Even President Obama Is Not Immune To Heckling In The Most Formal Situations

As you are probably aware, President Obama was heckled during his speech to Congress on health care reform by Republican Representative Joe Wilson (South Carolina).

Rep. Joe Wilson shouted out “You Lie!” in response to the President’s remarks concerning health coverage for illegal immigrants. Just two words, yet it has caused a whirlwind of response that has inundated Twitter, Facebook and has shut down Rep. Joe Wilson’s official website.

I don’t concern myself with the heated political issues on this blog, especially those which seem to be exasperated in these tough economic times. But what I do want to make note of is the heckling itself and what comedians can learn from this unfortunate outburst.

Having been an actively performing professional comedian for almost 15 years, I can say with great certainty that I simply despise hecklers—they are one of the lowest life forms walking the planet.

And now it has been demonstrated that the President himself is not immune to heckling in what was supposed to be one of the most formal and professional of events—a President’s address to congress.

Still, there’s much to learn from this single heckling event.

Here’s my professional opinion on the topic of heckling as it relates to what happened to President Obama, Rep. Joe Wilson and for comedians as well:

1. No matter how popular, famous or powerful you may become in your comedy career, you can absolutely be subject to heckling.

2. The funnier you are as a comedian, the less you have to concern yourself with hecklers to begin with.

Audiences who are laughing hard rarely produce hecklers.

3. Be a pro when you handle a heckler. You will notice that the President didn’t lash out at Rep. Joe Wilson for heckling—but the public sure did (to the point it shut down his official website).

Simply ignoring a heckler many times can be enough to shut them down. It is the “high road” to take.

Take a look at comedian Ron White’s killer performance in They Call Me Tater Salad. On several occasions some idiot in the audience yells something out to get attention and Ron doesn’t even flinch. That is a real pro in my opinion.

4. Remember that while a heckler is trying to interrupt your act, they are also usually disturbing the rest of the audience too. You can easily use this to your advantage to focus the ENTIRE AUDIENCE on the heckler to shut them down and even cause them to leave the room.

Who’s taking the brunt of the heat because the President got heckled? Is it the President? Nope. It’s Rep. Joe Wilson.

5. If any part of your act is focused on making fun of the audience or individual members, you are welcoming hecklers and helping an audience support a heckler instead of supporting YOU, the performer.

6. If you are going to perform stand-up comedy based on one-sided political views, you had better grow accustomed to getting heckled.

That’s why I tell comedians to “balance” or not exclude one side or the other when speaking of those things political.

7. Sometimes what can appear to be a heckler can actually be an audience member who is really getting into your stand-up act.

Be warned in advance—if you whack someone who is not really heckling you, you can turn an entire audience against you in a heartbeat (been there, done that, got the t-shirt).

Again, without getting into the political fray of health care reform at all…

President Obama handled himself very professionally—Rep. Joe Wilson did not and in just two words during a very formal and serious event, managed to make Republicans look collectively immature and made himself worthy of the “Trailer Park Resident of the Year” award.

I understand that there is a tremendous amount of passion—on both sides of the aisle—being displayed concerning heated political issues that need to be addressed.

But I also know that yelling, screaming and heckling does little if anything when it comes to making progress, especially on political fronts—no matter what party affiliation you may or may not have.

And for anyone who thinks heckling is the “right” thing to do…

UPDATE: Rep Joe Wilson has raised over $1,ooo,ooo from his heckling episode. I still stand firm, without ANY political motivation to say that heckling sucks. But I didn’t say that on very rare rare occasions such as this that it can obviously pay off.

Cheers,
Steve Roye
The Professor of Funny for Money

About the Author/Founder of The Stand-up Comedy Professional

Steve Roye is the author of the Killer Stand-up Comedy System and author of the content made available in the Comedy Pro Membership Program available on this site.

Over the past decade, Steve has established himself as a leading, globally recognized expert in the field of stand-up comedy material development, delivery and entertainment business strategies for comedy entertainers as well as speaking professionals.

For more information about Steve, please check out the About The Author section on this site.