Making fun of "woo"ing

[Dr. Feelgood]

I saw nine comics this week and all but Neil Hamburger called someone out for yelling "woo" at what was deemed an inappropriate or confusing time. Doug Benson does it on his CD. I seem to remember it happening at least a couple of times when I visited LA earlier this summer. Almost every time I've thought, that woo was not terribly confusing or inappropriate. Anyone feelin me?

[Darryl]

Here in Backwoods Montana, I don't get to see many live comedy shows. But I am sooooo tired of hearing wooooooooos and screaming on all sorts of TV shows, from The Daily Show, to Colbert, to standup shows. Even the dreaded American Idol is made worse by all the screaming and wooing any time there is even a second of silence.

Like any peeve, we all have different tolerance levels for it. And sometimes, once you are aware of it, it gets magnified. Sometimes I'll change channels if the wooing is too annoying.

I'm not familiar with your specific examples. Maybe the wooing is indeed fine within those contexts. But if I'm tired of hearing it, I can only imagine how exhausting it is for comics who contend with it all the time. Maybe they are so tired of it that they feel they have to put down any instance of it right away before it goes any further.

It would be great to hear from some pros on the matter.

Extra bonus related bitchfest:
Maybe I'm getting to be an old curmudgeon, but I put wooing and screaming on the same level as people in a movie who's only method of response is to laugh at everything, whether it's meant to be funny or not. A recent example: In Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which has plenty of opportunities for both intentional and unintentional laughter, the guy behind me let out a bellowing laugh any time he wanted people to know he recognized something or someone. The most annoying example: Indy sits down at his desk and looks at a photo of his father. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!!!

[mike]

Woo-ers and clapters, leave the hall.

[brewcaster]

Listen Audience, you paid to come and watch an act that should entertain you with laughter and smiles. But there are ground rules for how you can show your appreciation. How dare you let yourself have too much fun and make that poor abused comedian hear you having a good time because of the material they brought. It must hurt so bad to hear someone get excited about something you are performing.

This bugs me. I am not a comedian, but should it matter? I think the agreement is, audience comes to show and pays you to entertain them. As long as they are not interrupting the show(different thread), why can't they hoot and hollar when appropriate? Must it be restricted to a 5 second laugh, no clapping or vocal statements of enjoyment?

Do comedians need something else to worry/complain about? I got a few things I could offload.

[mike]

Yeah, if I want to start a circle pit who are they to say I'm not allowed!

[Ian Brill]

Perhaps I'm just being silly but look at that tag line. It might be commentary on the oppressiveness of these audiences.

[pg13]

My favorite example of the comedian upset by how an audience chooses to express themselves was when I saw Eddie Izzard do secret shows as he worked up material for his most recent official tour.

As he explained, he gets into a riff...into a groove...and then someone's "woo"--which usually is just to indicate recognition, not any specific level of amusement or enthusiasm--can interrupt the flow...and he loses momentum.

For a performer like Eddie...who has such a cult of personality and who tends to work with familiar ingredients...it was obviously a big problem--as people have been trained to respond to everything and anything just to indicate assent. (Most recent Margaret Cho concerts suffer from this--as certain lines are said that generate applause breaks more because the audience agrees with the sentiment than they find the line amusing.)

Then, you've got Patton Oswalt's story about Costco and Plan B contraception...which is diabolically well written and performed...and then, on "Werewolves..." it is absolutely destroyed by some jackass who "woo's" for NO REASON AT ALL at the singularly most critical moment of the bit.

As Patton described--the guy is absolutely afraid of silence...or any moment with any emotion that would need more than one pre-verbal syllable to express.

Blech!

And on Doug's new CD, the "woo!" is criticized because it was in an odd place... Typically a "woo!" is to indicate "Yeah, that's something I'm happy about!!!" and, for what Doug had just said, that reaction was either inappropriate...or wildly incongruous.

Comedy only works when people are paying attention...and if someone "woo!"'s in a place where a "woo" doesn't make sense--it's the same as a waitress dropping a tray of drinks, you can't NOT react to it.

pg--One other thought...dating back to the Arsenio Hall era...was that audiences were trained to be easy with their Pavlovian reactions. Comedians want laughs and support where they've earned them... But most comedians want it to be real. They WANT to earn what they get--that's the only way they can gauge their efforts. If someone let the dogs loose, someone should put them away or else the barking is worthless.--seattle

[JPFC]

dumb people "woo" at comedy.
It's that simple.

