When someone heckled Michael Akadiri with this it got him thinking of the parameters of the art... and heckling

‘But this is a comedy show!’  I’ve had these exact words uttered to me twice, on separate occasions by an audience member while previewing my debut hour, No Scrubs.

Interestingly, these heckles occurred at almost identical points of the show, during the most honest and frank section near the end. I interpreted this as ‘stop making me feel uncomfortable and get back to the jokes’.

These experiences have led me to ponder the question, should comedy challenge people?

I’ll preface this by stating I became a comedian to be funny and make people laugh. I’d like to think that’s the primary aim of any comic who hits the stage, everything else is secondary. However, when I think about some of my favourite comedians, such as Dave Chappelle or Patrice O’Neal (RIP), not only do they entertain, but their jokes educate, challenge you and offer an alternative perspective on the topical discourse.

For me, that’s what separate a good comedian and a great one, a good one will make you laugh, yet a great one makes you laugh and think.

However, not everyone will agree with me – comedy is subjective, after all. There are people who probably think comedy should merely make them laugh, nothing more, nothing else. And these people are in the audience too.

 If you’ve gone to a comedy show, whether a mixed bill club night or a solo hour where my name and face is on the ticket, you may be coming for an evening of escapism, guilt-free laughs where you can momentarily forget about the trials and tribulations of your life. Perhaps you don’t want to listen to the comic’s social commentary or even give a flying monkey’s about the issue they’re referencing.

Or even worse, this social commentary makes you feel uncomfortable. You’ve come to a comedy gig to laugh but now your world view is being challenged. You didn’t sign up for this! You didn’t sign up for a mirror to held up against you! So what do you do? Sit there and take it? Maybe listen and learn something? Or do you attempt to put a stop it with the passive aggressive ‘but this is a comedy show’? Nominating yourself the hero no one asked for.

Nevertheless, I want to make it clear that I’m not against heckling, a comic against heckling is akin to doctor being against blood. It’s an aspect of the artform all comedians need to contend and be comfortable with.

As a matter of fact, bring your heckles! I actually enjoy the challenge. Yet, I feel that stand-up comedy is more vulnerable to heckles, especially ones of this nature compared to other art forms. There’s no way these hecklers would heckle at a music concert if the artist performed a song they didn’t like, partly due to etiquette, partly due to their voice box having nothing on industry speakers. Imagine, you go to watch Lion King in the theatre, Simba says something you don’t like, you won’t jeer or interrupt – you just wait for him to be thrown off the cliff by Rafiki!

Stand-up comedy isn’t afforded the same grace, or respect, as other art forms. Sometimes, the audience may not even acknowledge they’re disrupting a performance. This may be due to a comic’s conversational, storytelling manner in which the delivery appears off the cuff, even though it has been rehearsed to a tee. Moreover, a comic’s persona may be akin to your mate next door or the funny guy or girl at work. Therefore, the audience may not see you as a performer but as their friend, and we pull things our friends up on things all the time, right? The normal barrier between performer and audience can appear blurred.

So what we can do about this conundrum? Are there any solutions? I for one can continue to improve as a comic, that is something I can control. I’m only about five years into my journey, I’m a comedic foetus, it takes years to develop the chops to seamlessly entertain and educate like the aforementioned comedy GOATs.

That said, I can’t control other people’s behaviour. Same way, those hecklers can’t dictate what us comedians say or how we use our time on stage. If you’ve come to watch No Scrubs, first of all welcome. But remember, if you’ve come for an hour of escapism, you’ve chosen to experience my reality.

This is MY comedy show.

• Michael Akadiri: No Scrubs will be at the Pleasance Courtyard at 8.35pm during the Edinburgh Fringe.

Published: 11 Jul 2022