Jake Johannsen
1. Jim Gaffigan looks like a bull when charging from the stage to grapple with a heckler. Even while Gaffigan and the drunken asshole are wrestling up the ramp near the emergency exit, some part of you still wants to believe it’s a joke. Then the asshole gets Gaffigan on the ground and gets a couple of good shots—at the Hot Pockets guy! Gaffigan talks about food and eating and he’s funny and chubby and lovable and certainly doesn’t deserve that. The management steps in just as sane audience members and the loudmouth’s beefy pals move past their shock to get involved. According to one of the Gotham workers afterward, the guy said something to Gaffigan’s wife. So one more piece of learning: Don’t talk shit to Jim Gaffigan’s wife.
2. A crowd doesn’t really recover from a comedy club fistfight very easily. A guy who’s hosting a raffle to benefit MS takes advantage of an empty stage to talk about nothing at all. It’s a bit chaotic.
3. Before the melee, the crowd got Jon Dore, who is funny and has really interesting ideas and unusual joke structures. “My grandfather survived the Holocaust with his hiding skills,” he says, “And by not being Jewish. And by living in Canada his entire life.” Postbrawl, L.A. comic Mo Mandel takes an authoritative tone and scores several laughs off the remaining, frightened audience members. He even works in some material about the relativity of bestiality: “A guy fucking a dog, that’s bestiality. A guy fucking a lion? Might be bestiality or it might be the X Games.”
4. When Jake Johannsen comes out, it takes a while for people to respond to anything other than jokes involving fists, fighting, or fistfighting. But the guy is a pro; he wins them over addressing old oedipal impulses (“Don’t wait too long to fight your dad. You won’t feel good about yourself if all you have to do is unplug him.”), married life and how 2-year-old boys are a pretty good representation of a grown man’s inner monologue (“They’re like little Vikings!”). By the end of the evening, the laughs are strong and rolling through the crowd like you might expect.
5. Everyone seems to agree that Johannsen is more fun than combat.
You have really do have to be the biggest asshole/scumbag/piece of shit to get Gaffigan pissed enough to fight you. He’s one of the nicest guys out there- my wife has worked with him.
I hope he gave that guy the beating of his life.
Advice to anyone at a comedy show- if you’re not on the stage, you’re not the comic- shut the f*&^% up! And if you don’t have a good sense of humor (or just an alcoholic) don’t come to a live comedy show.
I work at another comedy club where Gaffigan has performed. He is a MAJOR psycho, and this isn’t the first time he has got into a fight with an audience member.
Was also at that show… the management really needed to stop things earlier. Won’t return to that club unless JAKE is back.
Who said what? How did it go down? What actually happened? You actually got PAID for this piece? This is the same as hearing it from a friend of a friend of a friend.
Was also at the show, and was sitting just behind the jerks who were heckling. As best as we could tell, Gaffigan heard the guy say “F— You!”, with Jim responding by dropping the mic and charging. Only thing is, the jerk was saying “F— You” to another member of the audience, who had moments earlier told him to shut the @#$# up. Perhaps this was Gaffigan’s wife, but I don’t think so - thought it was a guy. Must agree that Gaffigan looked like a charging bull. Very surprised the management didn’t immediately kick the jerks out… they’re the management - they can reserve the right to kick anybody out. These guys deserved it, no question.
The real problem was the heinous cow who was the “warm up” comedienne. She wasnt’ funny, didn’t handle the crowd well, and was just an angry, annoying loser. The “heckler” wasn’t really saying anything that bad to Gaffigan - “don’t quit your day job” kind of stuff. Gaffigan is a pro and should have been able to deflect it better. The people involved considered calling the cops on Gaffigan as he did assault them. Cooler heads prevailed. So before anyone gets too caught up in blaming the people - consider the facts. Its a comedy club - people are going to heckle. It wasn’t that over the top and the professionals onstage acted badly - potentially even criminally. Jake J was great. Saved the night.
Gaffigan made his “bull charge” at the heckler who was a smaller guy and not physically imposing. He thought he was going to intimidate the guy. Little did he realize the guy was a karate expert who ended up pounding him. Serves Gaffigan right.
