Bomb Hoax and DUP Boycott Fail to Stop Jesus Show

A controversial one-man show, depicting Jesus as a prisoner at Guantanamo, was the target of a hoax bomb warning in Belfast, last night.

'Jesus: The Guantanamo Years' – written and performed by Dublin comedian Abie Philbin Bowman – is being performed at the Blackbox Theatre, in the city's Cathedral Quarter. Shortly before the show was due to start last night, following an anonymous phone call, members of the PSNI arrived at the theatre to search for explosives. Nothing was found, and the show proceeded as scheduled.

"I had no idea there was anything wrong until I came off stage, an hour later" commented Philbin Bowman last night. "Apparently it was a pretty obvious hoax. Ignorant pranks like this only serve to underline what I'm saying on stage: that Christianity has been hijacked by people who completely misunderstand the teachings of Jesus. If you phone in a bomb warning, regardless of whether it's real or fake, you're breaking one of the 10 Commandments. Fortunately, on this occasion, the idiot in question was only guilty of bearing false witness."

'Jesus: The Guantanamo Years' is based on the premise that if Jesus Christ returned to earth He would not get through US immigration, because “He's a bearded, Middle Eastern guy who wants to die as a martyr.”

Earlier this week, DUP Councillor Christopher Stalford stated that the show was "in fairly bad taste.”

“I think it's unfortunate that once again a stand-up comic has deemed it acceptable to use Our Lord as a figure of fun.

"I think some people will take offence at it and I understand why they would do that. 

"I would encourage people not to go and see it".

Philbin Bowman later accused the Councillor of hypocrisy, “This must be the first time in history that the DUP has attacked someone for dressing up in orange and talking about Jesus.”

“My real target is not Christ, but the hypocrisy of the Bush administration. Guantanamo Bay violates American values and Christian teaching. Jesus Himself said, 'what you do to the least of these, you do also to me'. If people find my show offensive, I'm sorry - but I'm pretty sure that telling jokes is not as blasphemous as torturing people".

Councillor Stalford has been formally invited to tonight's performance, in the Blackbox Theatre, on Hill Street at 8 p.m.