A certain way they tell a story, a ridiculous heckler, a funny improvisation, ect..
A certain way they tell a story, a ridiculous heckler, a funny improvisation, ect..
Norm MacDonald used to drink on stage in the early days and when he would bomb he'd just start drinking and getting the crowd to cheer him on. The funny thing is that the crowd didn't realize Norm doesn't drink so he was chugging ice tea the whole time.
My personal favorite is probably when Bill Burr got booed and heckled relentlessly in Philadelphia. His response was to heckle the entire city and the entire audience for the remainder of is set - which was another 12 minutes long.
I like the way Bo Burnham performs his shows. It's an impressive level of practice and choreography that go into some of the smallest jokes. Plus he's not just telling jokes, he is a true performer with very broad shows. If you haven't seen his specials on Netflix, I highly recommend them.
Also, I saw Bob Saget cry on stage live at a small venue. He was coked out of his mind, or just plain wasted on something else. He broke down in the middle of a song and was telling us how we're the best audience he has ever had.
I love when they're just on the edge of losing it because they saying something so ridiculous. They know that they need to hold it together, but lose it for like a second or two.