BBC comedian reveals most traumatising heckle they faced live on stage

Live At The Apollo star Emannuel Sonubi has opened up about his most memorable heckle ever – and the impact it had on his sketches. In recent years, the TV presenter has dominated the airwaves, making appearances on some of the most beloved TV shows including Have I got News For You, QI, and Live at the Apollo. But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the TV star.

As the TV star promoted his new stand-up show, Life After Near Death, he exclusively revealed to Express.co.uk his worst heckle he has received during his career as a stand-up comic. He told us: "When it comes to hecklers, hecklers are just an experience.

“I don’t believe in good and bad experiences; I think things just happen but really it’s what you do with them. I remember one of the first heckles that I still speak about on stage was when I walked on stage and this guy screamed out, ‘Oi, are you that guy from The Green Mile?’

“The moment he said it, his face just dropped like, ‘Oh my God, what did I just say?’ because everyone looked at him and then looked at me and I thought, ‘How am I going to react?’”

The 44-year-old comic explained how each comic is different in how they approach hecklers, but he usually follows two rules of thumb. He revealed: “I’ve got two choices here. I can go in hard on him, which people go, as a comedian, that’s justified.

"But I don’t know what the room is like, I’ve just walked in this room. I could go too hard on him for the room and it derails the gig, and then I come up looking like the bad person. So that’s the main risk.

“Or I could make it a part of the show. So when he asked, ‘Are you the guy from The Green Mile? I just said, ‘Mate, I look nothing like Tom Hanks’. And the room just exploded.”

The doting dad then revealed how sometimes, hecklers can often make or break a show but usually leaves them feeling apologetic after the fact.

Emannuel went on: “After the show, [the heckler] came and apologised to me, and said, ‘I really didn’t mean it like that, it was a stupid thing to say’.

“I was like, ‘Dude, you’ve just given me three minutes of free comedy’, and truthfully, it stayed in my set for many years. And nobody has heckled me like that since.”

The funnyman’s new show delves deep into his horrific health battle back in 2019 when the performer suffered from heart failure on stage that changed his life for good. Despite suffering these life-changing conditions, the comic revealed that his illness gave him a whole new appreciation of life.

Emannuel Sonubi: Life After Near Death is at Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 30 July – 25 August, and will take his show on the round on 30 November.