The weird thing about comedy is that it’s supposed to give the illusion that it’s a conversation, when really, it’s a speech. Sure, sometimes it might behoove a comedian to work the crowd a bit to make sure they’re paying attention, but the point of a comedy show has to be to actually hear the comedian’s take on certain things.
That’s why heckling is such an insulting act to comedians. Sometimes they don’t work for months and when they finally get a show, someone ruins it by yelling or answering rhetorical questions. Luckily these comedy pros have been there before and can twist it in a way that makes the heckler look the fool.
Kyle Kinane meets a ‘south side Ewok’ in Chicago.
Bryson Turner turns it around.
Todd Glass stands up for waiters.
Bill Hicks gets angry, then very apologetic.
Patton Oswalt explains to a guy that just because the room is quiet, the goblins won’t get him.
Rob O’Reilly answers an audience members phone for him.
Bill Burr takes on apparently all of Philadelphia.
These videos shouldn’t be incentive to go and heckle comedians. Comedians would much prefer to do the material they took the time to sit down to write, but just know if they need to go off book to set you in your place, they very much can.
