Comedian In Court

[Alex]

I've just noticed this story on Chortle and was appalled by it:

Heckle putdown winds up in court. Human rights case over 'dyke' comment.

Court proceedings have begun for a comedian accused of breaching a heckler’s human rights for branding her a ‘dyke’.

Lorna Pardy took action against Canadian funnyman Guy Earle, pictured, after an aggressive stand-off two years ago, in which the comic allegedly made explicit suggestions about her sexual practices because he thought she was being disruptive.

But Earle’s lawyer says a comedian putting down a heckler is different from someone ‘slinging hamburgers at McDonald’s’, so shouldn’t be subject to the same rules. The lawyer, James Millar, walked out of the British Columbia human rights tribunal on its first day yesterday in protest at the way it was being conducted. His move could force the case to go up to the province’s supreme court.

Pardy claims Earle’s comments about her sexual orientation were discriminatory under a section of local human rights legislation covering service in businesses. She took action after a set-to with Earle at an open mic night at Zesty's restaurant in Vancouver three years ago. The restaurant’s owner is also named in the action as an employer responsible for Earle, even though he wasn’t paid.

‘Shocked and embarrassed’ Pardy, 32, has been suffering post-traumatic stress following the incident, according to her lawyer. The row started when the meteorological technician, her girlfriend and another woman moved into the room where the comedy was being performed midway through the show.

Earle is said to have considered them disruptive and told the audience: ‘Don't mind the inconsiderate dyke table that just walked in’. Pardy denies that her group were heckling, and said that things escalated when her group told Earle he was being ignorant. He allegedly leaned over Pardy in a threatening manner, so she threw a glass of water in his face. She said: ‘I was humiliated... I felt like I’d been assaulted.’

Passions ran high throughout the night, according to the Canadian Press, with another glass of water being thrown in Earle’s face, and the comic whipping the sunglasses from Pardy’s head and breaking them.

Now, first off, I have to say that Earle was completely out of order to call this woman a dyke, it's a horrible term to use and has no place in modern society. And he clearly shouldn't have broken any of her propery, either.

But apart from that, she gets no sympathy from me whatsoever as this really does seem to be taking things ridiculously far. Personally I strongly dislike hecklers, finding them disruptive and annoying - I pay good money to see comedians, and not some random person in the audience who thinks they're funnier than the person paid to be on stage.

Even so, giving her the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he did massively over-react - and maybe, plausibly (though I strongly doubt this) did deserve having water thrown over him. But the sections which really wound me up were these:

Pardy, 32, has been suffering post-traumatic stress following the incident, according to her lawyer...

...She said: ‘I was humiliated...I felt like I’d been assaulted.’

Now I'm sorry, but that's just ****ing ridiculous to me! People in horrific accidents suffer post-traumatic stress, or those who have lost loved ones, or been in some kind of other terrifying incident. But to say you're suffering from it after an event like this is bloody ridiculous, and that's why I think this whole thing is about as incredibly idiotic a situation as you're going to get.

Again, he shouldn't have brought her sexuality in to this, or used that particularly offensive term, but I severely doubt that she's as innocent as she makes herself out to be, and for this to end up in court (and perhaps the Supreme Court) is madness.

But what do you think? Obviously a comedian shouldn't use that level of offensive language to put down a heckler, but what should they do now? Or do you sympathise with the 'victim' and feel that it is all too possible to suffer post-traumatic stress after someone is briefly rude to you?

First person to say "It's political correctness gone mad" gets a slap round the chops, btw!

[Rob McCow]

If the comedian had followed her from the club and screamed profanities at her as she walked down the street then maybe, just maybe, there'd be a cause for grievance.

I'm looking forward to the first case of 'Post traumatic stress' suffered because someone's been dragged through court for no good reason. IPCGM.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I think she's got off lightly - I still remember the guy who heckled a politician at a Labour Party Conference, and was detained by the Police under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Nice.

I do feel she's taking this a bit too far, and it seems ridiculous it's got to this level. Political correctness gone mad?

I think maybe free speech has gone too far. Maybe it's time we voted in a Fascist government - and then we'd have nothing to complain about. Well we could still compain, but if the secret police overheard us we'd be exiled to Siberia ... or in the UK's case, Scotland.

[MinaHarker]

Personally I strongly dislike hecklers, finding them disruptive and annoying - I pay good money to see comedians, and not some random person in the audience who thinks they're funnier than the person paid to be on stage.

I agree, but I don't see where it says she was heckling. All she did was walk in late. Annoying, yes, but not heckling.

Now I'm sorry, but that's just ****ing ridiculous to me! People in horrific accidents suffer post-traumatic stress, or those who have lost loved ones, or been in some kind of other terrifying incident. But to say you're suffering from it after an event like this is bloody ridiculous, and that's why I think this whole thing is about as incredibly idiotic a situation as you're going to get.

*Anything* can spark off PTSD, just like anything can spark off a major depressive episode. I'm surprised at you, Alex.

