It took years before I enjoyed being on stage, without dreading I wouldn’t get any laughs. I still don’t take audiences for granted, because they can cause even the most experienced comedian to have an off-night.

In his review of a recent stage show starring comedian Kevin Bridges, Brian Ferguson, of The Scotsman, stated…

“…the audience was the worst-behaved I had witnessed in 25 years of attending events. I was actually amazed Bridges did not walk off in disgust well before he hastily wrapped up his show.”

Bridges, who is no shrinking violet when it comes to silencing a heckler with a pithy put-down, was constantly interrupted by individuals who presumably thought (wrongly) they were funnier than the man they’d paid good money to see.  Their selfish behaviour ruined the evening for Bridges and the audience.

You might expect persistent hecklers in a comedy club or a ‘room-over-a-pub’ gig, but this was the prestigious 3,000 seater Edinburgh Playhouse!

While I don’t feel nostalgic for the ‘good old days’ when comedians wore suits and ties – or even a tuxedo – on stage, I realise why they changed from street clothes into expensive stage suits and would never consider swearing on stage. It was a mark of respect to their audience, who expected them to look and behave like the ‘larger than life’ stars they were.

Before a gig, I invariably make a point of changing out of the clothes I creased on the car journey, even if it’s only into a clean shirt and trousers. That’s why dressing rooms are called ‘dressing rooms’ and not ‘texting, breaking-wind and moaning-about-the-fee’ rooms.

But, when ‘Alternative Comedy’ arrived, ‘gag’s were replaced by ‘observations’ and suits were replaced by t-shirts and jeans, breaking down the ‘them and us ‘barrier between the audience and the performer.

Let me offer this theory…

Perhaps modern comedy audiences mistakenly think that, because they’re watching a stand-up who dresses and swears just like them, they’ve got carte blanche to be abusive and obnoxious during his act.

The comedian/comedienne is expected to take it on the chin….”Because comedians love hecklers!”.

Let’s knock that myth right out into the stratosphere where it belongs.

We love hecklers about as much as they’d love someone standing over them where they worked – office, factory or shop – constantly shouting out “You’re rubbish, mate!”

Next time you feel like heckling a comedian, you might want to bear that in mind…

P.S. In case you didn’t ‘get’ the heading DUCKED A HECKLE AND MISSED A JIBE, it’s a riff on DR JEKYLL AND MISTER HYDE.