Itchy Brighton article

Heckling Nightmares

Comedians tell of the nightmares of being heckled

Last week we told of the nightmare that is being singled out by a comedian as the butt of their jokes. The thing is that putting on a stand-up gig isn’t all fun and games for the comedy performer themselves you know. No, far from it – some members of the audience turn up to stand-up comedy clubs labouring under the belief that they’re far more amusing than the comedians.

Heckles can be hard to defend against for a stand-up comedian. Even if they’re not the most amusing lines in the world, the audience tend to appreciate them. ‘Heckles are generally funny just because they're an impressive instant reaction rather than anything particularly witty,’ explains runner-up for Student Comic of The Year, Paul Hayfield.

During the heat of a performance in a stand-up comedy club, they can prove intensely disorientating for the comedian to come back to well. Yes, it’s true that most comedians prepare lines to use on reprobates in advance of their comedy performance, ‘Comics do use a vast arsenal of stock lines though and this can sometimes mislead people into thinking they're sharp and original when in face they've just memorised them’, explains Hayfield. However, this doesn’t always work out as well as hoped.

Former Perrier Best Newcomer shortlisted comedian Day Macaskill, host of comedy gameshow Choose Day, once made a response to a heckle that compromised more than just the quality of the gig.

‘One week one of my lawyer friends – who obviously isn't used to losing – argued about the points I'd allocated to her team for a full five minutes. Her argument was sound, although under the glare of the lights I couldn't see it and ended up awarding the opposite team more points.' Oh well, we’re all human. She probably forgave and forgot, right? Wrong. ‘She accosted me in the bar later and still isn't speaking to me’, laments Day.

Anyone in any doubt that heckles can ruin gigs need look no further than the career-ending allegedly racist response by Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld). By the end of the heckle, a significant number of the audience has left, he’d been drawn into a slanging match with the heckler, ended up having to leave the stage and his career was left in tatters.

Still, hecklers should nonetheless be wary before entering into an exchange with a comedian. If the comedian in question’s quick-witted, you’re not going to come out of it well. ‘I do a lot of material about my character living in the contryside and being a rich landowner,’ explains Hayfield. ‘Some student in Leicester was just calling me a wanker all the way through so i said: “I inherited 200 acres off my parents… the only thing you've inherited is a face like a pig's anus”. It wasn't genius funny, but it worked in shutting him up.’

Comedy clubs to check out a stand-up gig, and try out your heckling skills on the comedian: Komedia

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Comments

Some of the worst heckles I have ever seen. At the KING GONG night at the Manchester comedy store, egged on by the compere, almost all the acts were constantly berated with heckles. A funny night none the less. Some of the comedians handled it better than others.
- Eddie Tyrell from Liverpool on 10/05/2007 -

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