'There's a line': Comedians on whether Peter Kay was right to eject hecklers
'There's a line': Comedians on whether Peter Kay was right to eject hecklers
Peter Kay made the news last weekend when he kicked two hecklers out of his show at the Manchester Arena.
Kay defended the move afterwards, saying he'd done his "best to address the situation and made light of it, as any comedian would, but unfortunately their interruptions continued".
One heckler was removed for loudly ordering the Bolton comic's favourite "garlic bread" one too many times. He went on to tell the Daily Mail he felt he'd been "treated like a terrorist".
Another had announced "we love you, Peter" in the aftermath, resulting in Kay calling her Lisa Riley as she was ejected, because of her resemblance to the actress.
The woman later said on TikTok that she felt "humiliated" and thought his reaction was a bit "over the top".
BBC News journalist Ellen Kirwin told the BBC the "vibe was good" in the place before the red cards, which "seemed unjustified".
The incidents prompted a week-long discussion about when piping up can be fun, and how it can quickly get out of hand.
WIth this in mind, we asked an English, a Welsh and Scottish comedian - almost a joke in itself, if they were to walk into a bar together - for their thoughts on the subtle art of dealing with hecklers.
Larry Dean, who starts his UK tour on Wednesday 19 February in Cardiff, tells the BBC he "felt sorry for the audience, not just Peter Kay".
"It's a really hard thing to do because no one wants to see a comic go serious, you feel like a teacher sometimes," he says.
"It changes the atmosphere when a heckler goes too far, but it really is about gaging, do the people around me want me to keep going?"
Last year, Dean found himself the victim of what he has described as "the most brutal heckle ever".
When discussing the topic of ghosts, he overheard a woman loudly talking to someone else in the audience and decided to ask if she was okay.
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"My dad bought me these tickets because he's dying and he wanted me to have a laugh," came the reply.
"We're not laughing", she added, "so I've said to my pal we're going to leave."
Dean recalls his shocked response.
"Obviously I'm not gonna make fun of that," Dean tells the BBC.
The Glaswegian looked so discombobulated by the heckle that another audience member asked him if he was okay.
"Looking at it, perspective wise, Chris Rock [who was slapped on stage at the Oscars by Will Smith) and Peter Kay - who have the two most famous show interuptions from the past few years - they've have had it easy!