburgh Fringe comedy show on Monday evening when their baby started crying.

The stand-up comic acknowledged that it "must be tough" to be a new parent, but claimed that the couple “derailed” his show and failed to do the "decent thing" and leave when their child began to cry on multiple occasions.

Forde shared his frustration with his 93k Twitter followers.

“Someone brought their baby to my show last night. Sadly it derailed large parts of it because they wouldn't do the decent thing and just leave when it started crying. 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,” he said.

Forde, who is best known for voicing Boris Johnson and Donald Trump in the political satire Spitting Image, urged fans to stop bringing their children future shows.

“I realise this sounds a bit whiny but it’s just to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s like someone’s phone continually ringing and them not turning it off,” he continued.

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The comedian said he had received many messages from audience members complaining about the cries.

“I’ve had so many messages from people who were there last night who were very polite about the fact it pissed them off.”

But his reaction stirred a debate on social media.

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Twitter users did not hold back their opinions on Forde’s tweets – some in full support of the comedian, and others siding with the parents.

“It's common sense and considerate, not to bring a baby to such an event," commented one user. "There needs to be a new idea or way of thinking to say, employ someone, maybe, now stay with me on this, to 'sit/mind' with the 'baby/child'. Call it something like baby sitter or child minder?"

“​​Absolutely this," wrote another. "It's incredibly entitled to think that one must be able to do everything one wants to. It's not sexist or discriminatory..just considerate [sic]. Infants are part of normal life, but that doesn't mean you need to take them into an environment specifically not for them,” another replied.

Many others empathised with the family.

“I get that it’s not the most sensible place to take a baby, and must have been very disruptive. But comparing a parent struggling with a noisy baby to a mobile phone that you can turn off? Come on Matt.” one user said.

“It does indeed sound very whiny of you.. not just a bit.” another shot back.

The comedian made light of the matter this morning on the social media channel.

“Morning everyone. Just catching up on Twitter anything big happen on here yesterday?” he joked.

Forde then tried to explain the situation, clarifying that he tried to improvise the baby's cries into his performance.

"It was all very friendly. I made a joke about it all and incorporated the baby into the show. Eventually it was impossible," he tweeted.

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