I never invited hecklers back when I was doing it, but I did figure out which clubs and which nights tended to draw certain crowds that were more likely to heckle and was kind of mentally prepared to deal with it.
this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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I'm watching pretty much everything on the StandupComedy subreddit, which currently includes a lot of crowd interactions because such is the vogue of social-media promotion (to avoid posting actual material from the shows to which people might want to come).
I basically never get an impression that an interaction was planted, be it regular crowd work or heckling. Mostly because the public is typically pretty dumb, and really interesting quips are very rare. I think if an interaction was scripted, it would inevitably stand out by how neatly it fit into the routine.
The only clip where I seriously think the audience members might've been in on the joke (without explicitly saying so) is ‘I am the crowd work king’, and it still ends up pretty funny.
Some have plants that do this but thats rare. If you're taping every show you do (which many do) you're bound to get hecklers here and there to feed your short form content farm.
Adding to this, if someone gets a reputation for sparring with hecklers, more hecklers are likely to show up and take their shot. Releasing videos of yourself taking on hecklers is probably going to encourage them.
It's worth noting there's a difference between a heckler video and a crowd work video. If the performer solicits audience participation, that's not them being heckled.
That said, many comedians do several shows a week, some even doing multiple spots a night. These days, most of them record their sets - and the audience, to a degree. When they amass so much footage, it's easy enough to have a video now and then involving a heckler.
Of course, sometimes, some things do get 'scripted' with the audience. This is a funny example of a bit Gianmarco Soresi did using the audience to get this clip parodying a Rocket Money ad.
I don't know about most, however, it's not unheard of to plant a heckler who you've rehearse with. Probably not a standard practice, but it's happened.
No, but you may practice with one. Especially low skill (new at it) comedians tend to really suck at dealing with hecklers. That said, if you're seeing a heckler in a clip, the comedian probably specializes in it (and as such it's known that it's ok to try to best them) or hired a plant. Many clubs will kick you out for heckling, especially when a performer is a bigger draw. Even relatively big names can really suck at dealing with heckling. This is partly because when you aren't getting good responses from the audience you tend to get unsure, shaky, and struggle with everything. Real hecklers usually are going after someone who's started flopping.
Steve Hofstetter does. That guy sucks. He screenshots his own replies on Twitter and posts them on reddit. https://www.reddit.com/user/thehofstetter/
Firstly, if he's reposting using his own account, he's not being deceptive, which he could easily be. (See: The Unidan debacle)
Second, he gets right up the chuff of right-wingers and other people who ought to know better, or at least he preaches from that platform, fake or not. Being self-aggrandising and cocky is usually the sort of thing right-wingers do, so it's throwing it back in their faces.
And having watched some of his stuff, I think at least some of the hecklers are genuine (if not all of them). There's one where some nut got kicked out and then lurked outside the venue waiting for him. I don't think that was made up.
You weren't someone who got owned at one of his shows, were you?
Whoa, Steve is that you?
He is screenshotting his own comments and status updates and posting them to reddit. The fucking lamest of lame shit you can do online. Also, he has Q&As at the end of shows where he invites drunk people to yell at him and then "tears them a new one".
I can agree with his politics while still thinking he is a shit comedian.
is that you
I'd say "I wish" but the guy's been through some s**t, so I'm not sure I'd swap my life for his.
And since I'm older, shorter and balder, I'm not sure he'd want to swap either.