Who Threw the Beer at the Comedian?
Comedian Ariel Elias nearly took a beer can to the head during a set in New Jersey
Stand-up comedians are brave. They get up onto a stage, stages in shady bars, stages in comedy houses, and some even take to the stage on Netflix. Regardless of where they stand they are vulnerable, never knowing with certainty how their punch lines and stories will land.
They also face hecklers. Head on. In real-time.
Recently comic Ariel Elias, a proud Kentucky Jew, got onto a stage in New Jersey, faced off with a husband-wife heckler duo that ended with Elias chugging a beer on stage, and has gone viral.
Elias owns Jersey hecklers
Let’s set the scene — Elias stands on stage at Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. The large comedy club logo hanging on the red brick wall behind her. A silver metal chair to her right, brown hair pulled back, and mic in hand.
Elias gets to the Q&A part of her set when things literally get sticky.
A woman in the audience asks Elias if she voted for Trump, to which Elias replied, “Why would you ask me that question when you know I’m the only Jew in the room? Are you trying to get me killed?”
Elias went on to address the crowd and end the commentary by saying that she didn’t care who the audience voted for, she was just happy they were all there together.
The woman in the audience wasn’t backing down, didn’t take the hint, and pressed on, coming back saying she knew that Elias had voted for Biden by the jokes she told.
“I can tell by the fact that you’re still talking when nobody wants you to that you voted for Trump,” Elias fired back at the woman who then claimed that nobody ever said they didn’t want her to talk.
“Make some noise if you want her to shut up.” The audience erupted.
Trying to move on with her set, Elias got a few words out of her mouth before she was staring back at the audience momentarily flabbergasted.
“Here, I’ll tell you the rest of that bit, and then we’ll move on,” Elias started. “ I’m so insecure, I went and got an IUD…”
C R A S H and S P L A S H
Just above the metal chair to Elias’ right, a beer can crashed into the wall.
The woman’s husband had hurled a full can of beer at the stage, which flew right by Elias’ head before crashing into the wall behind her.
Elias calmly bent over, picked up the beer can from its resting place on stage, and chugged.
“I knew I had to chug it,” Elias told Rolling Stone. “I was so relieved that there was still some [beer] left in there after it exploded against the wall. Also my adrenaline was going crazy, so even though normally I don’t drink before or during sets, I felt like this was a valid exception.”
It has been reported that Uncle Vinnie’s will be pressing charges against the husband. Elias, on the other hand, chose to let it go, saying on Twitter, “I’m never going back to that town again without someone paying me.”
According to Rolling Stone, Elias will be returning to Uncle Vinnie’s stage in April, so it looks like money will be bringing Elias back to Point Pleasent Beach, New Jersey. Maybe that audience will leave a better impression on her.
“I’ve gotten iced out by crowds, a couple of people have walked out, every now and then someone yells something,” Elias told Rolling Stone. “But I’ve never gotten half a free beer for it.”
Key Message: Hecklers are gonna heckle, make the best of and own that shit, and Elias is kinda a badass.
