Heckler

Last night will not go down in the history books as one of my favourite gigs. I went through The Wilderness Years for approximately 50 minutes in front of a crowd of about ten. My abiding memory of the gig will be of the portly, grey haired man who stumbled in about half way through and interjected frequently throughout the remainder of my set. I foolishly attempted to engage at first before ignoring his constant attempts to disrupt my momentum.

Many will probably disagree with me on this but heckling does not have a place in stand-up. At Louis CK's Wembley Arena gig last August there were messages on the big screen informing the audience that hecklers would be ejected and I think Louis has it right. Regrettably I lack the same clout in a pub in South London.

He bounded up to me after the gig. I assumed it would be one of those situations where the heckler congratulates the performer whilst trying to excuse his own behaviour ("I wasn't too bad, was I?" is one such sentiment I've heard in the past). Incredibly, he proceeded to tell me that I would be "eaten alive in the big rooms in London" with my material and that "should stop telling jokes about Latin" (which of course I hadn't). I was completely furious. I don't think in my life that I've ever told a stranger to fuck off to their face. I came exceedingly close last night. I told him in no uncertain terms that our conversation was over and left the venue.

Stand-up comedians are many things. We can be pompous. Inconsiderate. Unkind. Offensive. Unbearable. Neurotic. Irritating. Self-obsessed. Pretentious. But what we do deserves respect. Stand-up comedy is an art form. It's not background noise. It needs to be appreciated in full and in context. And not bulldozed over by some total fucking cunt.