Comedy is reevaluating its relationship with heckling. Some comedians accept grudgingly that it happens and try to dismiss it quickly. Others, in a trend that helps explain the rise of crowd work, want to invite (a form of) audience participation into their act. For the comics on the Heck Yeah Heckle Mic show Tuesday at The Rockwell in Somerville, it’s part of the point.
Ahead of the inaugural edition, I chatted with co-host Caroline Moore about heckling as feedback, why comics need to face it and who she hopes to see in the crowd. The interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
How would you describe the concept of a “heckle mic” to someone who’s never heard of it?
If you’ve ever seen one of those videos where an audience member just shouts something out – that’s the basis of a heckle mic. Sometimes you’ll get a person who’s too drunk or too high and they feel like they are part of the show, and in the moment you have to decide if you want to address that or if you want to ignore it – to do some sort of crowd work with the heckler or power through. I think the Heckle Mic will hopefully work the brain a little more.
The comedians get on stage, they have one minute to do their standard material. After that one minute they have four minutes where people get to ask them questions or roast them. It depends on what the audience feels. If the audience is “Ugh, this joke sucks,” they’ll let you know. Everyone knows what they’re signing up for. People are expecting to be heckled. It’s not a surprise like it is at a normal open mic.
What type of comedian do you think this attracts?
It’s been a really surprising range, actually, of new people and battle-tested veterans and a decent split of men to femmes. That’s been nice to see. It’s not just one kind of person signing up. It’s also gonna be fun because it’s Cam Ohh, Raoul Biron and I hosting, and I’m excited to see the different things that we bring to the table.
How did it come to be you three doing it?
I had said I wanted to host a heckle mic forever, and Deby Xiadani, artistic director at The Rockwell, reached out to me. Cam is just roastmaster general. If you’re wearing something dumb, he’s gonna talk about it. And Raoul, he’s so fast and he heckles already. Of the three, I think I’ll be the one who’s like “Let’s tone it down,” but I also think I heckle in a different way.
What type of audience member do you think this’ll attract?
People who are willing to try new things. Even as an audience member before I was doing stand-up, I would think “Oh, that’s not a funny joke.” You’ll hear jokes at open mics and you go, “Just get to the point” and you wanna say that aloud. It’s a very aggressive feedback mic. But it brings camaraderie too, because you’re connecting with people and joking around.
You can positively heckle too! A lot of people think there’s only negative heckling. There are so many ways of heckling, so it’s for people who are open to that experience. It’s a chance to be goofy.
Hell Yeah Heckle Mic, 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Rockwell (255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville). Free.
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