I’d just like to tell everyone the truth of the matter. First of all I never insulted his wife ( How would I know who she was anyway ) . Secondly I made two comments on how much he sucked. It’s a comedy club your supposed to heckle a little. Gaffigan should of came back with some jokes of his own instead of trying to be a tough guy, little did he know that intimidation does not work on some people. If i wanted to sue him I would but it’s not my style and I think he learned his lesson especially when my foot was on his head
From my angle, Gaffigan caught more than a few good shots. Dropping the mic and charging the “blackbelt” only to his amaze that the guy in a suit wearing a $20k watch gave him the beating of his life. His career will never recover from this moment
LOL… the little hateful heckler and his friends are here defending this loser who essentially ruined everyone’s night. If you can’t behave in public like an adult, don’t take your show outside your studio apartment, OK?
Gaffigan ruined everyone’s night Gypsypol. Do you go to ballgames and keep your mouth shut too ? Ever boo a ballplayer when they get a hit against your team? Would it be right for the player to attack the fan in the stands?
if you’re a STAND UP comedian in a CLUB, you should be prepared for possible heckling from tipsy customers.
grow a pair Gaffigan. you blew it.
you’re the only one who did something uncharacteristic and obviously wrong.
everybody else (although some might have been obnoxious) seems to have behaved in a manor that is not out of the ordinary considering the setting etc.
if you’re a STAND UP comedian in a CLUB, you should be prepared for possible heckling from tipsy customers.
grow a pair Gaffigan. you blew it.
you’re the only one who did something uncharacteristic and obviously wrong.
everybody else (although some might have been obnoxious) seems to have behaved in a manner that is not out of the ordinary considering the setting etc.
I was there. Saw the whole the thing from very close proximity and although I agree it was extremely unprofessional and totally out of control for Gaffigan to start a fight, the heckler was being a total jerk. There’s a difference between heckling and being a total a-hole. Just FYI.
Sorry, Henry.
You’re WRONG. Heckling is a dick move. Do you heckle at plays? Do you heckle at church? Do you heckle at concerts? You’re not part of the show, you’re not there to open your trap, you’re there to listen and laugh if you find it funny. If you don’t, get up and get your money back. Gaffigan oughtn’t have done something in the heat of the moment, but you should have kept quiet.
I was not there, but I MUST comment that heckling is NOT “expected” at all! Anyone who sits in the audience at a comedy show and thinks, “Well I better say some stupid crap, it’s expected” is a huge d-bag who doesn’t know how to behave in public. The comics don’t want it and the rest of the audience doesn’t want it. Jim Gaffigan is a professional ad more successful than 90% of people who try to be funny for a living. I don’t know why he decided to get physical this time, but you, Mr. Hilarious Heckler, deserve to get your block knocked off.
Heckling is never ok. It’s always douchy. Personally, I’d like to see more hecklers get roughed up.
“It’s a comedy club your supposed to heckle a little.” No, you are supposed to keep your mouth shut and not make a fool of yourself.
One thing I learned from reading this article.
1. The person who wrote this can not write very well at all.
(seriously? there was a fight between a comic and an audience member and you give NO DETAILS? Way to miss out on the real story, dumbass.)
It’s been said, but just to repeat, hecklers are never victims. No matter what. Do I condone violence in comedy clubs? Absolutely not. But when you offer yourself up as a heckler, you need to be prepared for ANYTHING from as harmless to being the brunt of the joke, to being kicked out.
I feel bad for Jim, I hope he’s ok.
This is BS - it never happened. This is a weird, oddly self-serving way for Jake Johansson to do a press release.
There are other ways to make noise about oneself without belittling someone else.
Nick… it totally happened. I was there as were others that have posted. How does this aid Jake Johanssen? He’s a comedian for F’s sake… NOT a part of the WWF. This isn’t great PR. Duh.
Please send me tickets for any shows. Thank you:
73-54, 189th Street
Fresh Meadows, NY 11366
Hecklers are sad idiots with no creative outlets.
