Paid Members Dead Mike Posted February 28, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 28, 2012 Those sort of nights should be like swimming with sharks, there are too many shit comedians who get through life not realising they're shit because they live in a bubble. The reason for this is because when they go to these nights they are playing to either their mates and the rest of the acts. Their mates think they're hilarious and will laugh at anything and the other acts are too self involved with getting their shit together to pay attention with the guy on stage. Saying that though I've seen other comedians heckling from the bar, which is either due to jealousy because their act bombed or because the act on stage is straight up shit. Â I agree to an extent but these acts, if they're no good will never progress. If a night is filled with these acts it wont last long anyway. These people aren't pro-acts & unless they change dramatically never will be. I maintain though that an act will likely improve from gigging in a supportive environment with a friendly crowd. Heckling a new act serves no purpose, the act will just spout out some stock heckle responses & it wont help their set at all. By them being allowed to finish their set without interruption they'll learn which bits worked, which didn't & ideally the compere/headliner/promoter can give them constructive feedback...someone coming out & being on the defensive for 5-10 minutes makes for a shitty experience for act & audience alike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators neil Posted February 28, 2012 Moderators Share Posted February 28, 2012 Hecklers really are no different than your smark who tries to get involved in a wrestling show. They seem to think they are adding some sort of entertainment to the show while masking their inherent insecurity and jealousy of not being up there themselves. Â Basically, the most pathetic of individuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Freebird Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rey_Piste Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I agree not every comedian should be heckled if they're new, but if they're heckled and handle themselves well they learn that aspect of stand up. But I do believe in Dawrwinism with comedy and every comedian should go through something like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrasslin Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Personally I enjoy working with an audience I ask lots of questions and try and roll with stuff. Â Annoying heckles come in the form of when you're mid sentence in a punch line or set up, because then that joke is gone and it's not coming back that night. For all the heckler knows it's the best thing I was going to do and now the audience aren't going to get to hear it and more importantly (to me) I'm not gonna get the satisfaction of doing it. Â I'm a firm believer that unless a comedian is asking you a question you should just stay quiet and laugh. 99% of heckles are only funny to the person that shouts them out anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted February 28, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 28, 2012 "Fuck off, Chubby, you fat cunt!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdh85 Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Depends on the act for me. With someone like Dara O'Briain who openly invites audience participation and builds a large part of his shows on interacting with them and bouncing off their stories and contributions, I think it makes perfect sense for audience members to get involved without being explicitly invited. On the other hand, with someone like Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Daniel Kitson etc. whose shows are carefully constructed works with a sense of narrative flow, the audience should shut the fuck up and let people listen to the guy they paid to see. Â I think as a general rule, if you've paid to see a specific 'name' comedian you should speak when spoken to and otherwise be quiet and let them control the flow of the evening. A comedy club environment when you've just gone for a fun night out - and most people probably won't have gone to see a particular act, or even necessarily know of the comedians - is a different matter and I'd be much less annoyed by it. The problem there is that, as others have said, it's always the dimwitted drunken idiots who do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyT Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Occasionally but only if interaction is encouraged and its actually funny. My mates got me a ticet to see Lee Nelson(I know I know...) and some guy just kept shouting words like "MINGE" at him, we were up at the back opposite them and everyone including Nelson thought it was us and gave us dirty looks right up until the end when he asked who it was to stand up (cant remember the joke he made, wasnt quite like he asked them to stand up like a naughty schoolboy) and they stood up to a chorus of boos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 29, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 29, 2012 the worst heckler i witnessed was at a Rhod Gilbert show, Rhod was doing his bit about comedy for the military and does the 'any military guys in?' then proceeds to ask him a few questions...the guy he was asking was the most smug, arrogant, unfunny cunt. He seemed to think he could answer anything that Rhod was saying after he spoke to him, everyone in our row wanted to kill the fucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 29, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 