Hecklers are SC's!

[dougiezerts]

This thought just occured to me!
Any standup comidians/musicians/performers in this forum? If so, have you ever been harrassed by hecklers, while performing?
Hecklers are SC's! In fact, it could be argued that they are the worst variety of SC there is, because they are belittling people in a very public fashion.

[Writer Cath]

Yes but keep in mind that once a heckler heckles in public, then the performer has the unmitigated freedom to shred that person, something most of us would love to have. So yes, while it's annoying to get insulted, the performer has the right - hell, the duty if they're a good one - to insult the heckler right back.

[Knightmare]

For a while, I considered doing stand up (back when I used to be funny). What's the first thing I worked on? Certainly not my act. No sir! I worked on heckler comebacks. But I spent so much time on them that I didn't develop much material.
But to this day, if someone says something smart to me, I usually have a come back.

[dougiezerts]

So that's good job experience, Knightmare!
Good point, Writer Cath. But it seems to me that hecklers are often immune to such comebacks. They do what they do because they get off on insulting people, and they could care less about getting insulted back--unless the insults are particulary personal!

[ahanix1989]

We all saw where responding to the hecklers goes.... thanks, Michael Richards.

[blas]

what's a Heckler?

[dougiezerts]

Someone who makes smart ass comments at a comedian, while he/she's performing. (Or any other performer)

[tollbaby]

Or, beat the hell out of the heckler, if you are a hockey player. I remember seeing on TV once Tie Domi (a goon type of player if there was ever one, but I'd sure want him on MY side in a brawl!) sitting in the penalty box, with a heckler leaning on the glass, yelling at him.

The glass popped out.

The guy fell into the penalty box.

The guy got pounded.

I also remember Domi using the water bottle to squirt hecklers.........

*snicker* that's rather like pulling the lion's tail to bother him LMAO

[DarthRetard]

Hey guys, hecklers aren't just limited to comedians. I'm a musician, professionally, and I do public performances frequently. I will almost without a doubt, at every show, get some smartass high school kid who thinks he's all that. So, i usually just call the bitch on stage during a song of mine and ask him to play. And by ask, i mean, I shove my trumpet in his hands, and tell him to do better. When he turns red and says he cant, we all just shout out "We all can't be musicians, so leave it to us that are!"

That usually prevents the same people from coming back.

[AFpheonix]

We all saw where responding to the hecklers goes.... thanks, Michael Richards.

But the thing is, he wasn't remotely funny when he got after the heckler. If a comic is really good at improv and they get a real asshole in there, it's can be even funnier than the act was in the first place.

[ahanix1989]

I never considered his act funny, to be honest.

[Jester]

This thought just occured to me!
Any standup comidians/musicians/performers in this forum? If so, have you ever been harrassed by hecklers, while performing?

As many here know, in addition to many other things I do, I am also a professional magician. And the magic I do is closeup magic. As in, right in front of you, often with cards (my specialty), coins, etc.

My friend FE and I are the variety of magician that happens to welcome hecklers and smartasses. They actually make our show better. Why? Well, because the both of us are ourselves very witty, very big smartasses, and very quick on the draw. Heck, we often tell people to put their biggest smartass friend right up front when they come to see a performance. Because, frankly, we thrive on not only entertaining people magically and comedically, but in putting these attention whores in their places. And, I might add, we do it extraordinarily well.

Now, 99% of the time, after a few smartass heckles, most people will get the idea that they are outgunned and outclassed, and that everyone else is on the magician's side, as they want to see the performance. At this point, most of the hecklers will see the writing on the wall, stop trying to be the center of attention, and enjoy the act. And frankly, it isn't that hard for them to do, because our comebacks are what one pioneering magician once called "insulting people without offending them." I have often said I am amazed at some of the shit I can say to people and still have them laugh, and I am. But it works for us.

The 1% of the hecklers that are just obnoxious and don't get it? Well, they test our mettle, and bring out the best (worst?) in us, and they pretty much always get their comeuppance. Sometimes they don't even realize that they are the butt of the jokes, but everyone else does. And honestly, when the other people see us dealing with these yahoos professionally, comedically, and without getting ruffled or breaking too much stride in the act, they are even more impressed than they would be by a normal show.

So, my friends, if you are ever in Key West, and have a smartass heckler you want dealt with (or are under the deluded impression that you are the one smartass heckler that is better than everyone that came before you and that you will be the one to actually put that damn magician in his place), just drop me a line and I'll direct you to the Florida Keys' ONLY magic bar.

Oh, and just make sure the smartass in question is sitting right up front. We like that. We really, really do.

[Bella_Vixen]

HeckleDepot.com. Geared towards MLB. Becks has a story or two buried somewhere on the site.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Back when rocks were soft, I was in a travelling show that contained a heckler.

No, I mean the SHOW contained the heckler. He was a cast member, and an audience plant. He was great! I think it probably became obvious as the show wore on that the guy was part of the act, but he got some laughs.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I was at an open mic night at the local comedy club and I got razzed by a heckler.

I looked at the audience and said "Now it is tradition for the comic to turn to a heckler and publicly destroy him. However I've yet to be truly heckled tonight."

I turned to the guy who was trying to heckle...

"Sir, 'you suck' is an opinion and not a heckle. If you can actually come up with something worthy of a heckle then I am obligated to turn and face you as a worthy opponent. Otherwise I'm well within my rights to violently ignore you."

I went on with my act, punctuated with "You Suck!" and "Lame!" over and over until someone else went to the bouncer who removed the guy without a single word from me.