Hatstand heckling
I don't think words can do justice to the bizarreness of this evening, but here goes...
It must have been December 1998; we were a group of 7 or so assorted students. We turned up at the John Snow in Soho just in time for the night's comedy. Inevitably, the only seats left were the entire front row, which we filled. The compere was amused by us, accused us of being Sigue Sigue Sputnik and took pleasure in ribbing our Spanish friend Antonio. The compere’s look of shock and defeat when Antonio revealed he was a Glaswegian called Rob more than made up for it.

This was nothing, however, compared to one of the girls in our group. At various points of the evening, she would put her hand up, as if at school. At first, the comedians took a moment to overcome their surprise. Then they would ask her why she had her hand up and she would ask a question, such as:
"Do you have a Blue Peter Badge?"
"What are you doing for New Year?"
"Will you be watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny?"
I've never seen a comedian thrown like this. They probably all had put downs at the ready, but you can't use them when someone asks an innocent question out of nowhere. And she just wouldn't stop.

Until the break that is. The second half started without her. This threw the performers as much as her presence. Where is she? Why has she disappeared? Eventually, she strolled back to her seat with the simple explanation: "I fell asleep on the loo."

I would say her act was genius, if I thought it was an act. But that was just the way she was.
( Odradek the Indecisive, Sat 8 Apr 2006, 14:35, Reply)