Logical Reasoning

PT155 · S4 · Q19 McKee: Heckling the performer

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McKee: Heckling the performer is a long-standing tradition of stand-up comedy.

Finding the Disagreement

On this (unusual) question, there will be four points of disagreement. Let's do our usual process of asking, for each one of Person 1's explicit claims, whether Person 2 argued the opposite.

Did Chapman argue: heckling is not a long-standing tradition of stand-up comedy?

No, he agreed with that. They probably disagree about why it's a long-standing tradition (McKee seems to feel like it's embraced by the performers, whereas Chapman is saying it's only tolerated by the performers but they wish it weren't happening).

Did Chapman argue: performers are not aware that heckling is a tradition, or that performers do not learn to respond entertainingly.

There's no comment on whether performers are aware of the tradition. We could potentially say they disagree when it comes to the entertainment value of heckling.

McKee thinks that the crowd ends up enjoying the heckling, since the comedian is trained to respond entertainingly. Chapman thinks that heckling is usually only enjoyed by the heckler.

Did Chapman argue: it would be wise for comedy venues to prevent heckling?

Not explicitly, but he is saying that most of the time heckling is just a distraction, so he would be definitely headed in the direction of "let's prohibit it".

Goal

It's hard to predict four different disagreements, but we have at least a couple: - whether or not heckling is fun for everyone or just the heckler - whether clubs should try to stop it - whether performers enjoy it or just tolerate it

19.

McKee's and Chapman's statements indicate that they disagree about each of the following except:

  1. Comedy venues should tolerate audience

    Disagree

    We don't have explicit disagreement from Chapman, but on this question, we're going off a standard of "most supportable". McKee thinks clubs should not try to prevent heckling (i.e. they should tolerate it). Chapman would potentially say they should not tolerate it, because it's mostly a distraction from the performance.

    8% picked this

  2. Stand-up comedians’ responses to heckling

    Disagree

    There is only contextual support for either party's take on this, but it seems to speak to the thrust of their disagreement. McKee thinks that heckling is a time honored tradition; comics are ready for it and use to entertain the audience. Why, it's practically part of the show! Chapman is saying, "No, comics are aware it might happen, but they don't want it to happen. They tolerate it and try to humorously deflect, but it's usually just fun for the heckler and distracting for everyone else".

    9% picked this

  3. Correct

    The best stand-up comedians are

    Why this is right

    Neither author makes it seem like being able to handle hecklers well is a trait of the best comedians, but it's fair to think that McKee would agree with this. Since he thinks that dealing entertainingly with hecklers is part of the job of being a comedian, he would think that someone good at the job would be able to entertainingly deal with hecklers. But Chapman would potentially agree with this. There isn't any support for Chapman saying that "great stand-ups are unable to respond entertainingly to a heckler". Chapman is acting like, "Sure, maybe they still get a laugh from dealing with the heckler, but they don't want to be dealing with the heckler."

    Skill tested: Agree/Disagree · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    61% picked this

  4. Many audience members at comedy

    Disagree

    This gets to the issue of McKee saying "it's part of the tradition; the performers respond entertainingly (the crowd enjoys). Comedy clubs should allow it." Meanwhile, Chapman is saying "it's tolerated, not enjoyed. It's a distraction from the performance", and most relevantly, "it's usually only fun for the heckler". Technically, Chapman's statements leave plenty of room for him to agree with this answer choice, but when we're comparing our five options, this at least has some support for disagreement, whereas the correct answer (C) had no support for disagreement.

    13% picked this

  5. It is unwise for comedy

    Disagree

    This is really a copy of (A) -- whether clubs should / shouldn't tolerate heckling. M would agree with this answer. He thinks heckling is a longstanding tradition and it would be unwise for clubs to suddenly ban/disregard this tradition. Meanwhile, Chapman thinks heckling is mostly a distraction enjoyed only by the heckler, so he would be fine with comedy clubs disregarding this longstanding tradition. This is another answer choice that has pretty weak disagreement support. I would never expect this to be a correct answer on a normal Disagree question, but it's more supportable that they disagree on this than that they disagree about (C).

    10% picked this

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