Comedians’ wildest onstage meltdowns…punch-ups, evicting...

STAND up comedy is no easy task - and dealing with unruly hecklers is a part-and-parcel challenge of putting on live shows. But sometimes that line between comedy comeback and genuine anger is crossed, leading to some serious onstage meltdowns and even security having to intervene. They’re moments that leave the audience in stitches - or plunged into an awkward atmosphere that only a true pro would be able to salvage.

Image Credit: The Sun [Peter Kay waving at the Late Late Show Studios.]

Only this weekend, legend Peter Kay lost it at a couple of audience members who were interrupting the Manchester leg of his Better Later Than Never…Again! Tour. The Bolton-born legend was repeatedly interrupted by a heckler who kept shouting out his “garlic bread?” catchphrase. But it soon got too much for Kay, who responded: “Garlic bread? Kick him in the f***ing face, will ya? Everyone around you is thinking, ‘pr**ck’”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Peter Kay ejects a heckler from his gig.]

The comic then gets a light pointed at the disruptive fan, before saying “Give us a wave, k***head.”. “Look at him, he doesn’t know where he is,” he said, before leading a chant of “You’re going out.”. “He’s not laughing now is he?” he said, before a woman in the audience starts shouting prompting Kay to instruct security to boot her out too. “Go on Lisa Riley, f*** off,” he shouted after her.

Image Credit: The Sun [Close-up photo of Myar Curran at a Peter Kay concert.]

The surprisingly angry outburst left many in the audience uncomfortable - and both the people kicked out have criticised Kay, though the comic defended his actions. So join us as we take a look at some of the other wild meltdowns comedians have had on stage…. Funnyman Jimmy Carr is known for leaving his audiences in stitches with his dark humour, edgy jokes and savage put-downs to hecklers. But things turned serious back in 2021 when the 8 Out of 10 Cats star lost it at an audience member while on his Terribly Funny tour in Poole, Dorset.

Image Credit: The Sun [Jimmy Carr performing onstage.]

According to a source at the show, a heckler made a bunch of loud remarks throughout, shouting out that Carr’s jokes weren’t funny and that he’d heard them before. Carr had to be interrupted three or four times, getting him “visibly frustrated” according to the source, before he eventually snapped back at the audience member. “You’ve got to f***ing go,” Carr can be heard saying in a recording of the incident.

Image Credit: The Sun [Stewart Lee performing on stage.]

“If it’s any consolation, I’ll keep the money”, he added, before the apologising to the audience after the man was removed by security. Comedians are known for getting annoyed at audience members secretly filming their shows - not only due to copyright issues, but because of the risk their material might be posted online out of context. And Stewart Lee is no exception - teaching one audience member a very unsanitary lesson after warning them to put their phone away during a performance in Oxford in 2022.

Image Credit: The Sun [Kevin Bridges performing stand-up comedy.]

He jiggled around with the phone shoved in his bum. Though the fan insisted they weren’t recording, Lee leapt from the stage and stanched the device away, shouting, “I f***ing warned you.”. He then smashed it down on the stage before dropping his trousers and shoving it between his cheeks. Another horrified audience member said: “He jiggled around with the phone shoved in his bum.”. Stewart ended the outburst by calling the fan an idiot and telling him that the phone was now in a jiffy bag with sanitiser.

Image Credit: The Sun [Pete Davidson performing onstage at Colossal Clusterfest.]

Scottish comic Kevin Bridges lost his cool on stage back in 2015 after a fan kept pestering him for a selfie during a show in Glasgow. Bridges initially agreed to a photo, but the audience member was sent back to his seat after asking to get up on the stage. The man then told the comedian to “remember his roots,” prompting a fierce snap-back. “Remember my roots? F*** off,” he said. “Do you think this is my roots? Pictures and people asking for selfies, that’s all I hear every day: ‘Kev, can I get a picture, give us a picture Kev’.

Image Credit: The Sun [Russell Howard performing stand-up comedy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.]

“People are not here to see you. The deal is you buy a ticket for the show, you don’t buy me. What do you know about my roots?” he angrily continued, before later apologising to the rest of the audience for the outburst. US comic Pete Davidson launched into an expletive-filled rant back in 2019 after audience members at a Florida university wouldn’t stop going on their phones. In footage of the outburst that since went viral on Youtube, the Saturday Night Live star tears into the students, calling them "privileged little assholes” and "embarrassing.".

Image Credit: The Sun [Close-up of a man holding a beer stein.]

You should f***ing grow up. “If you film everything and not enjoy the show for f***ing an hour, then, like, I don’t gotta be here,” he said, adding “I could just give them their money back because I don’t give a f***.”. Some of the audience then started to applaud, but Davidson wasn’t done. “Don’t clap, that’s the problem…that’s why the world is gonna end in 25 years, because you’re all f***ing r*tarded.