Last night I went to a performance of DL Hughley and the Improv Comedy Club in Tempe, Arizona. I really enjoy watching stand-up comedians perform live. As I’ve mentioned in my public speaking workshop, stand-ups can be some of the best examples of crafting a phenomenal speech. I still think Bill Cosby Himself is one of the greatest acts of all time (if only I could see Cosby perform live). When I watch a standup, I look at their transitions, their layers of jokes, their reincorporations, and their interaction with the crowd. Often times it inspires me to reconsider my own delivery.
The part I don’t like about watching a standup comedian live is the heckler. Almost every audience has one. Some jerk, often drunk, who believes the show is about him. They shout out and inappropriate times, often times in an attempt to throw the comedian off balance. Last night, it reached such a bad point where DL Hughley just turned to the guy and said, “do you work for NASA, because right now you’re messing with a star?” At that point the audience was with Mr. Hughley and the heckler was promptly removed.
Several years ago, a good friend of mine briefly pursued a minor career as a standup. My friend was (and still is) incredibly talented and incredibly hilarious. He can get almost any room to laugh in a matter of moments. I watched him perform live probably 4-5 times before I moved back to California and he eventually stopped regularly performing. It was during one of those performers where I realized just how bad that heckler really is…
Since my friend wasn’t a headliner, he only had a few minutes on stage, yet so much of that time was spent trying to silence a heckler. It’d be difficult to get into the necessary rhythm for the setup of the joke with someone trying to interrupt every few seconds. Afterwards, hecklers would come up to him and say, “I’m glad I could help you out there.” They were being serious. They really thought they made his act better. I knew many of my friend’s jokes and the heckler couldn’t have been more wrong.
Yes, my friend had some witty responses for a heckler (as did DL Hughley last night), but the focus was draining and prevented him from truly doing the amazing thing he could have done on stage.
I just wonder if our own perspective is so horribly off–that we think we are helping when we are hurting. Are their times where we steal the focus from those we care about? Are there times when we derail progress? Are there times when we make life about us rather than what others have the capability to do?
I hope the answer is no. Really I do.
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