The Daily Populous Saturday January 31st, 2026 night edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by RollSafer

A Minnesota comedy venue canceled six sold-out shows by comedian Ben Bankas after videos of him mocking the death of Renee Good went viral.

Laugh Camp Comedy Club, located in downtown St. Paul, dropped all of the shows that were scheduled to take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday, citing “heightened threats, increasing media attention and civil disorder.” All ticket buyers are being refunded.

The club’s owner, Bill Collins, wrote in a statement to NBC News that a “small club like ours does not have the needed resources.”

“We are obligated to place the highest priority on the safety of our guests, staff and talent and we are left with no option but to cancel,” the statement said.

Bankas did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

After Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, the Canadian comedian commented on the killing during two shows at Laugh It Up Comedy Club in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10. One video from the shows has garnered nearly 400,000 likes on his Instagram account.

“Her last name was Good. That’s what I said after they shot her,” Bankas said. He also called her the R-word, mocked her partner and suggested she should have been shot sooner.

In a video Bankas posted to Facebook on Thursday, he commented on his own security concerns and said he was upset that he could not perform shows for “normal” and “good” people in Minnesota.

Skylarking77 on January 30th, 2026 at 19:57 UTC »

Honest headline: "Comedian you've never heard of says vile garbage and will have his name plastered across the Internet for 2 days for free and will now find himself on the right wing podcast circuit claiming free speech victimhood"

Acrobatic-Bike-2507 on January 30th, 2026 at 19:53 UTC »

"Comedian" Yeah now THATS funny.

trustifarian on January 30th, 2026 at 19:48 UTC »

What “joke” could have been made about her murder?