Unexpected Moments on Stage

I was asked about any unexpected moments on stages a while ago and I could not think of any but of course, then it happened.

I was doing a capacity show when five minutes into my set, someone yelled out something. I was doing a somewhat mild joke about my elderly parents so I was not ready for a heckler but I have offended people before so I tried to listen. Then I heard her yell "My husband is sitting right here with another woman" and then more details information about how he lied to her about where he was going tonight. A physical altercation began but the staff at the club quickly got control of the situation but not before 300+ people all focused on the Jerry Springer drama that transpired, instead of the comedian on stage. Me.

I have had situations when someone drunk is removed from the crowd and I was able to distract the audience with some crowd work in a different area of the room to take people's attention away from what was happening. That's my trick; finding someone in the audience to talk to on the other side of the room. In this case, however, NOBODY was looking at me. For over 2 minutes (felt like an hour) this went on. Finally when the philanderer was removed, I was able to call back to a joke I made before and then, because it was Valentines Day, I was able to say "So how's everyone's Valentines Day going so far?". Applause break. But for the next half of the show, I had lost the crowd who was clearly more interested in knowing what happened with the husband and wife.

I talked to the other comedians who witnessed it and they said they had never seen anything like that before and I handled it well. People after the show said the same thing. At the time, I felt like a deer in headlights and that I was bombing. But the reality is, I could not plan for something like that and short of taking off my clothes, there was nothing more interesting than gaping at the mess happening in front of us. Comedy! #standup #unexpectedmoments #formerlawyer #comedycareer