Janeane Garofalo cut short her Saturday afternoon set in Latitude’s comedy tent because of the poor reception she was given by the audience. The American comedienne’s rare UK live appearance was expected to be one of the highlights in a strong comic line-up, but she failed to win over the festival crowd.

Best known to TV viewers as talent booker Paula in The Larry Sanders Show and political campaigner Louise in the final series of The West Wing, Garofalo was due perform for half an hour, but left the stage after less than ten minutes when her routine about post-9/11 security checks at airports met with stony silence.

“It’s not you, I blame myself for this,” she said before leaving the stage. The gap her abrupt exit left in the schedule was filled by the next act Ed Byrne agreeing to go on early. He opened his own routine with a question for the event promoters; “Now that I’m doing a longer set, can I have some of Janeane’s money?”