That Was A First

Posted January 27th, 2012

Wednesday night’s Red Carpet Comedy was our 18th show. In the previous 17 performances there have been 160 slots for comedians to perform in, over 27 hours of new stand-up material created (some good, some bad) and an atmosphere that has local comedians eagerly/anxiously awaiting their spots on stage. Never in those 17 previous shows have we had a heckler. Which brings us to show number 18…

A corporate group was in Calgary from Fort McMurray (warning sign #1, just ask any comic that has performed there) and on their last night in town they decided to take in a comedy show. The night previous they had all gone to see strippers (warning sign #2). Most of the group was quiet and respectful. One woman, however, was not. She had arrived drunk (warning sign #3) and despite the comedians’ best efforts (which began with politely asking her to be quiet several times) she persisted in her yelling out and heckling to the point that it ruined the show for comedians and the rest of the audience alike.

Afterwards, members of her group apologized to our production staff for her actions (they were embarrassed by her). The audience members that weren’t affiliated with them were shocked, saying that they had never seen anything like it and that it wasn’t what adults do. Wednesday is a night that we’re not going to soon forget.

It’s a huge risk to perform on Red Carpet Comedy. The comedians take these risks in the hopes of progressing their art form and becoming better at what they love to do. Our regular audience gets that and enjoys watching the process. We have taken solace in the fact that our heckler is now hundreds of kilometres away and we all hope that she never returns to a comedy show. Despite her attempts to break us apart, we are closer than ever, having survived this shared experience.

Here’s the photo of the comedians (pretty much heroes) that did their best in a supremely awful situation. Thank you all for your professionalism.

Also thanks to Steve Nagy for the photographs and Zoë Klintberg for running the box office. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

Our next show is February 29. You can purchase your tickets in advance on our site or come to the door that evening. More details on performers will be released soon. And, you can guarantee, that our heckler will be no where to be seen that night.