Comedy Fans Can’t Decide Who Looks Worse in This Viral ‘Comedian Confronts Heckler’ Video

A stand-up comedian can go spectacularly viral if they stop performing their planned set to confront an ornery audience member. But, traditionally, you’re not supposed to stop being a comedian to do it.

Right now, Natalie Cuomo is one of the most the most talked-about comics on the internet after a clip from her February 1st show at the Comedy Loft of D.C. blew up on Twitter, TikTok and Reddit. The video that Cuomo posted to her TikTok page, titled, “Comedian Confronts Heckler,” starts with the touring comic excitedly engaging with a pair of audience members in the front row before the conversation turns suddenly confrontational as we hear a man ask her, “Why are you making it sound like we’re a couple? It’s not my fault that you don’t have material,” before threatening, “I can roast you, too. You can’t just roast all of us and get nothing back.”

Now, those are fighting words for any stand-up comedian mid-set, and Cuomo didn’t hold back, berating the heckler with furious clap-backs like, “Fucking look me in the eyes!” and “You’re putting negative FUCKING energy out here!”

The clip first began to jump across platforms when one of Cuomo’s fans posted a clip of the TikTok in a since-deleted tweet with the caption “This is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.” However, as soon as the video spread outside of Cuomo’s following, the reception grew less congratulatory and more confused, critical and mocking of Cuomo’s reaction to the disruption, with many comedians and comedy fans arguing that clickbait-y “Heckler DESTROYED!” clips are supposed to be funny, not just furious.

The clip also took off in numerous comedy subreddits where users tried to piece together what led up to Cuomo’s explosive reaming of the unamused audience member. Based on the exposition Cuomo included in the clip, the man who offered to take the microphone away from Cuomo and roast her at her own show seemed to be upset with Cuomo comically insinuating that he and his coworker were a gay couple while she was doing some crowd work. It’s possible that the crowd’s passionate support of Cuomo kicking the heckler out of the club was because he had been disruptive and unruly throughout the show, but comedy fans have their doubts.

“I can’t get over the audience gassing her up over this,” the top commenter on the related post in r/Standup wrote.

“I feel like they just wanted to placate her so she’d stop. She intimidated them into supporting her,” another speculated.

A different user added, “That was incredibly painful to watch. His (IMO) justified response saying she has no material cut DEEP. And then she just kept going.”

“If you lose your temper, you lost. You’re a loser,” one more stand-up fan said of proper heckler-handling technique.

Still, Cuomo’s sizable fandom continues to support the comic despite the negative reviews from other corners of the comedy world. The top commenter on Cuomo’s original TikTok wrote, “He went in knowing he was going to antagonize any woman that stood there. Great job standing your ground.”

Cuomo’s going to have to stand a lot of ground now that male comedy fans across the internet know that antagonizing her provokes such an eruptive reaction, but even with all the negative energy going her way, she should keep her head up — this was very, very far from the most embarrassing heckler freakout we've ever seen.