It’s bloody hard work standing up in front of a crowd at the best of times; standing up in front of a room full of expectant people and trying to make them laugh is getting into open heart surgery levels of trickiness. Having some dirty-necked wag, confidence and already enormous ego boosted by ‘premium’ lager, yelling incoherently at you from the back of a working men’s club while you’re riffing gaily about the difference between the bathroom habits of men and women could spell comedy disaster for even the most seasoned funnymen and women.
However, high stakes make for big laughs and it is because of this that there are few things funnier than seeing a loudmouth heckler get taken down a peg or twenty by the man or woman with the mic, and in honour of this most mirth-inducing of phenomenon, I’ve compiled my top ten best heckles and their subsequent putdowns.
- Bill Clinton vs. Random AIDS Activist
- Kevin Smith vs. Man-boobed Gentleman
- Toledo Mayor vs. Stoned Heckler
- George Carlin vs Unfortunate Member Of The Audience
- Bill Hicks vs Drunk Woman In The Audience
- Richard Herring vs. Drunk Farmer
- Red-kneck, Guitar Swordsman vs. Unseen Man
- Pauley Shore vs. Enormous Cowboy Wearing Ridiculous Ten-gallon Stetson
- Brendon Burns vs. Irate Asian Lady With Extreme Sense Of Humour Failure
- Jimmy Carr vs. Audience Random
It was 1992, and presidential hopeful, keen amateur sax player and cigar enthusiast, Bill Clinton, was on the campaign trail, only to be faced with a heckler, Bob Rafsky, from AIDS activist group, Act Up. Rafsky scores early points in this encounter and Bill looks peeved. However, he rallies magnificently and delivers a fine lecture on courtesy like the good, ol’ Southern boy that he is, putting Rafsky firmly in his place. Bill went on to win the election and our hearts to boot.
A nerd – A NERD! – thinks he can get the better of film maker, Kevin Smith, in a slightly crude, but very effective crushing. It is quite obvious that the victim still lives with his mother.
Priceless encounter between smarmy politician and an off-screen, whacked-out, stoner, boo merchant during a TV interview. The restraint this man shows is admirable, but so is the hippy’s commitment to disrupting proceedings. Enjoyable, but could do with more swearing.
It’s obvious that gravel-voiced American comic, George Carlin, does not like to be interrupted when he’s doing his job, as the unfortunate ‘star’ of this video found out. Carlin fails to hold back in this masterclass of creative abuse.
A tonne of red-hot rage bricks is dropped on a rather foolhardy member of the audience by the other Bill in this list. Bill Hicks, that is. The moral of this story? You can’t outshout or outswear the man with the mic.
Some people just don’t know when to put a sock in it. This one in particular. I’m not sure how well Herring handles this one in the end as he does look a little bit stressed throughout. Worth watching to the end just to hear the security guard’s radio buzz through with the signal that the heckler’s evening is about to get cut short.
Comedians tend to use their verbal dexterity to deal with hecklers. Not this chap; utterly lacking in the aforementioned skill to handle a particular member of a restive crowd of cowboys, he plumps for the nearest thing to hand: his guitar. Stay watching to the end to hear the hi-larious accents of the good folk of somewhere-deep-South demanding their money back.
He’s a stony, crusty dude and star of one of my fave films of the early 90s, California Man, but Pauley Shore doesn’t know when to quit winding up these slow-witted cowpokes. One where the heckler gets the last laugh.
Accusations of racism fly back and forth as Mr. Burns lays the smackdown on a lady with a rather large and angry bee in her bonnet. Check out the facepalms from members of the audience as she completely gets the wrong end of the stick each time it’s handed to her.
Jimmy Carr: he of the permanently smug face and patronising voice. And you can see why he looks so pleased with himself all the time as he mercilessly and deftly destroys this simple-looking chap who dares speak up during one of his shows. You have to ask yourself, do these people really think that they have what it takes to tangle with the professionals?
So there you have it, folks. To be a successful heckler you need brains, balls and to be the right side of 10 pints of Stella Artois. Not something that is likely to happen any time you might find yourself in a comedy club. Remember: leave the funny business to the professionals.
