Three exceptions to the rule that comedy club heckles are shite ...

1. At The Comedy Pub in London, the entire front row is watching the show very intently, but laughing only at the most inappropriate times. After a couple of acts come and go, seasoned stand-up Spencer Brown decides to try some banter with a startled-but-happy-looking lady in front and centre. (I think he referred to her as looking "like a toddler that had just seen a fox for the first time".) She responds: "I am sorry, we are Norwegian and we do not understand you talking too quickly. We are however very much enjoying your amusing uniform."

2. A "secret" (ie. poorly attended) pre-Edinburgh warm-up gig by Chris Addison*, who had a Perrier nomination the year before, in the basement of a London bar. About 10 minutes into the set, three dolled-up American ladies walk across the front of the stage and sit down in a corner booth. We (ie. the stand-up and the dozen or so people in the audience) all say "hello" to the latecomers, as is tradition in such circumstances. Then, about 15 minutes later, they walk back across the front of the stage and make their way to the exit. Chris asks, why leaving so soon? One lady turns and replies in the broadest of Texas accents: "We've all decided to go somewhere we can talk. But don't worry -- you really are quite funny." That gets the biggest laugh of the night. (Which, under boxing rules, means Texas Lady wins Mr Addison's Perrier nomination and gets to challenge Laura Solon in the next round.)

3. A midnight gig with Paul Foot and Trevor Lock. I find myself being heckled by another audience member from the opposite side of the room, because I'm "drinking coffee" and therefore the type that "drinks coffee". I'm forced to explain that the bar had run out of glasses, and my paper beaker contained red wine, and that I'm a different type entirely. We're both quite drunk, so this process takes up around 15 minutes of the 1 hour show. I'm told this was neither more nor less amusing than anything that had been happening on stage.

(* late-breaking edit: have just remembered it was Alun Cochrane, not Chris Addison.)
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