Heckling is often thought of as a technique used by the audience to make a standup show more ‘interactive’. Hecklers confront and challenge the comedian to put them on the spot and see how quickly they can think on their feet.
Two of the most famous hecklers in history are the ‘Muppets’ Statler and Waldorf; two elderly grouches who sit in the balcony and continuously criticise The Muppet Show.
Despite the Muppets taking a lighthearted twist on heckling, many comedians are quick to show that they are less than impressed by heckling in comedy shows. David Baddiel, a comedian well known for his on-stage partnership with Frank Skinner, once suggested that there have only ever been about five funny hecklers – commenting that even this number was probably overstated. Comedian James Acaster is another of the many comedians who is less than impressed by the ‘heckling’ phenomenon.
“A lot of the time hecklers think they’re helping and they think that they are giving me something to bounce off by being really funny. All in all, I don’t really write the shows with hecklers in mind so I’d always much rather do the show.”
It is not a surprise to hear that no comic actually wishes to be heckled; after all it is better to actually perform the material that he or she has worked so hard to prepare. Nevertheless, many of them are quite skilled at dealing with hecklers.
Paul Daniels was once quoted as saying that answering hecklers was ‘an art form in itself.’ In most instances, a heckler will be made to look like the foolish one by the comic whose job it is to be quick and funny.
The ‘Birthday Girls’, a sketch comedy troupe from Manchester, have also suffered at the hands of hecklers whilst on stage. “We very occasionally get hecklers, but instead of answering back with a witty retort we have to pretend it’s not happening. We’re still working on that.”
There are times when the ever volatile relationship between comic and heckler can turn nasty. One example of heckling gone wrong was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2010 when UK standup David Whitney was involved in an incident with a heckler.
During a late-night gig at the Canon’s Gait, Whitney allegedly responded to interruptions from the crowd by headbutting a member of the audience. Whitney was charged with assault and ordered to pay a £600 fine.
Heckling goes further than just the British standup industry and is an issue that comedians all over have to deal with. German born comedian Christian Schulte-Loh believes that hecklers are just part of the standup scene and any comedian should be able to overcome hecklers if they are good enough at what they do.
“First thing is, I have the microphone so I will always win. Obviously as a German there are always lines that you can fall back on if the audience tries to heckle you. I will always say ‘Don’t heckle the German, my family is waiting outside in a Tank’ or something like that. Generally I think if you’re a professional comedian and you have the microphone, you will always win the fight. If the audience is funnier than you, you picked the wrong job.”
It seems that the verdict is unanimous across the world of comedians. Heckling leads to distraction and often ruining the show for the rest of the audience.
Incidents such as at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival poses the question if heckle put downs result in funnier stuff than the original material,surely you are watching the wrong comedian? If an act arrives with something to say doesn’t it make sense to let them say it?
