Council has put the brakes on taxi ads for my show, says top comic Jim Jefferies

Council officials objected to the title of Jim Jefferies' show Alcoholocaust, on the grounds that it may have proved offensive and poked fun at alcoholics.

The Australian comic believes he is the only performer who has been barred from using their show title on taxi advertising.

Jefferies, known for performing on stage while drunk, said the name for the show was inspired by the scenes he witnessed in the early hours of the morning during the Fringe.

But he and his promoter have accused the council of double standards for allowing alcohol firms to advertise on taxis and failing to understand the nature of the show.

They say its stance is "ridiculous" because Jefferies has been allowed to put up hundreds of billboards featuring the name of his show on official poster sites licensed by the council.

Yesterday, the council admitted it had concerns about "possible inferences to alcoholism" from the show title, but insisted it had never banned the advert. Licensing chiefs said the advertising agency used by Jefferies' promoter instead submitted an alternative advert which did not feature the show title.

Jefferies, who is appearing at the Underbelly's new venue, the McEwan Hall, this year, has sold more than 15,000 tickets for his Alcoholocaust" show so far. Publicity material promises it will provide an insight into Jefferies' "undying love for drinking, sex and women".

It also includes an official definition of Alcoholocaust: "The aftermath of a drinking party, usually resulting in every available horizontal surface being covered in empty booze containers, spilled beverages and a general sticky alcoholic residue."

Jefferies said: "I am the only act whose show name is not allowed on the side of a taxi. They have decided Alcoholocaust is promoting alcohol, even though it is a made-up word. It is just the scene outside the big purple cow at two o'clock in the morning, when everybody is passed-out drunk or vomiting in the corner.

"It is also the name I give my liver in the Edinburgh Festival, when I actually see it dangling out of me. I don't like drinking particularly, but I am a drunk, which is completely socially acceptable in Scotland."

Brett Vincent, Jefferies' agent and promoter, said: "Every taxi advert has to be approved by the council, but the first company we worked with wouldn't even put Alcoholocaust forward and the second one came back to say the council didn't like it as it was encouraging people to drink.

"It's completely ridiculous as Jim's posters are all over town. It's a comedy show and has got absolutely nothing to do with the Holocaust."

A council spokeswoman said: "Advertising agents contact us with a mock-up of the advert. In Mr Jefferies' case,we were presented with two alternatives, the difference being that one had the name of the show Alcoholocaust. We had concerns as to the possible inferences to alcoholism and link to comedy and felt this could be regarded as offending public taste."