World-famous comedy club 'bans people with Botox' for bizarre reason

A world-famous comedy club has vowed to "ban people with Botox" as a "last resort measure" to improve its atmosphere.

The Top Secret Comedy Club in Covent Garden, London, which has played host to the likes of Jack Whitehall, Munya Chawawa, Trevor Noah, and Robert White, has even installed a sign outside that reads 'Freeze if you've had Botox'.

Botulinum toxin, or Botox, is a popular beauty treatment that cause temporary muscle paralysis, making it a popular choice for people, women in particular, looking for non-invasive anti-ageing solutions.

Botox is no longer taboo either, over 900,000 Botox injections are carried out in the UK each year, and people feel more confident than ever talking about their tweakments.

However, it's also become synonymous with the often-over-exaggerated idea of having a 'frozen face' from that muscle paralysis, and the comedy club insists it's "tough" for comedians to feed off crowd reactions when their face seemingly doesn't move.

"I've had numerous complaints from performers who find it increasingly challenging to gauge audience engagement and bounce off their reactions", says owner of the club, Mark Rothman.

Top Secret Comedy Club

“We hope trialing this ban will help move the needle and get facial reactions back into the room – for the benefit of our comedians and the audience."

Comedian, Paul Chowdhry, added: “My face barely moves on the stage – I wouldn’t want to see the same thing staring back at me.”

Is this a great big PR stunt subconsciously making women the butt of the joke? Probably. But Rothman insists he's deadly serious, and that 'expression tests' will be in place for people walking in from now on.

"If people are suspected of having it, we will ask them to make a surprised face. If they do look surprised, we’ll apologise and let them through, but if they can’t do it, then we’ll have to look at alternatives", he adds, suggesting they'll either be offered a refund or moved to where the comedian can't see them.

"This is pathetic to me, what it screams is you don't have the talent to make people laugh so it's somehow the audience and not you", one person wrote on X in response to the news.

Just got your Botox done? Only six months to go until you're allowed to enjoy some comedy...

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