How to Crush a Heckler Without Ruining the Show

One night I was doing a set and it wasn't going well. There were these three guys that noticed me failing miserably. I could hear one of them say, "Look, he's bombing! Let's get him."

They approached the stage and stood like four feet from the stage and started heckling me. When one of them ran out of breath, one of the other ones took over. It was like being verbally gang banged by hecklers.

After that miserable set I went to the bar and thought about getting drunk, but then...

bullying in school

Got Haters? Stay True, Practice and Turn it Into Opportunity

I have a student who emailed me recently about people hating on him.

He's a little awkward on stage. He's working on it, but he comes across as the guy next door or maybe the 'creepy' guy next door.

He's got a lot of the locals including the local club owner who constantly berate him. They put him down, they tease, they pick.

He said, "Jerry, you've got to help me. I just have these guys totally hating on me all the time. What do I do?"

top-3-ridiculous-myths-about-hecklers

Top 3 Ridiculous Myths About Hecklers

At one point during my show, there was this biker who kept spouting off about his "Ole Lady."

At random points in my act he would respond by always referring to "My Ole lady!"

Then some of the other bikers didn't want to hear it, so one guy shouted to me, "Git 'em!" (Meaning he wanted the comedian to deal with the heckler).

I didn't know what to say at first. Then I finally said...

confused-man

How to Avoid The Creative Paralysis of Being Original

A comedian walks into a bar and sees a poster with a saying that is similar to a joke he's been doing. It's not the same joke, but it almost has the exact set up line. He panics. A thousand questions run through his mind: "What do I do?" "Did the guy who did that poster see my act and use a version the joke?" "Did I see that poster some time in the past and it stuck in my head?" "Should I stop doing my joke?"