Hecklers

matty55

I'm just starting out on the comedy scene, and would really apreciate a few tips, especially on how to deal with Hecklers!!

kaimera

carry a .45 with you

enda1

Tell good jokes? Be funny?

elshambo

Study what Des Bishop does and then do the exact opposite!

squidgey

You will rarely if ever get heckled doing gigs in Dublin if that's where you'll be performing so I would't worry about it.

A bigger problem will probably be people talking, or not paying attention to you. I normally try and adress this issue by pointing to the talkers, while looking at the rest of the audience and shushing them.

If somebody does shout something insulting that clearly the rest of the audience heard, you can't really just ignore it. Try and adress the issue with one line and move on. Try not to be too insulting, unless the heckler has been at it all night, in which case you know they will shout something at you and you will have time to have prepared a comeback. Remember the audience is on your side!

grames_bond

Words of wiadom from the great robbie bonham, from a different thread, he is spot on with his advice!

RobbieBonham wrote: »

This may sound like I'm up my own 'thoin', but bear with me. Thought I'd (finally) throw in my two cent(s) on what are the Dos and Don'ts of getting into performing comedy, as there are a large number of young comics that post here regularly. Here's the ten biggies!

1. THE most important one, and I know it's obvious, but only do your OWN material (or something someone has written for you). Do NOT do other comedians' material. Obvious to most of us, but you'd be surprised how many people not only use established comedians' material, but have NO IDEA that that's not acceptable. There is no room for 'cover bands' in comedy. I have actually heard open spots say they're trying to work in some of their OWN material into their sets. WTF?

2. Time-keeping. NEVER do more than told to by the MC / Promotor. If you're told 7 minutes, do 7 minutes. 6 and a half is even better. Its not about how funny you might be. MCs have a schedule to keep and any over-running usually cuts into the last comic's time. There's nothing worse than a brash open spot who thinks he's hilarious (he may even be) so goes on to do 12. You probably won't get asked back again. Also (and this is true for comedians of every level) if you get a HUGE laugh (like with applause etc) a minute from the end, go out on that! It's very hard to top a major laugh with one minute to go!

3. DON'T try for gigs you're not skilled enough to do yet (such as, for example, the Comedy Store). You'll only make it harder to get back in if you're not good enough yet.Stick with pub clubs that actively encourage open spots. If you're serious about doing comedy, you'll get a chance one day, when you're ready. For instance, if you're still doing gigs thinking 'I hope to God there's no hecklers tonight', you're not ready to do big venues / corporate entertainment, etc.

4. Always carry a notebook. You never know when something funny might occur to you (usually happens to me on the bus to a gig, whilst gazing out the window).

5. Dont try to do a new set every gig. Get a good backbone to your set, and add or take from it over time. Chances are no punters will see you more than twice in the first year or two anyway (apart from regulars, but there's not many of them).

6. Start on a strong joke (the quicker to the punchline, the better) and end on a strong joke. There's nothing worse than a new comedian spending 5 minutes to get to the first punchline (however good it may be). The audience will get bored quickly unless they have a couple of immediate laughs to kick off! Put your looser material in the middle.

7. What to write about: I'm sure we all have philosophical or political stuff we want to talk about, but again, you have to wait til you have the confidence to make it funny. If you look 12, or are nervous, the audience are not gonna buy your 'hardened look at life', because you don't look like you 'walk the walk'. Stick to everyday, easily identifiable observation about general life, and stay the hell away from 'paedo' jokes unless you're already a known comedian (or are an unusually talented newbie, but that's rare). You have to know how to get an audience to like you, or how to 'disarm' any hostilities, before trying risque stuff. It's not about getting your point across on subjects, it's about making people laugh. Promotors dont want someone who's 'clever'. They want someone who makes a room laugh almost constantly. There are actually open spots who send dvd recordings of themselves DYING on stage for 15 minutes straight, because they think "well this audience didnt get me, but the promotor watching this will". He won't watch more than 30 seconds without a laugh in it.

8. Don't bring any assholes to your gigs. By assholes, I mean people who will not have the decency to stay quiet for the other comedians sets. This will reflect badly on you, and make it harder to get a return slot. Make sure any friends know the etiquette of the particular club you're playing. Also, don't be an asshole audient yourself.

9. If a performance you did six months ago looks squirmingly awful in retrospect, you're probably doing things right (especially if you can acknowledge it's not as good as you thought at the time). It means you're getting better. As good as any of us think we are, there's ALWAYS room for improvement. I'm doing it 5 years, and I squirm at stuff I did 6 months ago. Same with artwork I do. The better you get, the worse your early stuff will look.

