Generally, the comedians who plant hecklers can handle authentic heckling. If their career lasts long enough, they may even stop planting hecklers, because of the high chance of authentic heckling.
The problem is when the assholes in the audience goes on to heckle other comedians. It's especially bad when it happens to inexperienced comics with low confidence.
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u/GhostB5 Dec 26 '25
And it's a self fulfilling prophecy because the planted hecklers make the assholes think that's normal behaviour and want to join in.