The Edge at Sullys, hosted by Martin Morrow (http://martinmorrowcomedy.tumblr.com/)-
Drunk guy (not surprising) decides that he's funny. He interrupts at least 3 comics in a row. Martin tries to get the guy to calm down a little, acknowledging him but not encouraging him. The problem is that he's crossed that threshold of drunk where he's no longer human. What he really wants to do is be on stage, which he does. He gets up on the stage and bends over, implying that he'd like to be on the receiving end of some sex. He thinks he means well, that he's being the life of the party, but everyone's kind of had enough of him at this point. He gets off the stage after his little joke, and he's pretty much done. He's a jovial heckler, so in retrospect I kind of laugh at him.
Deluxe Diner, hosted by Dan Dodge (@TheOnlyDanDodge on Twitter)-
I go up first, and there's a table with 4 college aged guys. I have a joke where I have a dialogue with an inner voice. At one point, I tell myself to stop interrupting me. One of the guys says "sorry for laughing", loudly and sarcastically. I reassured him that I was actually talking to myself, not to him. I was disappointed that he apparently didn't get the joke, more than anything else. After I finish, Dan let's the table know to keep the table talk to a minimum, and introduces the next guy, saying "I already don't like him." Clearly this was intended as a joke, but it turned out the next one up was one of those guys at the table (not the one who said "sorry for laughing"). He apologized for talking and his set suffered for it, he was out of sorts. I felt bad for him. He was young, at a new place, and probably a little intimidated. He finishes up and Dan tries to bury the hatchet. Next up is the one who started this little mess.
First words out of his mouth were "Hey, I thought this was supposed to be an comedy open mic. Why don't you tell a joke? You've just been talking. Try being funny!" Dan and I looked at each other with an unspoken "Is this really happening?" look. He went on a 2 minute diatribe against the whole room, saying how at 20 his whole comedy career was ahead of him, and we were all washed up and bitter. I felt sorry for him. He was lashing out like a child, going "nuh uh! YOU stink!" to the room. He started his regular routine, something about Dr Seuss and ending with a rape punchline. I see what he was trying to do with the joke, but that's just too big a hole to dig yourself out of. So he then came out with "oh, so you guys aren't going to laugh, huh?" A comic in the audience yelled "get to a punchline". Now it's a heckling mobius strip. He finished his set and left the stage angrily.
The next two comics started messing with him from the stage, and he gave back as much as he got. His friends were imploring him to keep quiet, but that didn't happen. As they were leaving, I heard him tell his friends "You guys are supposed to have my back!" Interestingly, alcohol was not a factor for this one.
Coles, hosted by Cameron Esposito (http://therealcameronesposito.com/) and Adam Burke (http://atpburke.tumblr.com/)-
Coles is a very popular open mic, and will have "civilians" and first timers every week. Often there are people there who aren't familiar with the comedy scene and how open mics generally work. It's a particularly rowdy Wednesday. One guy spontaneously wants to go up, but it doesn't work that way. He's a middle aged man, very drunk, and I'm sure thinking that he "gets it", and can use his worldly charms to get himself on the list right away. While the comics are on stage, he's bugging the hosts, repeatedly, particularly Cameron, about when he can get on. Maybe he thought his "charms" would work better on a female (I'll get to why that is later), but she'd had enough. She gets on stage and tells him calmly but firmly that he's been hounding her all night, and the answer is always the same, that he signs up, and then waits, just like everyone else. He was in a bar where people had been waiting for literally hours to do a few minutes of comedy, but he didn't understand this. He took this almost like a personal insult, and started talking back. Cameron, already annoyed with this guy, wasn't having any of it. She unloaded on him, saying that if he came here before he'd understand how this works. Everyone has to wait, and everyone had to pay their dues when they started. Her voice started to raise in volume, and the guy started getting defensive. He said "I'm old, I'm married, I'm depressed! I got something to say just like everyone else here!" The crowd is very much on Cameron's side. Not only is she correct, but this is also her room. She started it, and, with Adam, built it to the most popular open mic in the city. These are her people, and they all have her back.
Then it got epic. The guy walks onto the stage "you've been giving me a hard time all night". Slowly approaching her, not explicitly threatening, but hoping that his physicality (he was pretty stocky, like a fullback) would give him some kind of advantage. At least that's how I read his actions. Cameron had enough of this guy, and says "Get off the stage. Get off the stage now! I swear to God I am going to punch you in the face if you don't get off right now!" Her fist was balled, her elbow cocked back, she was going to punch him. Thankfully, Adam and some other people intervened, got him off the stage, and escorted him out of the bar. As he's leaving he screams out "Why don't you come out of the closet already?!" I feel he may have had issues with women, hence his focusing on her in the first place. Cameron's girlfriend was there, which she helpfully pointed out and reiterated her point about if he'd been there before he'd know the score. There was a big "whew" after he left, but emotions were running very high for a while.
In all 3 instances, something I notice, that regardless of alcohol or intent (trying to distrupt vs trying to be funny), the hecklers didn't think they were in the "wrong". I'm sure that last guy went home and told his wife about these stuck up jerks at this bar that gave him a hard time for no reason. That's what's interesting to me, an apparent total lack of self awareness or empathy for others. I'd like to think that I'd just ignore a heckler, or do a very minor interaction. But I won't really know until it actually happens to me. That's not an invitation, by the way, I'd probably just start crying or something, and that's not good for anybody.