10. I'm not one for taking (or giving) advice (well... apart from this post) but I'd suggest only take advice from those who are doing well. It's as true in comedy as it is in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings...lol... Some people think they know what they're talking about, but if they're struggling themselves, they can't know that much, can they? I may not even know what I'm talking about, for all I know. This list is basically just me commenting on some very obvious things I've seen over the last 5 years. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I've some experience. I have no idea what I'M doing most of the time, just doing what feels natural. And by those 'doing well', I mean those who are well received by audience, promotors and other comedians alike. Not those who are 'in with the right people' for largely business purposes.

chin_grin

Do what Dave McSavage does.....to a T. You'll be alright.

Did my first stand up gig in years a little over a month back and did'nt get a single heckler, in fact I got 2 encores and ended up spending nearly three times on stage than anyone else. When I was doing it a few years back I would spend at least half my set dealing with hecklers so either people have become more mannered or else I've become a lot funnier.

bubonicus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL_uiPbMTLU

WindSock

Laugh them off

grames_bond

bubonicus wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL_uiPbMTLU

how NOT do do it!? are you mad? bill hicks is(was) on of if not the best comedian of all time, when he goes mad its still controlled and part of the act....he is brilliant!

witnessmenow

ala Jimmy Carr?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_8oaimyDpo

bubonicus

grames_bond wrote: »

how NOT do do it!? are you mad? bill hicks is(was) on of if not the best comedian of all time, when he goes mad its still controlled and part of the act....he is brilliant!

You are correct, i put "maybe" in brackets and a cheeky smiley.:D

IronMan

There used to be a comedy club in the GPO night club in Galway, and the hecklers there were notorious. No mercy was shown, many a blossoming career died on that stage. Tommy Tiernan said that it was the making of him, if you survived that audience, you had it made.

CyrildoSquirrel

The best generic advice is to ignore it and carry on. As you get used to it, and get used to the kind of moronic jeers they come out with you should be able to think of a few stock put-down to turn the situation round on them.

GAAman

I have done stand up a few times (open mic nights and my first ever time doing it i came second in a competition) i have found the best way of dealin with them is to take no prisoners. Usually they are males and i simply ask them "What time are you going on at? Oh you havent the balls to get up then? Well shut the f*ck up and let the big boys handle business" and this usually brings laughs and applause and one red faced gobshíte

elshambo

GAAman wrote: »

I have done stand up a few times (open mic nights and my first ever time doing it i came second in a competition) i have found the best way of dealin with them is to take no prisoners. Usually they are males and i simply ask them "What time are you going on at? Oh you havent the balls to get up then? Well shut the f*ck up and let the big boys handle business" and this usually brings laughs and applause and one red faced gobshíte

What you gonna do when you run into someone funnier than you

RobbieBonham

elshambo wrote: »

What you gonna do when you run into someone funnier than you

I'm not speaking for GAAman here (I've no ideaa if he's even someone I know or not...lol), just thought that was actually quite a good general question for the thread.

Best thing to do, if an audient (not sure if that's a real word) comes back with something funnier, you have to give them the kudos, the rest of the audience will probably applaud him anyway, then claw your way back to power using some of your comedy powers, somehow (that's the hard bit!).

Or not. I've no idea what I'm doing, most of the time...

Anyhoo, I've had this happen 2 or 3 times. Best one was from a German audience member (I know!), at a gig in Bewleys . There were basically 8 tables of people, and each table was from a different European country (there was some International Convention on in Dublin that day)

As I'm winding down my set, with the words: "To finish, I'd like to say-", I'm immediately interrupted by a man at the German table informing me "Oh, there are no Finnish people here"

Gross Halfwit

It's not so much a heckler situation as an annoying audient (lets make it a word!) sitch but I decided the prudent course of action was to rip into her for approx 13 minutes. It was all funny stuff & the audience enjoyed it ... but I didnt stop there anyone who said anything got my wrath! I got three bits of material out & that's it.

If you think you can take them & be funny while doing it then I say go hell for leather. If not, smack em with one liner & move on. Most hecklers think that they are the alpha dog of comedy & want everyone to look at them & say "Wow, he so funny! Me so Hawny!" Let them have there little moment but get back in the driving seat pronto ... then again I'm only at it a while so don't listen to me

GAAman

elshambo wrote: »

What you gonna do when you run into someone funnier than you

Never happened to be honest (not bein big headed like it just seriously hasnt happened) but one thing i would remember would be no matter how funny he/she is you are the one with the mic.....:D

Fuzzy_Dunlop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1LKVPSpIDA

"You're ****in ridiculous!":D

elshambo

GAAman wrote: »

Never happened to be honest (not bein big headed like it just seriously hasnt happened)

Question was not what DID you do

GAAman wrote: »

but one thing i would remember would be no matter how funny he/she is you are the one with the mic.....:D

Why you playing the Albert Hall or something? i think yer average voice can carry in the Happenny bridge, mic or not?