Wow. Heckling is expected? Remind me not to attend any of the same shows as this guy. I do not spend money to listen to some drunk jerk-off in the audience make an ass of himself. Also, Gaffigan doesn’t really engage the audience much (if at all) in his acts. If you MUST heckle, save it for shows with comedians who like fucking with the audience.
“His career will never recover from this moment”
LMAO
The only reason I even know about this is because Daniel Tosh mentioned it in a show I saw over the weekend. This site is the ONLY result that comes up when Googling it.
Don’t worry about Jim’s career. I’m pretty sure he’ll be just fine.
I’ve been reading the posts on this site and I suddenly realized why this country is in such bad shape. Are you people seriously defending a comedian who charges off the stage and physically attacks someone because he “heckled him” The last time I checked FREEDOM OF SPEECH was still a right we had. I’m not saying that this guy that was heckling was in the right but Gaffigan was more wrong for attacking him physically. If you people don’t realize that I hope the next time you voice an opinion and someone tries to attack you that you remember what you said on this site. LOL
To restate - Gaffigan charged after he heard the heckler say “F— You”, (albeit not directed AT Gaffigan) which could certainly be viewed as a fight starter (especially if alcohol is involved). Not going to condone it - I was actually saddened by the fact that some of our professional comedians weren’t able to diffuse the heckling situation with wit (especially true of the MC - as a previous post mentioned, she was VERY weak. She started by insulting people in the crowd, got upset when the crowd heckled her back, and at some point just lost it)
Still - Heckler was being asked by the management to tone it down BEFORE this incident occurred - and he wouldn’t stop. That’s great that he had a $20K watch. Still doesn’t excuse his rudeness. Very thankful that the comedians that followed the fight did a great job of bringing us back to comedy.
For the doubters, yes, this happened. I was there, sitting behind the two douchebags and their peroxide-blonde female friend. First one started heckling the warm-up act. Then later the other started heckling Gaffigan. It got to the point that folks within 10-15 feet of the hecklers couldn’t properly hear the comedians’ bits because of the steady stream of nonsense coming out of the mouths of these two retards. If they were actually good at heckling, I might have been amused. But they weren’t. What they had to say wasn’t interesting or funny, it was too loud, and it was detracting from others enjoying the show they paid to see. Maybe this was supposed to impress the girl? Who knows. Management DID come up to them to tell them to shut it (before the fistfight), and another guy in the audience DID tell him to shut up. At which point the Karate Kid said ‘F-you”, Gaffigan got it misconstrued, steam started coming out of his nostrils, and away we go.
What these hecklers don’t get is that IT’S NOT ABOUT THEM. You want airtime? Go do open-mic night a few dozen times at some crappy basement club no one’s heard of, refine your act, and make a name for yourself.
There’s no way that this happened.
Show me the news story. Show me the YouTube video.
Oh, there’s none, you say? Some C-list celeb can’t sneeze in public without it being captured somehow. You mean to tell me one of the most popular comedians in the country got in a fistfight at a public benefit, and there’s not a single news story about this, other than this sad attempt at humor?
I call BS.
Prove me wrong.
Tom:
The public benefit was actually in a downstairs room of the club, not where Jake and the warm-up acts were playing. So technically, the fistfight didn’t even happen in the same room as the public benefit. That’s one. Two, I was there. It happened less than 10 feet from me. I’m a Jake Johanssen fan who bought a ticket because of him - this is the 2nd time I’ve seen him in person - and I probably couldn’t have picked Jim Gaffigan out of a lineup prior to seeing him begin his set on stage. Why on earth would I - or any of the other people who were there and have weighed in so far - all be making this up over someone I barely know?
Still cynical? Go find the email address for either Jon Dore or Mo Mandel (the two other warm-up acts who went on stage that night…Jon went on before Jim, Mo went on after) and ask THEM whether it’s true or not. Or maybe ask Jake.
The problem with demanding to see the video evidence is that it presupposes that a tape exists. I have no idea whether there is or isn’t, but why would they bother taping warm-up acts?
Tom, no one has to prove anything to you. If you don’t believe it then don’t. I believe it, why would all of these people lie about it? You probably think 9/11 was an inside job and there’s a war on Christmas.