In light of the Michael (Seinfeld's "Kramer") Richards' racial tirade hurled at a comedy club heckler, I'd like to relate experiences I have had at comedy venues.
The first was in the late 70's, at a small comedy club on Long Island, New York; my two friends and I went with our girlfriends. The show featured a then unknown, pre-Saturday Night Live, comedian named Eddie Murphy. This may shock you, but his act was totally clean; not a single "discouraging" word was heard! (Ah, the good old days!) However, in the mostly white, under 30, audience, on the house-left side, there was a group of clearly drunk teens (this was long before drunk driving was a major problem, and before the NY State drinking age was raised to 21). They frequently interrupted Murphy by saying, "We're from Bohemia!" (a small L.I. town) which had absolutely nothing to do with anything! At first, Murphy laughed with them (nobody else did!) and engaged them a little bit, then he tried to ignore them, and then, finally, he turned to them and said, "I wish you'd all just get in a car accident right now and die!" Needless to say, everyone was shocked! Never mind that we all agreed with Murphy! His loss of composure shut up the group, but soured the rest of his show for everyone. Afterwards, he sat down at a small table on the side with a young woman. He looked very upset, so, I approached him, leaned over, and said, "Don't let SOB's like that get to you." His girlfriend (?) smiled, and he patted me on the back, saying, "Thanks, man!", and that was the end of it. He never smiled after that incident, and left a few minutes later. Nobody thought Murphy was a racist or homicidal. He was simply a then-young comic who was harassed by rude audience members.
Another incident took place in the mid 80's, at a club in a sleepy, Massachusetts suburb (I can't remember the town or the club!). It was a small, all-purpose eatery (breakfast, lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch) which had a huge variety of entertainment throughout the week. My friend and I visited it during a comedy night, starring a mix of new, but somewhat experienced, and totally unknown, local and professional comedians. The only rule that the club had for comedians was no profanity, mostly because of the possibility of youngsters in the audience (that's a policy I applaud, regardless of the age of the audience! Good comics shouldn't need to curse every five seconds!). I don't recall any of the comics' names, but the first act was somewhat amusing, and, after a brief intermission, the second act came on. He was a heavy set black male, who came on to perfectly appropriate, polite, "we-don't-know-you-but-we'll-welcome-you", applause from the mostly white, but wide age range audience. At first, he seemed to be happy and smiled broadly as he went into the usual, "How's everybody?" shtick, but after a few, unbelievably lame, jokes, which got absolutely no reaction from the audience (not even a cough!), he stood stock still for at least half a minute, and then he stuck his tongue down his chin (not at anyone), and then started saying (not singing), "LA la . . .LA la". This went on for the rest of his set! We're talking nearly seven minutes of utter and completely bizarre behavior! Everyone looked at each other, equally mystified, waiting for something - - ANYthing! - - to happen, as if it were a prelude to a Twilight Zone episode, but, unfortunately, nothing of consequenceoccurred. There were two high school girls sitting closest to the alleged comic, who were either totally embarrassed, or utterly enthralled with the tongue-not-in-cheek act, to the point that they giggled (not laughed) through the rest of his. . . well, whatever you want to call it; it couldn't be an act, and it certainly wasn't comedy! When his time was up (a guy in the back flashed a dim light to warn comics that they had less than a minute to finish), he finally stuck his tongue back in his mouth (yes, he kept it out the ENTIRE time - - amazingly, he didn't drool once!), and said, half-heartedly, "You've been great," and walked to the house left side, where we could see the other five or so comics waiting in the wings, quickly get out of his way, presumably not to be infected by whatever he had! The rest of the show was okay, but forgettable. If anyone deserved heckling, it was this tongue guy, who either lost his train of thought or his nerve. Regardless, he was treated exceptionally well, all things considered, and he had only himself to blame for his meltdown.
No other comedy shows I've seen went as badly as the above, regardless of their setting. I saw Ellen DeGeneres, long before she became famous, and knew that she was headed for fame and fortune. I saw Steve Martin in concert, just after his "King Tut" song hit the airwaves (as an aside, my buddies' two girlfriends dressed as "Coneheads", and approached Steve on stage (shockingly, there was no security at the college arena!) to huge applause, which Steve took all in stride (never mind that "Coneheads" had little to do with the comic)! He didn't even seem to mind them sharing the stage! But, after only fifteen seconds (which, BTW, seemed like an eternity to the three of us guys waiting to help the girls if something went awry), the girls lost their nerve and "Coneheaded" their way off-stage to more applause (the college audience was genuinely thrilled at seeing them, and may have even thought it was part of Steve's act!)).
I've seen many other, mostly lesser known acts by single comics, teams, and troupes, the vast majority of which were funny and went without incident, as they should, even after some heckling.
Although I've done some high school, college, and community theatre acting, as well as having appeared on professional stages as an extra, I would never have the guts to do a comedy sketch in front of an audience, no matter how small or well-behaved. As such, I truly respect those who give it a try, even if they bomb!
Nobody minds an intelligent heckler (yes, there is such a thing!), but drunks and attention seekers should be thrown out (the same goes for loonies at sports events; no warnings; just toss 'em). It is said that comics need to learn how to handle hecklers, but, IMHO, the only people who need to "learn" anything are the trouble makers.
Having watched the videos of Richards' tirade, I certainly don't condone what Richards did, but I can't condemn him, either. He was simply out of his element, and didn't know how to handle the situation.
There are lots of other things in this world that need our attention; this incident isn't one of them.
UPDATE: Please click here to read my take on the Rosie O'Donnell Chinese Affair.