[Lissa]

Imagine you're in that situation - a comedian makes a fairly offensive quip but you did walk in during his set and should've known it was going to happen. Do you:

(a) laugh it off (or pretend to) so he'll go and bother someone else?
(b) walk out again because you're obviously not going to like him?
(c) pick a fight with the guy with the microphone?

Having picked a fight with the guy with the microphone do you:

(a) walk out when you've had enough of this a-hole?
(b) ignore him and wait ten minutes until the next guy is on?
(c) throw a couple of glasses of water in his face to calm the situation down?

Having thrown a couple of glasses of water in his face do you:

(a) complain to the venue, get your money back and maybe a free meal?
(b) try to put the whole thing behind you and convince yourself it wasn't your fault?
(c) hire a lawyer, find a bit of legislation you can misuse, get a diagnosis of PTSD which is likely bogus because going to court and reliving it in an adversarial situation will make it worse not better, and hope that three years is long enough that the defence won't be able to find any witnesses.

Having hired a lawyer (etc) you ensure that the humiliation you claimed to have experienced in front of dozens of people is relayed and repeated in front of millions of people. All in the hope of winning some money from an open mic comedian (good luck with that) and a restaurant. Even if she's sincere, it doesn't make sense and it doesn't make her right.

[Captain Tancredi]

Now, first off, I have to say that Earle was completely out of order to call this woman a dyke, it's a horrible term to use and has no place in modern society.

Try telling that to the Dykes on Bikes who are a mainstay of the Mardi Gras in Sydney- it's all relative. It'd be interesting to know what she looks like, because to my way of thinking, if you walk into a room where a stand-up comedian is performing halfway through the act, you're fair game. It's the way it works, whether you're a lesbian, bald, Chinese or anything that makes you visually different- it's what stand-up comedians do.

[Lissa]

It doesn't really tell you very much as she's in costume as an extra on "The L-Word" (she's a thespian as well) but she's the one in the middle.

[Alex]

*Anything* can spark off PTSD, just like anything can spark off a major depressive episode. I'm surprised at you, Alex.

Well I was going by this description of it:

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event which results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity, overwhelming the individual's ability to cope. As an effect of psychological trauma, PTSD is less frequent and more enduring than the more commonly seen acute stress response.

And I really don't see being called a dyke by a comedian as something which could be considered as psychological trauma. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I feel she's making a massive deal out of this in an attempt to make cash out of the situation, and I very much doubt if it's affected her that much. Especially as she was clearly rather feisty on the night itself, throwing water at him during his act, etc.

I've been to countless comedy nights, and seen comedians pick on people (sometimes deservedly, sometimes not) but none of them have looked like they've suffered pyschological trauma as a result of it.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Imagine you're in that situation - a comedian makes a fairly offensive quip but you did walk in during his set and should've known it was going to happen. Do you:

I thought I was reading a Steve Jackson book there!

I do have some sympathy to a point - it's probably not just that the comedian made those remarks - it's probably that everyone in the room probably laughed with him, which would make a lot of people feel very small. It's quite unpleasant when you feel a room turn on you like that.

But at the same point, her lawsuit does seem more like that of a vexatious litigant over a genuinely distressed individual. You'd think as an actress she'd be more thick skinned - as afterall it's an incredibly tough business. And as someone who suffered post traumatic stress, I'm not impressed.

However I do kind of think she has a point. And that is that comedy and open mic's should not be used as a platform for bigotry of any sort. God forbid we'd get a return of "The Comedians" with Stan Boardman back on TV ...

[Captain Tancredi]

But at the same point, her lawsuit does seem more like that of a vexatious litigant over a genuinely distressed individual. You'd think as an actress she'd be more thick skinned - as afterall it's an incredibly tough business.

That's exactly the thought I was mulling over- unless of course it's also partly an attempt to get her name known (bearing in mind that if you're a 32-year-old part time actress, being out is probably likely to close more doors than it opens).

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Although you'd think this would just signal to anyone thinking of working with her that she's difficult.

[Paul Monk]

Tony Law once insulted my shorts. I'm still traumatised now months on. I didn't ask to be picked. I was violated and felt assaulted.

Of course I didn't. What rubbish. $$$$$$$

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Robin Williams has now managed to offend a whole country ...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post...s-redneck-joke

[MinaHarker]

Well I was going by this description of it:



And I really don't see being called a dyke by a comedian as something which could be considered as psychological trauma. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I feel she's making a massive deal out of this in an attempt to make cash out of the situation, and I very much doubt if it's affected her that much. Especially as she was clearly rather feisty on the night itself, throwing water at him during his act, etc.

I've been to countless comedy nights, and seen comedians pick on people (sometimes deservedly, sometimes not) but none of them have looked like they've suffered pyschological trauma as a result of it.

PTSD can be started by a traumatic event such as you describe, but the manifestation of symptoms may not begin until a relatively minor event is the "straw that broke the camel's back".