Thread: What do you do with a drunken audience member....LOL

So what do you do when a drunken audience member storms the stage?
or picks up props and prances around with them?
or gets too rowdy.

Having experienced all of these incidents in recent months I am curious to see how others feel/deal with these issues. In all incidents I experieced it was dealt with well.

But I was at a show once and a member of the audince started heckling and abusing the band. Rather than throw her out she was asked to sit...to which she did but then heckled from her seat. I felt she should have been put out. Some of the comments she made were AWFUL and disgusting...views?

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We recently did a show involving some very lovingly made props which got completely wrecked by not one, not two but three drunken females getting on to the stage.

Nightmare. It fairly makes you forget your moves.

I've had to deal with drunken males grabbing at my costume from over a barrier and even trying to make a grab for me during a finale - not a nice thing to deal with, I now make sure I've got a friend or two near the stage so I can give them a nod and get the bugger reported to the establishment

i once grabbed a drunken female who was causing a scene and put their face between fake boobs i was wearing,
it shut them up pretty quickly

Nightmare! I'd kill a punter if they messed with our props lol

As a host a bit of banter and patter from the audience is great makes my job easier to have someone to bounce off,

I always say a quick rule while warming the crowd up letting them know they can make as much noise but never come onto the stage or touch a performer or they get my CANE!!
I keep it fun and like to hear how much noise I can get them to make (the more noise they make the quicker the girls strip if they don't make enough encouraging noise's the clothes go back on!)
xx

Hi Khandie! Don't know how any of you would work this in to your own acts but. I got a right muppet at a magic do last November. I pulled a pack of cards from my pocket to do the next illusion when he fires up all loud about how he "Knew every fifin card trick in the fifin book and I will tell you all how the fifin trick works!". To which I replied "Oh, thank christ for that mate here", giving him an ordinary pack of cards I had removed from my pocket as I approached the table. "I haven't a bloody clue how this trick works.". And stood back looking at him all expectantly. Worked a treat and shut him up.

I was also thinking of how Lilly Von Stumph dealt with the drunk on stage in Blazing Saddles.........Don't think that is legal though........

Flash Harry had to deal with a drunken stage hog last weekend as you witnesses....he just carried on singing...humoured her then got cherry fox to drag her off stage!!

we did a show in Belgium last year & one of the drunken yocals was heckling the compere for not speaking in Flemmish, he ripped her to shreds, got the rest of the audience boo-ing her and got her thrown out by security in the space of a few seconds. It was certainly a highlight of the show!!!

x

if an audience member climbed up on stage and grabbed a performer, legaly this would be classed as an assualt.

the securaty/minder should take the offending drunk/attacker and escourt him out of the building or restrain him using reasonable force.

say for example the perpatrator hurt somone, you would'nt want to throw him out of the club as he would be free to make his escape. i would detain him under citizen arrest, handcuff him and take him to a quiet area of the club, and call the police and tell them what happened.

if the person was annoyingly heckling the performer/artist and making a nuisence and spoiling the show, one ( or two or three back up staff.)would ask him to leave, escourt him out of the venue, if he kicked off and assualted the securaty/minder, he again should be arrested and held till police arrived.

the use of a securaty covert video camera comes in very handy at situations like these as it is all recorded on a data card for the police to view for evidence later on at the police station.

they would be able to see that the securaty had tried to reason with the offender and have used resonable force.

i could provide this service if somone wanted it. although i probaly would'nt be very cost affective, as it only happens rarely. but if somone wanted to give me a job behind the bar or doing somthing else, then i could be on stand by just in case anything happens.

anyway, i think the answer is to nip it in the bud and approach the offender.