I take exception to your statement, no-one uses these tactics with hecklers routinely.

I do. It seems to be part of the schtickt. Every folk performance is different... never a two the same. Done in good fun and jest it is entertainment. Insults and barbs keep the mind alive and the audience jolly.

Without the straight line - and the occasion - I can't think of a single one at the moment. Although, I have 10,000 plus available from vaudville collections - you need a spark-plug in the audience - and they work best when the audience "gets it" and the "stooge" is clueless - the more worked up they get - the funnier it is. Yeah, a rare few get bounced.

(No - I don't sit in the audience at Kimmel Center Pittsburgh and throw Yo-Momma lines at a Japanese celloist, either.)

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

All too many folk take their music much too seriously.