[brewcaster]

Well put pg13. I can see how it can ruin a flow. Can a good comedian not get used to it and ignore it though? I think sometimes the out of place woo's are an attempt to get attention to themselves, if the comic stops and acknowledges it in any way, that douchebag has won.

I, as a non-performer and huge comedy fan, am hearing a lot of criticism of audiences lately and it normally bugs me to hear it. I think douchebags are going to be around for a while, and bitching about them is not going to change it. Perhaps this is just one of the challenges a stand-up performer has to face and a good one will overcome it other than bitching about it?

[Famous Police Dog]

Quit defending Bubb Rubb, brewcaster. Only jerks who want attention woo, it's not another form of laughter.

[Darryl]

PG13, that was done with more patience than I would have had time to explain. But, yeah, it's often an attention-whoring (or drunken) thing to do. I was going to invoke a Pardo quote or two, but I see the "fan club" showed up and put it succinctly.

[pmottaz]

I tend to make fun of the moments where performers/comedians ask for the "Woo!"

Like when someone asks a crowd, "How you feelin' tonight?" It'll often happen at the top of a show, and it's not a huge thing, but I tend to see it more as a time filler in the stead of actual material, just a step above "Give yourselves a round of applause."

The "Woo!" happens for the same reason as the wave at ballgames: it happens because it always happens. Nobody's thinking.

And whenever a performer asks a crowd I'm a part of "How you feelin' tonight?" and the crowd Woo's back, my smart-ass ass yells, "We're all feeling WOO!!"

[eponymous]

As much as I hate the woo, I have no problem at all with woo-hoo.

[Adult Ed]

And whenever a performer asks a crowd I'm a part of "How you feelin' tonight?" and the crowd Woo's back, my smart-ass ass yells, "We're all feeling WOO!!"

Should everyone answer individually? That's one place where a "Woo!" is appropriate. It is a bit artificial but sometimes, at some shows, I like to have the crowd get their energy up even if it is artificial.

Can a good comedian not get used to it and ignore it though?

I think generally the comedian can but the comedian isn't the only person there. The audience just heard the ill-timed "Woo" also. The woo-er probably distracted them as much as he distracted the comic. Not addressing it can seem robotic - as if the comic is unable to deviate from the script to deal with what is happening in the room.

[brewcaster]

I think generally the comedian can but the comedian isn't the only person there. The audience just heard the ill-timed "Woo" also. The woo-er probably distracted them as much as he distracted the comic. Not addressing it can seem robotic - as if the comic is unable to deviate from the script to deal with what is happening in the room.

Good point. So if comedians complain enough, will it stop? I honestly see both sides of it. Its the same thing as going to see a music act, during a quiet emotional song, douches are yelling and talking, and it ruins it for the rest of the audience and the performer. I think my point is, what the hell you gonna do about it?

[ChrisCubasATX]

I think my point is, what the hell you gonna do about it?

Bitch about it on the internet.

[darrylduffy]

if you can believe it, this usedto be a popular way of dating and marrying a person.

[Darryl]

if you can believe it, this usedto be a popular way of dating and marrying a person.

And a hit song by Billy Ocean!

[Jack]

I don't know what sheltered crawl-spaces others have grown-up in, but who instinctively says "Woo!" in response to anything?

"Woo hoo!" I can almost understand. But "Woo!"? Unless you're a 1920s young man making goggly eyes at a paramour, your "Woo!" has no place in the modern vernacular, sir. Shut up and laugh like the common people.

[CaptainBreakfast]

I think generally the comedian can but the comedian isn't the only person there. The audience just heard the ill-timed "Woo" also. The woo-er probably distracted them as much as he distracted the comic. Not addressing it can seem robotic - as if the comic is unable to deviate from the script to deal with what is happening in the room.

Unable is kind of an assumption. Take Steven Wright. He will always refuse to acknowledge what is happening in the room other than what he is doing. He said it's sometimes akin to "getting hit in the face and not even blinking." And it works for him, too.