Yes, I know, writing about Patton Oswalt and stand-up comedy and heckling may be a little myopic, but I wrote not one but TWO articles about One Direction today. I need this. Anyway, last week, the Chicago Tribune ran a piece by Nina Metz and Chris Borrelli in which they defended hecklers and talked about how heckling is so funny, which is a sure fire way to completely discredit yourself as a comedy critic. In response, best comedian ever Patton Oswalt decided to fire back, calling them out for being a pair of dumbasses. From Hollywood Reporter …
Oswalt, a hard-working and hugely sucessful comedian who has had to face down his own share of wiseasses over the years, isn’t having it.
“F–k you@chicagotribune for knowing zilch about comedy,” he writes in one tweet. He then goes after the writers directly: “Hey @NinaMetzNews & @borrelli,” he continues. “You know as much about comedy as @JoseCanseco knows about spelling & I know about staying thin. Dipshits.”
And then: “BTW, @NinaMetzNews & @borrelli: if my last Tweet was a bit harsh? Tell yourselves it was ‘memorable.’ See? All better. Cretins.”
Fun fact: One time a bunch of friends and I got together and put on a comedy show. We invited friends and family, we made them laugh, everyone was happy. Except for one asshole who drank too much and started shouting things at the last few acts. You know who enjoyed that heckler? Absolutely no one. That heckler was an asshole, he was not a delightful little detour into spontaneous fun times. Comedy is supposed to resemble a conversation, but the truth is, it’s essentially a one-person show. If you went to see Macbeth (spit!) and half-way through, someone started shouting at Lady Macbeth that she should just use some Purell to get the damn spot out, that wouldn’t be clever and charming: That person would be thrown out of the theatre and everyone would be better for it.