29, 2012 And how is that even a joke? Your way off. Â You made a pun. A pun is a type of joke. Â Look - here are the facts: * You shouted up your own joke at a comedy show - and you think that's okay. Fine - that's your prerogative. * I hate when people do that, and I propose most other people do too. Fine - that's my take on it. * I started a poll to let the people decide who is right. So no more need to argue with me - the poll will decide how the majority feel about it. Â It was neither a pun or a joke, it was an acknowledgement for something he did that I enjoyed. Would the various 'Foley Foley' chants be described as puns or jokes too in your world? Â To me, if your doing it to try and throw the comedian off, or trying to make a joke at their expense, that's bad. Showing support for something you like is a different thing. If it was a straight comedy show, I'd agree, but it wasn't, it was full of Foley actively getting the crowd to participate and even sing songs. So again, please get your facts right before you paint me as someone trying to get a laugh at the comedian's expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 29, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 29, 2012 Why are you always double posting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted February 29, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 29, 2012 I run a comedy night in London - it's a small one in an independent bookshop, and we have a lovely, if slightly weird audience. There's occasional mild heckling, but it's an intimate gig and a generally supportive audience, so it tends to actually work pretty well. We do have a house-rule though that if someone heckles, and it's judged to not add to the act, or be abusive, that person has to get on stage and tell a joke. Â The most annoying thing about hecklers is if they stomp over your punchline. Occasionally, a joke can have a telegraphed punchline. One I used recently was referring to how atheists are referred to as "pedantic and smug", and how, of course, as an atheist, obviously I wasn't pedantic...or smug. Within context, it worked well, and I got the laugh I was after on 'pedantic', and deliberately delayed a second before saying '...or smug'. Annoyingly, one drunk girl at the back of the room shouted out 'or smug'. Â It was fine, because it still got the laugh, and that was the important thing. The only irritation was that, by shouting out, it was like she thought I hadn't thought of that, whereas it was an obvious set-up to a punchline. Â From speaking to some other comics, there are times when this is irritating. Obviously, if all your jokes are obvious, then you have problems - but sometimes, the punchline is in the fact that what you're saying is obvious. And that's a really irritating one when you have someone who's drunk who thinks they're funny. Â Other times, as I said, there are times when heckling is fun. I do quite a bit of geeky material, so it tends to encourage a little bit of pedantry in the room. Â One of the only times I've heckled was just because the set-up was so perfect. I was in Edinburgh for one day during the festival, and had a slot somewhere. I popped in to see a show first, and one of the comedians was doing a bit about how he tried to use a rolled up newspaper in a fight, wielding it like a lightsaber - but it would have been more useful if he'd had either a bigger newspaper or an actual lightsaber. As a prop for what I was doing, I actually had a replica lightsaber with me, and I was only in the fourth row, so I stood up and asked if he wanted to borrow one. He spent the rest of his act dicking about with the lightsaber. Very strange, but very funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Bellenda Carlisle Posted February 29, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 29, 2012 I popped in to see a show first, and one of the comedians was doing a bit about how he tried to use a rolled up newspaper in a fight, wielding it like a lightsaber - but it would have been more useful if he'd had either a bigger newspaper or an actual lightsaber. As a prop for what I was doing, I actually had a replica lightsaber with me, and I was only in the fourth row, so I stood up and asked if he wanted to borrow one. He spent the rest of his act dicking about with the lightsaber. Very strange, but very funny. Â That is brilliant, it would have been awful if you hadn't stepped up, that's what I mean about it adding to the night, spontaneity is fun. No one would ever defend drunk hecklers shouting shit and ruining the show. Comedy should be more than sitting politely and hearing people robotically reel off a routine. Â Where's your comedy night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted February 29, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 29, 2012 I'm not the biggest stand up comedy fan though, I love humour but stand up just seems too much like a guy (or girl) who thinks he's hilarious standing in front of a room of people and expecting them to worship him for reeling off a bunch of jokes he's told to death before. Â You realise your asking now reads like a threat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jaffa Posted February 29, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted February 29, 2012 I run a comedy night in London - it's a small one in an independent bookshop, and we have a lovely, if slightly weird audience. Please advertise it in Classified. I really enjoyed it last time but continually forget dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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