I saw a guy who has his own tv show and everything get taken apart in Sligo a few years ago, came on stage with the "ive got the mike attitude" started with "Sligo is a sh*t hole" (because the MC, a Sligoman got laughs saying same) and proceded to pick on a drunk lad in the audience thinking he could get cheap laughs

Drunk lad cleaned him out, "comedian" ended up shouting the likes of "Fu*k off" & "shut the ... up" at the drunk fella, lost the audience

you've done a few open mics, yer not richard pryor yet
Being nice to you btw, honest!

Galvasean

elshambo wrote: »

Why you playing the Albert Hall or something? i think yer average voice can carry in the Happenny bridge, mic or not?

I saw a guy who has his own tv show and everything get taken apart in Sligo a few years ago, came on stage with the "ive got the mike attitude"

I've seen similar things a few times at places like the Ha' Penny or the Neptune. The comic taught they could just outshout the heckler with the aid of the mic. Doesn't generally work. Hecklars can be noisy buggers.

GAAman

elshambo wrote: »

Question was not what DID you do

I know the question was not that i was stating it had never happened then i went on to answer it



Why you playing the Albert Hall or something? i think yer average voice can carry in the Happenny bridge, mic or not?

Nope i have done it in a few places and they ranged from the really small to really old cathedral type buildings moreso the second one big buildings like


you've done a few open mics, yer not richard pryor yet


Well thats good cos i never claimed to be richard pryor didnt even call myself a stand up and was the first to admit i had very limited experience but i didnt see the words "experienced stand up's who have sold out stadias only reply" in the thread title, my bad

Actually lookin back the bold writing looks like im shoutin or somethin i am not just was easier doin it like that

elshambo

GAAman wrote: »

you've done a few open mics, yer not richard pryor yet


Well thats good cos i never claimed to be richard pryor didnt even call myself a stand up and was the first to admit i had very limited experience but i didnt see the words "experienced stand up's who have sold out stadias only reply" in the thread title, my bad

I see wit and humour would be the strong back bone of your act.

krudler

A good few years back we saw who was a the time an up and coming new comedian who has gone on to host his own show, now i find him as funny as a dose of rectal warts but he thought it would be funny to start picking on my friends girlfriend, huge mistake as my friend absolutely destroyed him verbally, without swearing or being abusive, just being incredibly funny, needless to say comedian lost the plot,and had to resort to picking on other people trying to claw the act back, didnt work and got a few loud boos, good times lol

Rented Mule

bubonicus wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL_uiPbMTLU

This clip always makes me homesick.

deadwood

I know Stand-up is tough going, without a heckler making life hell, but....

Anyone heard any really good heckles?

Galvasean

deadwood wrote: »

I know Stand-up is tough going, without a heckler making life hell, but....

Anyone heard any really good heckles?

'Yer ma.'

elshambo

elshambo wrote: »

I saw a guy who has his own tv show and everything get taken apart in Sligo a few years ago, came on stage with the "ive got the mike attitude" started with "Sligo is a sh*t hole" (because the MC, a Sligoman got laughs saying same) and proceded to pick on a drunk lad in the audience thinking he could get cheap laughs

Drunk lad cleaned him out, "comedian" ended up shouting the likes of "Fu*k off" & "shut the ... up" at the drunk fella, lost the audience

krudler wrote: »

A good few years back we saw who was a the time an up and coming new comedian who has gone on to host his own show, now i find him as funny as a dose of rectal warts but he thought it would be funny to start picking on my friends girlfriend, huge mistake as my friend absolutely destroyed him verbally, without swearing or being abusive, just being incredibly funny, needless to say comedian lost the plot,and had to resort to picking on other people trying to claw the act back, didnt work and got a few loud boos, good times lol

Probably the same guy:D;)

AnthonyK7

squidgey wrote: »

You will rarely if ever get heckled doing gigs in Dublin if that's where you'll be performing so I would't worry about it.

Are you serious ??? Its brutal for hecklers, I have never been to a gig that a jumped up skanger doesn't think their helping the show along.

Vicar street is one of the worst spots, the laughter lounge seems to have better control of it.