Rapid City, SD — Comedian Josh Grover reportedly shut down a noisy heckler during Laughing Hole Comedy Show on Zoom with a single click of the Mute button.
“Hecklers beware, I will crush you,” proclaimed Grover, according to a post on his Instagram. “If you think you’re funny enough to step to me, think again. I will smash that Mute button so quick, you won’t know what hit you. You’ll rue the day you heckled a comedian on an online show with opposable thumbs!”
Some of the several attendees of the show had mixed opinions on Grover’s decision to silence the heckler.
“On the one hand, I’m glad to see Josh get some attention that isn’t negative for once,” said fellow open mic comedian Julia Downs. “But the heckler did seem to have some worthwhile points of criticism on the pretty stale nature of Josh’s material. I actually didn’t know you could just press a button and mute someone though. That’s pretty neat.”
Peter O’Connor, show runner of the Zoom Laughing Hole Show, expressed appreciation for Grover.
“Great to see Josh come out here and shut that heckler down,” said O’Connor. “Some performers don’t even know how to unmute themselves. I always mean to shut down assholes like that, but usually I’m out in front of my house smoking, and I end up missing the whole exchange.”
The heckler, who asked to remain anonymous, showed his displeasure with Josh’s action in a 1-star review of the show on Facebook.
“I guess this show doesn’t really care about free speech,” said heckler Dee Znots, whose request for anonymity we subsequently decided not to honor. “With this chilling PC climate in standup, I guess I’ll have to just go back to commenting on YouTube videos with a dozen or less views. At least that’s a place that respects diversity of opinions.”
Grover later remarked that he is excited for things to go back to normal, so he can try out his now-legendary “Mute button” bit on a live audience.
By G. Smith.
The Bringer 