whats the protocol on dealing with enthusiastic hecklers in the beginning of a set?

[souporman]

sometimes when I open i'll begin telling a joke about myself involving mushrooms or acid and i swear theres always one dood who chimes in with "AWWWW YAAA LSD!!" however since this is my opening joke I want to make an impression so i feel like going into riffing or simply ignoring him is the not the path one seeks. So far in my novice career I've always tried to make a joke about the guy yelling that but everytime its provoked further discussion from him(or her) and taken me even longer to tell my opening joke. Obviously none of this would be a problem in the middle of my set but imo at the beginning its about getting that first joke off because the audience doesn't know who the fuck you are and coming off as the slightest buttwad (happens to me in riffing but its ok when the audience is with you but in the beginning there not imo) will be a horrible impression.

so my question is ( ya ive digressed from the original ) how do you deal with these hecklers in your first 30 seconds on stage? Do you try to open with something that won't spark a response or do you just open with crowd work?

ty

[theodoric]

I'm not a comedian, but did have a comedy club (and therefore saw a lot of hecklers), so I'd have to say the most effective method I've seen is complete, utter, devastating humiliation.

[scamboogah]

Move the joke to later in the act.

Mentioning drugs or alchohol will ALWAYS get a loud reaction out of someone. Even someone too drunk/stoned to be paying full attention will hear 'LSD/Mushrooms/Budweiser tall boy' and slur/shout 'WHOOOOOOOO!!!'.

Getting the chops to deal with it will come with time, but why cripple yourself right out of the gate each and every time?

(I am not a professional comic or anything, so, big giant grain of salt)

[st.raw]

AWWWW YEAH LSD!!!

[TimBuktu]

I think a good way to start a set is: "Who likes mixed drinks and date rape"

... when the wooooooooooooooooooooooo's die out, you can start your set.

[Darryl]

A good opening bit should leave you on solid footing with the audience on your side. It sounds like this is the definition of a not-good opening bit. Find a good opening bit and save this one for later, but have a response ready for the wooooo-er, which will get better acceptance after you have (hopefully) gotten the audience in your corner.

[elton]

In London heckling is more accepted /expected, and brit comics need to be on their toes from the start.

[KevinLee]

dontmakethreadswithsuchlongtitles

[Jixby Phillips]

Show them your weenie!

[CaptainBreakfast]

Assault them with an army of Jixby emoticons.

[Jono11]

Move the joke to later in the act.

Seems to be the most reasonable idea.

[drieux]

Move the bit to later, after you've established your presence. Anytime you mention any substance you're going to get somebody who reacts, "I DO THAT! WOOOO!"

Figure out a funny way to quickly acknowledge their reaction and move forward with your bit. I assume you're not just talking about getting high and would prefer to not encourage the audience to constantly throw in their two cents. I've just recently started incorporating bits about a rebounding fondness for marijuana, and suddenly half of the people who talk to me after a set just want to talk about pot.

Also, show your weiner.

[pg13]

Without knowing your act or the bit in question, I tend to agree with the sound advice you're getting here--move the bit into your act when it's less likely to disrupt what you're trying to do...

However....I'd point out that there is a difference between "heckling" and "enthusiastic participation" (although, if unexpected and unwanted, both can disrupt what you're trying to do)--and your reactions to each might be different...especially if you can plan for them...and they might actually help you craft a workable set-opening bit.

I'll give you an example. (And let me warn you, there's no brilliance in what I'm sharing as an example--this is pure, workmanlike comedy craft here.)

Back when the whole "athletes taking steroids" thing was big in the news, I wanted to express the idea that audiences not only don't mind that they take steroids but they WANT them to (--which turned out to be the common take on the subject, probably best done by Daniel Tosh, but at the time I wrote my stuff on it, it seemed fresh...) I chose to present this by making a bold declarative statement--which works very well as an opening line.

So, I'd be introduced go on stage and say <i>"Good evening, my name is Peter Greyy and I want everyone to know that...yes...I am on performance enhancing drugs. (pause) You paid good money for this show and who am I to deny you an enhanced performance?"</i> Then, I'd go on with my jokes about the whole scandal.

However, as you've noticed, ANY reference to drinking or drugs in seems to generate a Pavlovian response from a comedy audience...so, in the pause I put in that bit, I'd always get cheers or wooos... That, however, played into the bit.

So, I added two words to the bit. After the pause, after their cheers, I just said "You're welcome." It's standard construction...but it took the consistency of the audience reaction and used it to cement the idea behind the bit--so, now the audience wasn't chastised for responding with enthusiasm...but were in fact rewarded for paying along.

And that can go a long way in establishing a level of likability that you might want to have in storage in case you want to do jokes where they might not necessarily want to cheer for your take on things.

*Sometimes, what might seem to be a problem might be an opportunity.
*Don't do your act with blinders on.
*Always consider flipping around your natural reaction to something.

pg--But you're probably best off moving the bit deeper into your set and coming up with a solid opening bit that you're more comfortable with...just wanted to let you know that you had options.--seattle

[nathansmart]

In London heckling is more accepted /expected, and brit comics need to be on their toes from the start.

...and in doing so, those audiences rob the entire country of what could potentially be some really good comedy.

Is there any place in London you can go to where people are respectful of the performer?

[Brian J.]

I'll tell you something I've noticed the couple times I've been in that situation. Usually if i finish the bit the audience is too distracted to have followed my logic through the interruption and the joke falls flat.

What I will try next time is to say something like "anyway like I was saying..." and start the joke back at the setup so that they can now follow from a fresh start.

Edit: Okay don't say "anyway like I was saying."

[pg13]

What I will try next time is to say something like "anyway like I was saying..." and start the joke back at the setup so that they can now follow from a fresh start.

No, no, no, no...

That's the WORST thing you could do.

Your opening bit has to convey a sense of confidence to the audience that you are, indeed, capable of making them laugh and worth paying attention to... You need to uncross their arms and open their ears.

Now, while you can attempt to use an audience's reaction to your benefit--what you CAN'T do is start off by proving your inability to control the situation...or be compelling on stage.

I think any time a joke flow has been interrupted, you're better off circling around and reintroducing the premise after you've regained some momentum... To do this, you really need to know the "heart" of your bit, not just the exact wording you've decided to use every time you tell the joke.

Just know that showing uncontrolled weakness, especially early on, tends to invite more interruptions. After you've earned the audience's respect and confidence, THEN you can playfully show weakness and they'll stick with you through it--that's what you're hearing when you hear some of the more infamously derailed Patton Oswalt sets come to a conclusion...

pg--Can you tell that I just spent the entire month of November in intense comedy craft analysis? My apologies to all of AST.--seattle

[nathansmart]

No matter how far I am in my act, I just tell the DJ to replay the entrance music and completely start over. And I keep doing that until the audience learns not to interrupt - sort of like the way you teach a brand new baby not to touch the hot stove.

[Jawa]

This is absolutely no help whatsoever, but for someone reason your question immediately brought to mind a scene from Reservoir Dogs for me. I imagined Harvey Keitel's character answering your question:

"Take the butt of your gun and smash their nose in. Everybody jumps. He falls down screaming, blood squirts out of his nose, nobody says fucking shit after that [snip] I'm hungry. Let's get a taco. "

[Ivan]

Just point at them, say "You got it, sir!" and keep going.

[Jono11]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it9kpZHXhxI