hecklers

[crazyjugglers]

Hey, i know u probably get a lot of these, but how do u handle hecklers, theyre really annoying.
appreciate any info
Thanks
tom+will

[Butterfly Man]

I'm not really good with hecklers, but a friend of mine who is good with hecklers wrote something down for me ... (pull paper out of pocket) ... (mock reading it) ... oh yeah, "fuck you!"

that's my favorite ... for a complete list tell me if you are Mac or PC and I'll send them to you.

smile when you say that partner,
<img src="graemlins/square.gif" border="0" alt="[square smile]" />

[scot]

Usually, I say something about Rick James. Luckily most of those people that keep bothering me look like Rick James.

I was tired one day and I stared at these kids and crouched down until they left. I told them that the rest of the people there wanted to see a show and they were waiting for the kids to leave. The kids left to the back of the crowd where they quietly watched the rest of my show. They came back show after show to docilly watch. It took about 5 minutes of my show up, but only about 5 people took off besides the kids.

If the heckler is really tough, he's either trying to help and doesn't realize he's tough or, he just wants to be a jerk.

[Gman]

It all depends on how funny the heckler is , if they are funny go with then ,if not make them look like an arse . Use some throw away lines ,get a laugh from the crowed & basically blank them!!be cool & in control for if you lose it they win [img]cool.gif[/img]

[Doctor Eric]

Make them stand in the corner, or write sentences, get a big dunce hat hat for their head. And a big roll of duct tape for their mouth. If you're not that good at playing with them, just stare at 'em for a second, say "Anyway.." and go right back into what you were doing. For light level hecklers that you don't want to waste time with, this is pretty effective.

[Evan Young]

Somtimes you just need to let them know that they arn't helping and that people don't like what their doing. You must realize that they want the attion that you are getting. there are several types of hecklers and you need to learn to recognize them. Somtimes you can use a couple of stock heckler lines and it's over.
The more shows I do the better I get with hecklers. They have become one of my favorate chalenges, and thoughts of how I could have used various situations to my advantage swim in my head all the time. I feel very responsible for how a heckler affects my show, they have a very real reflection on your strength as a performer. I've noticed that the stronger I get the more hecklers I get. I also feel ike the fact that my show isn't very tight invites a lot of hecklers. Hecklers from my show have destroyed the shows of performers folowing my me due to the fact that their show are too tightly scripted to deal with audience members who are used to going in any odd direction.
If the audience realizes that they are hurting you It's bad. You must at least give the allusion that you are in total controle of everything around you.
Talking about dealing with hecklers is somthing I talk to my fathers intelectual frinds with fancy degrees about b/c it's so complicated, and I feel like it makes me sound very intelligent and sophisticated.
This is what I know about hecklers.--good luck.