John Bishop is the latest comedian to hit headlines for suffering rowdy hecklers while trying to perform a live show.
On Thursday the comedian, 58, was forced to contend with ‘drunk’ front row audience members, one of which was said to have become aggressive.
When they wouldn’t stop talking through his set John repeatedly told them to be quiet or else leave the Devon theatre.
‘This is a live show, okay?’ John can be heard telling the audience members in a video of the incident, which took place during one of his recent Back At It shows.
‘See them, them and them, they all have as much right as you to enjoy the show,’ he continued, pointing at other individual audience members in frustration at the man and woman.
A woman is then seen leaving the theatre while swearing at the audience over a chorus of boos. She followed the man leaving before her.
The incident happened at the Princess Theatre in Torquay, Devon, on March 27.
An attendee said, as per The Sun: ‘John warned a couple on the front row several times for the show to stop speaking.
‘After the interval they continued doing so and then John told them he wanted them to leave.’
They claimed: ‘The man then stood up and gestured towards John as if he was going to jump on stage.
‘Security got to him in time, grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt and then slammed him through two fire doors.
‘My video only recorded the aftermath in which he then wanted this man’s wife thrown out of the building and slightly later two of their friends were also thrown out.’
One onlooker wrote to Facebook group Spotted Torquay: ‘Just finished seeing John Bishop at Princess Theatre.
‘To the drunk couple that were ejected and especially to the man, you’re both an absolute disgrace.
‘Well done to the security guard who swiftly dealt with them.’
Others commended John for his actions, as onlooker Amanda said: ‘Hope the heckler is proud of himself, made himself look a complete tool. JB is a different class of comedy…’
Marianne added: ‘John handled it brilliantly and I really hope he knows that we all loved the show and doesn’t stop him coming back.’
Jeanette said: ‘What an absolute tool….well done to security for handling the situation so well and to the rest of the audience for booing them…I bet they woke up this morning shamefaced.’
In recent years, comedians have noticed a violent shift in British audiences – a trend Metro investigated last year.
This comes after Peter Kay kicked out an audience member for shouting out, ‘Garlic bread!’ repeatedly during his show.
Jimmy Carr also recently sent a heckler packing, but today told Jordan North on Capital Breakfast that he only kicks people out of gigs ‘for a reason’.
‘I do like a heckle,’ Jimmy explained this morning. ‘People come to my tour show and there’s a lot of jokes in it.
‘There’s a lot of like, “Okay, I’ve written a show, this is it,” and then I like to leave enough space so people can just join in and shout nonsense. And it’s kind of that thing of like, I suppose like watching a magician do magic.
‘Because I’m so used to it, it’s like, “Bring it!” I’m not going to get insulted and it’s kind of fun,’ the Last One Laughing host explained.
He added: ‘I think Peter Kay is a national treasure, he’s a wonderful, wonderful man, and he’s incredibly likeable.
‘But there’s 16,000 people in a room, and he had to get rid of some people who were getting in the way of the evening.
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‘And his duty is to the 16,000 people who have booked a hotel, and they’ve bought a ticket and they’re there at the arena to watch the show, and there’s a huge difference.
‘And we all know there’s a huge difference between shouting out something that’s disruptive and repetitive and annoying, and joining in and adding value.
‘The people at my show are very lucky. The audience that come to see me know that when it’s heckling or joining in and asking questions. It’s not random, drunken nonsense. There’s a huge difference.
‘So, when I kick people out as well it’s… The difference between me and Peter Kay is I don’t care.’
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