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I was speaking more to the comedy club setting, in which case yes, I would absolutely attempt to silence a heckler (and have). In no other public performance is

I was speaking more to the comedy club setting, in which case yes, I would absolutely attempt to silence a heckler (and have). In no other public performance is it acceptable to cause a ruckus because you don't agree with what the performer is doing or saying.

drhayes9 11y ago
I don't think that's true. Tchaikovsky's "Rite of Spring" caused riots when it was premiered. The audience was laughing derisively, getting into fights, throwing things... and this was at a ballet! Galleries and museums are often the site of protests about their own content. I've been in the theater during a really terrible movie where the audience starts loudly heckling the movie itself as if the people who made it could hear them. When you make the case for acceptable behavior on the part of the audience as an attack on someone else's idea of acceptable behavior on the part of the comic... that seems like shaky ground to me.
- fluxquanta 11y ago
  At least I will say that my feelings here are consistent -- those examples you provided are also unacceptable.
  - drhayes9 11y ago
    You know what? I'm totally off my rocker, not sure what I thought I was responding to. Sorry! Wish I could delete my original comment!
Frondo 11y ago
In the comedy club itself, I'd say yeah, definitely! The proprietor ought to be able to set any rules they want, definitely including "no heckling" or whatever. I didn't realize that in-the-moment heckling was going on for "offensive" comedians in any widespread way. I always hear about it through social media, like someone on twitter calling out someone for making jokes they didn't like--and that's the speech I can't imagine silencing (even if some people can't get gigs anymore).
- fluxquanta 11y ago
  Market forces will prevail, absolutely, but in my opinion the biggest factor in criticizing comedy should be one question: is it funny? One problem is, or so I hear, that people aren't even listening long enough to make that determination. Some people will hear "trigger words" and then it doesn't matter if the joke is funny or not because they've already passed judgement. Take for instance the account of comedian Kurt Metzger beginning one of his bits with "Are you guys for gay marriage? Well I'm not," (I believe it was this joke told in a club [0]) at which point a woman sitting in the front row grabbed a drink, not even her own, and threw it at him because he said he was "against gay marriage". In what world is that okay to do? And of course my analysis of it being a growing trend is purely anecdotal from the shows and festivals I've been to and the podcasts I listen to. [0] http://www.cc.com/video-clips/h6f2uv/stand-up-kurt-metzger--god-sees-everything http://www.cc.com/video-clips/h6f2uv/stand-up-kurt-metzger--...

drhayes9 11y ago

I don't think that's true. Tchaikovsky's "Rite of Spring" caused riots when it was premiered. The audience was laughing derisively, getting into fights, throwing things... and this was at a ballet! Galleries and museums are often the site of protests about their own content. I've been in the theater during a really terrible movie where the audience starts loudly heckling the movie itself as if the people who made it could hear them. When you make the case for acceptable behavior on the part of the audience as an attack on someone else's idea of acceptable behavior on the part of the comic... that seems like shaky ground to me.

fluxquanta 11y ago
At least I will say that my feelings here are consistent -- those examples you provided are also unacceptable.
- drhayes9 11y ago
  You know what? I'm totally off my rocker, not sure what I thought I was responding to. Sorry! Wish I could delete my original comment!

Frondo 11y ago

In the comedy club itself, I'd say yeah, definitely! The proprietor ought to be able to set any rules they want, definitely including "no heckling" or whatever. I didn't realize that in-the-moment heckling was going on for "offensive" comedians in any widespread way. I always hear about it through social media, like someone on twitter calling out someone for making jokes they didn't like--and that's the speech I can't imagine silencing (even if some people can't get gigs anymore).

fluxquanta 11y ago
Market forces will prevail, absolutely, but in my opinion the biggest factor in criticizing comedy should be one question: is it funny? One problem is, or so I hear, that people aren't even listening long enough to make that determination. Some people will hear "trigger words" and then it doesn't matter if the joke is funny or not because they've already passed judgement. Take for instance the account of comedian Kurt Metzger beginning one of his bits with "Are you guys for gay marriage? Well I'm not," (I believe it was this joke told in a club [0]) at which point a woman sitting in the front row grabbed a drink, not even her own, and threw it at him because he said he was "against gay marriage". In what world is that okay to do? And of course my analysis of it being a growing trend is purely anecdotal from the shows and festivals I've been to and the podcasts I listen to. [0] http://www.cc.com/video-clips/h6f2uv/stand-up-kurt-metzger--god-sees-everything http://www.cc.com/video-clips/h6f2uv/stand-up-kurt-metzger--...