Handle hecklers from the stage to either shut them down or build a show around them.

Margaret Choe is an internationally acclaimed comic, actress, author, fashion designer, and singer-songwriter. Margaret has found that when you take control of a heckling situation, you can either shut down the heckler or build a show around them. She gets really curious about hecklers and asks them, and their companions, questions to find out what they are really like and what their motivation is. Her heckler-handling methods ensure the audience gets a great show, and you get better at dealing with hecklers.

1. Notice the heckler and give them a lot of time.
   Let them keep going until the audience members are all aware of them.

2. Ask the heckler who they are there with.
   Who are their friends or companions at the show?

3. Direct a few questions (about the heckler) to the person(s) they are with.
   Are they like this all the time? Is this special? Why are they like that?

4. Direct a few questions to other people around them, people seated nearby.
   What was the heckler like before the show? What did they say? What led to this?

5. Really find out what the heckler is trying to say or do.
   Be curious and find out why this person has chosen to disrupt a performance that everybody has paid for, and that everybody is there for and agreed to sit for? Why did he or she want to rebel against that?