Comedian praised for the way he handles audience member with Tourette's syndrome
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A comedian's ability to think on their feet is almost as important as their material.
And one stand-up has been praised for the way he dealt with a 'heckler' at a recent gig:
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Lucas Zelnick is known for having a way with the crowd, often dispatching hecklers in a matter of seconds.
But rather than shutting someone down with a barbed comment, the comic was praised for showing some compassion and humour to an audience member who interrupted his set.
In a clip from a gig posted to his TikTok account, Lucas can be seen doing his thing when someone in the audience shouts 'f**k you'.
The woman then immediately apologises and clarifies that she has Tourette's syndrome.
For those of you who don't know, Tourette's causes people to have involuntary tics or to shout words - sometimes very rude words - out without any context.
But rather than jumping to conclusions and going on the attack, Lucas calmly speaks to the woman, telling her it's 'ok'.
Assuring him that she's 'not cursing at him', the comedian tells her to go for it, 'Tourette it up'.
He then jokes, saying that the whole room 'gets one shot' at him.
"Keep it low, like she did," he says. "Don't steal the show with it, don't 'F**k you!' don't do that.
"But don't be shy."
The set continues as usual, but five minutes later, the woman interrupts him again.
Yep, you've guessed it: "F**k you!"
To which Lucas hits back jokingly: "And f**k you as well."
While he's got the opportunity, Lucas also decides to ask her about the condition, though he forgets to think of any questions.
But she tells him that it's actually her first ever live comedy gig.
"And was it on your mind before the show?" he asks. "Especially because I'm the 'heckler guy'."
"Yeah," the woman says. "I was scared it was gonna be a 'thing'."
But Lucas doesn't make her feel out of place, instead joking that it would have been even funnier if he'd cut out all the references to her condition once he posted the video, making people think that she was just being super rude.
"Heckler keeps saying 'f**k you'", he says.
"Everyone's like, 'she's not saying it in a mean way'. Err, yes she was. Yes she was. You weren't there.
"If you were there, you would have seen. 'Comedian Destroys Heckler'. 'F**k you, f**k you, f**k you, f**k you'.
"You're watching at home: "I swear to God I told him I have Tourette's. I would not have left that out, that was a crucial piece of information."
Since the video was posted to his channels, fans have thanked Lucas for the way he handled the situation.
"As someone with Tourette's, thank you for not making her feel bad about her tics," said one.
Another commented: "This is exactly how you make jokes about Tourette's. You can make jokes with the person, not at the person."
