Standup comedians deal with some of the same audience difficulties as public speakers. One difference is that comedians can be saddled with evening audiences containing inebriated hecklers.
On July 29, 2019 there was an article by Michael Deeds in
the Idaho Statesman titled After 9 hecklers get tossed from Boise show,
comedian posts video: 260,000 views so far. That 11-minute YouTube video (shown
above) was posted on June 24, 2019 by Steve Hofstetter. The comedian preceding him
was heckled, so he began by reading the Riot Act:
“I’m going to start this show in a way I’ve never had to
start a show before, which is to thank the people who came to see a show and
who have been attentive thus far. I appreciate – some of you guys have been
really wonderful. Some of you guys I think stumbled in from the prom next door.
I don’t know what the f*ck is happening. But some of you all have been acting like
you’ve never seen alcohol before, and you took one sip and lost your f*cking
mind.
This is live entertainment. We can see you all, we can hear
you all. You are ruining it for other people. Normally when you talk at a show,
there is a warning, and then if you violate that warning, you get kicked out. Everybody
here now has that warning. We’re going to warn all of you at the same f*cking
time. It happens again, one time, you’re f*cking gone ‘cause I want to do the
best show I possibly can for the folks who actually give a sh#t. So that’s what
I’m gonna do tonight. Okay? And for those that ruin this, I wish you luck on
your long drive back to Eagle.”
Those in the audience who chose to mess with Steve clearly
were unaware of his Wikipedia page which notes:
“Hofstetter's had
a career as a comedian in Los Angeles, and also owned comedy clubs in
Louisville and Indianapolis. He gained a reputation by responding to hecklers
and posting those on YouTube, which garnered so many views that Fox Television offered
him a series called Laughs, a half-hour showcase for standup comedians,
which debuted in August 2014.”
You can watch another seven-minute Steve Hofstetter video from January
28, 2017 titled Dirtbag hecklers go too far.
Throwing people out a window is a specific kind of ejection
called defenestration, as illustrated in part of a Puck cartoon from 1893 I found at
the Library of Congress.
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