10 Ways to Handle a Heckler

1. Ignore Them

Nothing takes the wind out of a heckler’s rude sail faster than being ignored by the comedian. Giving them the total cold shoulder is a solid strategy for anyone uncomfortable with confrontation. It’s also especially effective when you are newer to the gig. Simply figure out where the heckler’s sitting, then turn your body to the other side of the room and continue on with your act. That gives the club’s staff the chance to whisper a warning to whoever started the shouting.

2. Solve Their Problem

A lot of times, somebody heckles the show simply because they need something functional. If that’s the case, just get it for them. Ask the waitstaff to bring them that drink they don’t have yet. Or if they can’t hear you in the back, have the comedy club’s sound person turn up the volume. Get the staff to shush the talking table that’s preventing the “heckler” from enjoying the show. Solve their problem efficiently and then get right back to your act.

3. Go tit-for-tat

This approach is for confident ball-busters only. Plenty of comedians excel at going verbally back and forth with a drunken hater. “You suck!” “You swallow!” They excel at roasting strangers and using insult-deflecting techniques and can always “spot the weakness.” These are advanced lines of attack that are collected over time and take lots of confidence to deploy. But done well, they act as a painful “smack on the nose” to whatever drunk dog is trying to interrupt.

4. Have Them Immediately Removed From the Club

Some comedians refuse to allow any hecklers to get started during their show. For example, James Gregory (The Funniest Man In America) has zero tolerance for hecklers and for good reason. His take is that his fans have paid a lot of money and have made a huge effort to get there to be entertained by James. They deserve an uninterrupted show, and he refuses to give hecklers any air to breathe. Club owners know this and happily comply.

5. Have Several Shut-Down Bits Ready to Go

Become a comedy Batman with a utility belt filled with various weapons ready to be deployed. These are for “emergency use only” but “in case of heckler, break glass.” The comedian has them ready to go at a moment’s notice, though it’s considered a great show when these “perfect throwing rocks” don’t have to be tossed. I keep a bit like this ready for action (it’s called “Bucket Boy”) and just having it gives me confidence against potential hecklers.

6. Use the Heckler’s Words/  Timing/ Tone Against Them

If you do decide to engage with a heckler, be sure to pay close attention to everything they say and do. Mock their weak phrasing, belittle their “right before my punchline” timing, admonish their weak or strong or drunken voice. Chances are you are more experienced as a comedian than they are as a heckler, so take advantage of that and begin to critique their game. Bottom line – ignore what they say and slam how and when they say it.

7. Incorporate Them into the Show WAY Too Much

One of my favorite ways to handle a heckler is to give them an uncomfortable overload of what they are seeking: attention. My move was always to work the heckle’s quote into my show in ways that were unflattering to the them. By the end I’d make them mop a bathroom floor while reenacting their “killer line” to whoever’s in stall four. This tactic requires lots of confident improvisation and total flexibility with your own material.

8. Find out their personal info

Many comedians are great at digging up personal information about their heckler and then calling it back as an insult. Find out their job, where they work, their dating or marital status including the name of their better half, a favorite sports team or food or drink. Then use that information against the heckler by embarrassing them about their life choices. Nothing funnier than a perfectly timed, late-in-the-show callback to your heckler’s collection of prize walnuts.

9. Invade Their Physical Privacy

This advanced tactic can shut down a heckler in an instant. You of course can never actually physically touch an audience member but maybe have some fun with whatever stuff is theirs. Search their purse or shopping bag for embarrassing items, answer their ringing phone in a way that will humiliate them, or use their cell phone to redial a call to prank someone they know. Or don their hat and scarf and imitate them doing something foolish.  

10. Talk to Their Date

Every heckler came to the show with a date or friends or family, and sometimes it takes a village to properly shut down their idiot. Sarcastically empathize with a heckler’s spouse or workmates or sisters. Use them to get more embarrassing information about the heckler that you can incorporate into your insults. This is an advanced tactic that can quickly implode in the hands of a beginner (“What’d you say about my mom,?”), so only use it when your skills are at that level.