Heckler drives Billy Connolly off stage again

IT is the stand-up comic’s bête noire: the drunken abuser best put down with a quick quip, a torrent of verbal abuse, or, as the last resort of one comedian, now banned from the Edinburgh Fringe, the swift application of a head-butt.

However, Billy Connolly has adopted a new approach to dealing with hecklers: the swift retreat.

For the second time in a week the Scots comedian, recently voted the most influential British stand-up of all time, has walked off stage after being heckled, to the disappointment of the rest of the audience.

Members of the audience said Connolly, 69, walked off towards the end of his two-hour set in Blackpool on Saturday after receiving verbal abuse over a story about strokes,

Previously, he had cut short a gig in Scarborough by half an hour after being abused by members of the audience who appeared to have dallied too long at the bar.

Speaking in recent BBC documentary, Connolly explained his feelings about those who interrupt his shows.

“I loathe hecklers,” he said. “I haven’t got a good syllable to say about hecklers. When you come out of the club circuit and into the concert halls they should be gone.

“There’s an element of manners that should tell you that the ticket is dear and it’s a different venue. People have had a bath to come here, so sit down, shut up and listen!”

Unfortunately, his advice had not been adhered to, but his response disappointed fans.

Ffyona McKeating, 39, a solicitor who lives near Preston, who attended the Opera House gig in Blackpool with her husband, said: “It was terrible. I couldn’t believe it because I’ve got a 14-month-old child and I’m pregnant, so I don’t get out very much and wanted to see him.

“It was such an anti-climax and I felt he should have been used to hecklers. I’ve seen other comedians who shake off hecklers.”

Alan Wright, 50, a communications officer from Chorley, was also at the performance.

He added: “He was going on about strokes and it was quite a touchy subject, but he was trying to make light of a difficult situation, then someone shouted at him.

“It was a disappointing end to a really good night because he had been on form.

“A few people were shouting at the start and he told them how he dealt with hecklers at the start, but he walked out when he was shouted at.”

A Twitter user called MightyFallenOak said: “Billy Connolly was hilarious last night in Blackpool. Such a shame it ended so abruptly, felt a little let down.”

Another, called Aiden, added: “Fantastic show in Blackpool last night, but the heckler finished the show. She went, Connolly went, we all went. Pity.”

Just days before there had been problems at the comedian’s show in Scarborough’s Futurist Theatre, when the event was reportedly spoiled by drunken punters making disruptive trips to the bar and toilet.

An audience member Kevin Lye said: “The bar was left open and people were tripping in and out of almost the entire performance. The vast majority of people seemed to be going in and out in the most disruptive fashion possible. As Billy was just about to go into his final story, abuse was shouted and it was at this point he had clearly had enough and ended the show.

“The audience gave him a tremendous round of applause, but after he took his bow he didn’t return for an encore. This ending put a dampener on what had actually been a funny show and from what we observed, most people were leaving with miserable faces.”

The comedian’s management, Tickety-Boo, were unavailable for comment. Yesterday David Gore, Marketing Manager of the Blackpool Opera House said that Connolly had cut short his two-hour performance by almost 20 minutes. He added: “We do take appropriate action against hecklers as we can.”