Ticket sales for controversial Adelaide Fringe show Come Heckle Christ have increased by about 60 per cent since Christian groups began voicing opposition to the act at the weekend .
However, the Islamic Society of South Australia added its support to the Catholic Church’s call to cancel the show.
Islamic Society of SA secretary Dr Waleed Alkhazrajy said it would be “blasphemy if a person dressed to show himself as the Prophet Mohammed”.
“All the Muslims around the world share the same believe that any acts or reference to depict any of the Abrahamic faiths’ prophets is a blasphemy and it is not acceptable,” Dr Alkhazrajy said.
Melbourne comedian Josh Ladgrove countered claims that he wouldn’t do a similar show about Islam, although he said his act was based on personal experience of being raised Christian and a physical resemblance to Jesus.
“Let’s say that I was originally a Muslim and am now agnostic … and that we had a traditional, conventional image of what Mohammed looked like, and that I happened to fit that,” Mr Ladgrove said.
“Then yeah, I would do such a show.
“No religion or no one faith should be beyond reproach and I certainly don’t think Islam should be. It’s a religion with as many, if not more, contradictions than Christianity.
“Judaism, too, shouldn’t be excluded. Neither should Hinduism, neither should Buddhism, neither should atheism. A healthy democracy should generate this level of debate.”
Meanwhile, New York comedy act The Wau Wau Sisters - who will perform at this year’s Fringe - said that when they performed their show The Last Supper at Brisbane Festival in 2012 they were met with death threats.
“A man had asked for it to be pulled from the program and if it wasn’t he was threatening to kill us and the audience,” said performer Tanya Gagne.
Religious imagery used in the show’s advertising material sparked the death threats.
“We had six undercover cops in the audience every night, people were arrested during the show.” One man was found with a knife hidden in a Bible.
The international act yesterday threw their support behind Ladgrove; “I feel pretty strongly about freedom of speech and there should be no question that he should be able to heckle whoever he wants - especially Christ,” Gagne said.
The Wau Wau Sisters’ new Fringe show, Death Threats (and other forms of flattery) is based on the experience and opens at the Garden of Unearthly Delights’ Spiegeltent on February 14.