I used to got to the late lamented Players Theatre in London at least once a week, and the exchange of banter particularly between the chairman and the audience was part of the show. And when the opportunity arose, some witty heckling added to the show, but only if it fitted in with the setting of the show - i.e. Victorian Music Hall, and it was kept to a reasonable level - i.e the occasion one-liner that enabled the artiste/chairman to come back with an even wittier reply.

However, there were evening when some heckler did not know when to shut up - corporate block booking were the worst.

The best ever witty stage banter was on a night that I missed. An America visitor quite innocently said, with regards to the theatre restaurant menu:

"My wife had spotted dick for the first time in her life, and she thoroughly enjoyed it!"

My friends who were there said that this prompted the chairman t come up with about 20 minutes of patter making the show finish late. But they couldn't remember a single word the chairman said :(