I personally don't boo and I tend to try and laugh and clap through it all. I've honestly never heard any booing in well over 10 comedy shows.
Booing would be acceptable only if the comedian is being a disgrace. Take Michael Richards and his downfall, that was an acceptable time to boo. Being unfunny, you just leave.
That is called morbid jokes and it works but you have to take things lightly sometimes. Maybe after you accepted the tragedy.
They did it when I was at U of H, student life hosted a bunch of BET / Comic View type comedians with Pablo Francisco and others, one lesser known guy started bombing and then asked the audience to tell a joke and a student responded "you got on stage" and got a laugh, then when the emcee Montanna Taylor came back out she basically took a few more shots at the guy and got a laugh before introducing the next act. I also used to go to this club Funny Bone when I lived in Omaha, the acts would come in and do Thursday through Sunday, I went in on a Thursday which was a small crowd; and the opening act was a female and her punchlines were a bit intricate and not getting any laughs. After one joke she just straight up asked "that wasn't funny?" and some people said "no." I remember walking into the club and hearing someone outside saying they were getting a bunch of texts about Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, everyone already knew Fawcett was about to die but I had taken the day off and wasn't looking at any news.
I don't agree with booing anyone. If you don't like it, then just leave and don't pay to see that comedian again. I feel the same way about fans booing players or their sports team when they are doing bad. Just don't pay to go see them if you don't enjoy what you are seeing, but don't boo them because you don't like their performance. It makes for an uncomfortable situation not only for them, but for others who are there to support them. Booing won't make them become who you want them to be.
Interesting thread. First of all not all people who stand behind that mic are Comedians. Sometimes they’re just arseholes who want to impress their friends by crapping on the art form by portraying themselves as pros. “Comedian” is actually a professional term. You’re not a true comic until you’re paid to perform, and that requires paying dues, and even then there are levels. There are amateurs who have a few minutes of tight material and possibly get paid to do bar gigs. Then, there are the intermediate acts who have accumulated 20-30 minutes over a span of a few years and may work notable comedy clubs. The weekend acts are the pros, not the Weds-Thurs night open mic’ers. Ideally, over time comics gather enough material, contacts and notoriety to achieve the Headliner status. This pay range can extend between a few hundred dollars a month to thousands of dollars per weekend, and these are the non-celebrity performers. Celebrities can earn over 6 figures during an average weekend. Theaters obviously a different animal. I’ve said all that to say... Booing has its place in comedy. I think the appropriate time to do it is when someone is disrespecting the stage, but it takes a disrespectful person to do it. Does that make sense? Normally, it’s a perfect storm of tool “comic” meets tool audience member. I think it helps to weed out the guys/gals who aren’t serious about stage time, but the backlash can be severe. Pros meet disrespect with maximum force. You have no idea how mean a pro can be. We practice on most hateful possible things to say in any given scenario. Nothing is off limits towards the Heckler. Nothing. Livelihoods depend on uninterrupted shows, and an affront of any manner can result in very severe consequences. So, if you feel the need to boo an act, be warned. You have no idea what he/she has locked and loaded to crush your soul. That’s what a Comedian does, not just someone behind the mic. If you don’t know the difference, STFU. I hope this helps to answer the question.
Interesting...I'd have thought it would be the worst for a comedian. Shows the audience just doesn't care enough to have any reaction. I remember back in 2005 when Carlos Beltran visited with the Mets. I thought it was a waste of time to boo him. To me, booing showed he still meant enough to them to have that kind of reaction. I'd rather show him that his time here was meaningless and him being here or not didn't matter in the end.
A good comedian can work with boos (or any type of hostility from an audience). Of course a good comedian would probably not get booed.
NPR just had a long interview with Melissa McCarthy, who commented on heckling, which aligns with Another Brother saying booing/heckling wasn't preferred to silence, despite any fun in crushing the heckler's soul. She mentions how (when starting out) she only have a few minutes, and she stopped enjoying insulting the heckler because it wasn't her doing what she came to do. Go to 28:00 mark of this interview. https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-...48/fresh-air-for-oct-22-2018-melissa-mccarthy She seems to be saying: Comedians are there to sell their material. While the pros can surely crush a heckler, and, by doing so, win points with the crowd, they just lost several minutes doing it....so, even lost practice time for new material that might have caused bomb-silence, yet helps them advance their material, over time.
I suspect it is about your intent I have seen boos. . .that were almost part of the act ". . . and then Phil Spector killed it .. . " "booooooo" "What? Too soon?" Other times it is more of a sarcastic laugh I think booing . .. and Heckling are far far different things Professional Comedians will laugh off a boo but Will Shalack a Heckler Rocket River
