While reading your recent article about comedians and crowd work (Crowd work is the hottest thing in standup comedy – and not everybody is laughing, 24 June), I was struck by two things: the elbow of a drunk patron at the comedy show I was performing at, and the gulf between older and younger comedians. The fact is that comedians have always interacted with their audience, but in general, it was rarely on the comedians’ terms. Looking back, performers were more likely to get assaulted by their audience than engaged in friendly banter. Maybe this is why older comedians are so hostile towards crowd work – their crowds were hostile to them.
I started performing in 2013, and have played to thousands of people across multiple continents. I’ve noticed that younger crowds are on the whole gentler, less drunk and more willing to chat than older attendees. They’re certainly less willing to get into a fight. Most of us have never been in one.
