How to Handle a Heckler Like A Pro
One of the things that makes stand up comedy one of my favorite forms of entertainment is the possibility that someone in the audience will make an idiot out of themselves by trying to heckle the guy on stage. Comedians have literally dozens of ways to disarm an audience member, and they are pretty much all fun to watch (although I wouldn’t recommend going off on a racist rant, that doesn’t end well).
Here are six great comedian responses to heckling:
6: Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan destroys some girl who “doesn’t believe he has a girlfriend”.
5. Some guy with a guitar
Physical assault is definitely one way to handle things.
4. Jaime Kennedy
Normally not a Jaime Kennedy fan, but he is pretty funny here going off on some chick who doesn’t like him using the term “waitress”.
3. Kevin Smith
Smith isn’t a comedian, but he’s a great speaker and does a great job taking out some obnoxious guy who asks if he ever plans on making a movie without his standby characters that doesn’t suck.
2. George Carlin
No video here, just audio, but it is worth a listen. Carlin is a master.
1. Bill Hicks
Nobody could handle a heckler like Bill Hicks. Probably because nobody else could draw on the immense reservoirs of rage that Hicks could. Man I wish he was still alive.
Hmm.. I don’t think that “Some Guy With A Guitar” was really handling that heckler like a pro .. but, the other ones were funny
kevin smith deserved it, kamie kennedys was a setup and bill hicks is a badass.
that was excellent, bill hicks what a guy. Marvellous. Guitar hit, im not entirely sure that was a comeadic event. but entertaining in a way that i thought jeff jarret and the honkey tonk man could only deliver.
nice.
There is a kick ass video of Bill Burr using 10 minutes to just heckle some guy from Philly which is brilliant.
I remember hearing about Rodney Dangerfield going off on a guy. Long story as short as I can make it with some paraphrasing, a guy kept asking when Rodney planned on saying something funny so Rodney launched into a story about hailing a taxi to get to the show. He kept asking the guy, “You following me so far?” and the guy was stoked to get any attention. In the story, the cab driver took him to the wrong theater, drove erratically, hit a little kid, etc. Again and again, “Are you following me?” Heckler: “Yeah!” So when the taxi driver finally gets him to the right place, he asks Rodney for the full fare. Four or five times, Rodney asks, “You know what I told the guy?” The heckler is into it, asking, “What? What?”
Rodney: “I told the guy (pointing to the heckler) ‘FUCK YOU, YOU STUPID MOTHER FUCKER.”
The crowd went ape shit.
how does bill burr not male this list for destroying a arena that was heckling him???
What about Eugene Mirman?
A guy had been sending him hate mail and he brought him on stage and made him look like a fool.
Kenny Moore “The Guitar Guy” is one of nicest, best guys in the world-people should know the whole story. That jerk had it coming. I was also there the night Hicks took that show apart-those idiots had it coming as well–there isn’t a video, however of the night he threw 120 people out of that same club……
No Bill Burr going after the whole town of Philly when they heckled him?
the bill burr philly tirade is better than any of these
YES! Please add the Bill Burr incident, it’s hillarious because he isn’t taking on one heckler, he’s taking on an entire audience of hecklers.
Joe Rogan is a tool. Carlos Mencia isn’t much better, but he handles him pretty well when Rogan confronted him about stealing jokes, that guy does need to get over himself.
And yes, Bill Hick is kickass.
In response to #12:
What the hell are you talking about? Did you watch the same video everyone else did? Mencia was a blubbering fumblefuck who couldn’t come up with anything to say and he kept thinking the audience was with him the whole time. The guy was dillusional and completely torn apart, esecially when Rogan brought out the guy from The Amazing Racist and caught him in a lie. Mencia really got his ass handed to him and he couldn’t even defend himself. He kept saying the lame ass grade school comeback of “I think you talk about me so much because you’re secretly in love with me.” Mencia is unoriginal and not funny in the very least and Rogan appears to be the only one with the balls to confront him about it so major props to Rogan.
The Bill Burr performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S4nSzE4N-o
why bill burr on the o &a virus tour is not here is a mystery to me.he mad fun of hole city of philly for a good ten minutes.all because of a few boos in the begining.towards the end he wins over the crowd…heres the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S4nSzE4N-o
Holy crap, maybe you could do an article about “best Robot Chicken clips”. Then we’d have another copy of an article done months ago on Cracked.
Joe Rogan for Pres
Billy Burr on the Opie and Anthony Virus tour in Philly ‘06 was the best. Ten minutes on how the entire city of Philly sucks dick. Billy Burr is the best.
And Bill Hicks is a master.
Plus Mencia looks like a god damned chipmunk.
I worked Jodies comedy shop when Kenny hit the jerk with the guitar. What the video doesn’t ;show is the guy threating to beat the shit of of Kenny and starting to make a move to get on the stage. There is quite a bit the video missed, but everyone at the show was ready for the guy to get ejected. He was a stupid distraction to those that wanted to see the act.