Charges dropped against comedian who dropped pants in public

A Gold Coast court dropped charges against a comedian who dropped his pants in public, accepting his defence that his "wilful exposure" was intended to defend himself from some thugs.

Stand-up comedian Dave Eastgate was in a Gold Coast pie shop last August when a group of young men arrived and began to harass the shop attendant.

Eastgate intervened and asked the men to settle down before they turned to him and began threatening him with violence.

So Eastgate employed a novel defence to "scare them off" by pulling his pants down and exposing himself, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

Police arrived at the pie shop on the corner of Caville Avenue and Gold Coast Boulevard on August 26 to find the funny man atop a bench with his pants around his ankles.

The attending officers arrested Eastgate for wilful exposure and added another charge of obstructing police for non-compliance during his arrest.

Eastgate pled guilty to both offences at the Southport Magistrates Court yesterday.

Lawyer Chris Nyst said Eastgate was coincidently working on a comedy routine at the time about how men tended to take their shirts off when they were brawling.

Eastgate believed if men dropped their pants instead they would be more likely to scare their opponent away, the court heard.

Nyst said his client's best offence in a series situation was one of humour.

Magistrate Jacqueline Payne asked whether she was supposed to keep a straight face during the defence's submission.

Nyst said his client had better delivery, which is why he was a lawyer and not a comedian.

The lawyer said his client, a graduate of the prestigious The Southport School, regretted his actions and only wanted to defend himself and the shop keeper.

Magistrate Payne accepted Eastgate's version of events and recorded no conviction for both charges, ordering that no punishment be laid.

Eastgate, who starred in ABC comedies A Moody Christmas and The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting was not available for comment.

Source: Gold Coast Bulletin
Author: Nicholas McCallum, Approving editor: Emily Mcpherson