First, let me stress that the whole audience wasn't bad. Unfortunately, there was one fairly large group there who was completely rude and inconsiderate, and they just happened to be seated right in the middle of the audience. It wasn't a reflection on the performers that they were like this - they were bad from the moment they got there, and continued the same behavior through each stand-up routine that night. The one good thing was that they claimed that one of them was a proctologist and that most of the rest of them worked for him, which did lead to lots of jokes from the comedians that night.
Also, I will admit that I am particularly sensitive to what I consider to be bad behavior by audience members. I really have no patience with it at all. It makes me furious. So something that might seem like no big deal to most people can seem like a huge deal to me. I don't really know why I feel that way, but I take audience behavior very personally. . . especially when we are watching a performer that I particularly like. Since Karl Anthony (also known on here as Blondie from the Adventurers Club) is one of my favorite performers, I really wanted him to have a good audience for his show and it bothered me that he had to deal with such rude people.
I have fairly high expectations of audience members. I think that when you choose to attend a show, you are sort of entering into a contract with the performer. They are agreeing to give you their very best performance, and you are agreeing to behave in a considerate and respectful manner during the show. I also think that you have an obligation to your fellow audience members - that you need to make every effort to refrain from doing anything that might distract them from the show.
The group at Bonkerz last Friday night apparently did not feel this way at all. They chose to go to Bonkerz and there's no way they didn't know it was a comedy club. They knew they were there for a show. And yet they barely paid any attention at all to the people on stage. The spent the entire evening talking - loudly - to each other. They seemed almost oblivious to the comedians, except when they would occasionally make comments about the show. And any time a performer tried to talk to them they would argue or make rude comments to him. I guess in a way they were hecklers, but most of the time they didn't seem to even notice that there was a show going on. They were just rude. Each of the comedians tried to deal with them and make them pay attention and be quiet. I thought Karl did the best job of incorporating them into the act in a way that made sense, and his act didn't really suffer because of their behavior. It still made me angry on his behalf, though. I didn't feel as bad for the last performer of the night simply because he did not make any effort to be nice to them, and actually seemed to enjoy the opportunity to be mean to them. It didn't work, of course, but I'm sure he expected that after seeing how they responded to the first two performers.
I admit that I didn't find all of the performers that night to be expecially funny. The person who did the intro and warmed up the audience annoyed me more than he entertained me. He had a couple of funny moments but mostly his humor was not at all my style. Plus, he seemed big on audience interaction and I am most certainly not. (I know, sometimes I do I like shows that use audience participation. It's true that I grew to love participating at the Adventurers Club and of course I always am happy if I am chosen to interact with David Copperfield or Gaelic Storm. But if I am not familiar with a performer and I'm not already a fan of their show, I just want to blend in and not be noticed. It makes me horribly uncomfortable to have some random performer trying to interact with me. I really hate it. I even hated it initially at the Club, though I got over that pretty quickly.) Still, I was there in the audience and so I tried to act like I was paying attention and tried to be polite, while still trying to blend into the background so he wouldn't try to talk to me. I wish the rude group had done the same. But of course they didn't. And as the evening progressed I got angrier and angrier at them.
I wanted to say something to them, but it wouldn't have made any difference. They knew they were being rude - both to the performers and to the other audience members - and they didn't care. At times they actually seemed annoyed that the other people in the room would dare to interrupt their conversation. If it had been up to me they wouldn't have been in the audience at all. I would have escorted them out as soon as it became apparent that they had no intention of behaving appropriately. If they didn't enjoy the performances they didn't have to laugh or clap. They didn't even have to stay - they could have chosen a moment between acts and left the venue. But since they chose to remain there, they should have at least been quiet and acted as though they were paying attention. I don't know what their problem was. Maybe they had gotten an early start on their drinking. Maybe they just enjoy disprupting performances. Maybe they are just jerks. Whatever it was, I am sorry that the performers that night had to put up with them. I'd like to believe that it was an isolated incident, but judging from the reactions by a couple of the performers I'm guessing they are used to that sort of thing. Which is just sad. I know that the days when people dressed to the nines and were on their best behavior for a trip to the theater are gone. However, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to be considerate to those around them. It makes me sad that what was once considered common courtesy isn't very common these days.
But maybe I'm just being cynical. Maybe they were the exception and that sort of behavior is not becoming as common as I'm afraid that it is. Since I intend to go see Karl Anthony perform often in the future, I should get the chance to find out. And if you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend checking his show out for yourself. You'll be glad you did!
No comments:
Post a Comment