Heckler Who Chucked Beer at Comedian Pleads Guilty to Disorderly Conduct, But Swears He Didn’t Do It
The Point Pleasant Beach Municipal Court in New Jersey has closed the book on a bizarre viral heckler incident in which a man identified as 29-year-old Tyler Fischer threw a beer at comedian Ariel Elias during her set at Uncle Vinnie's Comedy Club back in October. Fischer pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct at a hearing earlier this week and was fined $508 – as well as banned for life from the comedy club.
The video of the incident became a viral hit – Elias was seen mocking a Trump-supporting female heckler identified as Fischer’s wife, whose name has not been published, before the mostly full beer can smashed into the wall behind Elias, prompting her to pick it up and chug the remainder to a massive ovation. Within weeks, Elias was tapped by top comedy tastemakers and made her late-night debut with a short set on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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Despite the guilty plea, Fischer has maintained his innocence in public comments, telling the Asbury Park Press, "My friends sitting next to me know I didn’t do it, but no one saw who did. We were all watching the show." There’s actually a highly specific legal term for when a defendant admits to the court that they're guilty but wants everyone else to think they're innocent – it’s called “bullshit.”
After the incident in October, Elias declined to press charges as she wanted to move past the bizarre outburst – however, the comedy club’s owner, Dino Ibelli, was not satisfied with letting an obnoxious, immature and impudent couple like the Fischers sully his establishment’s reputation across the internet. Ibelli filed a report with the Point Pleasant Beach police and later filed charges against Fischer, leading to the municipal court case.
Ibelli was present at the now-viral incident, and he recalled approaching Fischer’s wife in the middle of the exchange in which Elias thoroughly embarrassed the Trump-loving troublemaker, telling her, “Listen, this isn’t about you anymore. You either need to calm it down or you’ve got to go.” Just as Ms. Fischer left her seat to storm out of the theater, her husband launched the ballistic beer missile. “He was sitting,” Ibelli said of Fischer. “He swung the beer can from his seat.”
Ibelli stopped Fischer on his way out and attempted to identify the assailant, but Fischer refused to give his name and left the theater with his wife. Ibelli learned the name of the couple from the group of friends who had accompanied the couple to the comedy show – the same friends Fischer swears can clear his name – which enabled Ibelli to track Fischer down through social media and file the police report.
The club owner said of Elias’ poise during such a tense moment, “She handled it like a pro. Picking up the beer and drinking from it? You couldn’t script that.”
Fischer, on the other hand, has handled the ordeal with the same game plan that his wife's hero Trump uses whenever he's in a bind – deny reality, contradict yourself constantly, and declare yourself the winner when the courts say you lost. Though the fine is no chump change, we think that the real punishment will be how Fischer and his wife will continue living together.
