It’s not unusual for comedians to have hecklers ejected from their shows, but the comedian Nick Swardson was the one to get kicked out of his own stand-up set on Sunday.
The 47-year-old Reno 911! actor was performing Sunday at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek, Colorado, according to TMZ.
He was the headlining comedian for the evening, but fans were shocked at his demeanor, with fans wondering on social media if he might have been intoxicated.
The show got so bad that Swardson was eventually escorted off stage, and fans were subsequently offered refunds by the venue, indicating that even they though his show wasn’t up to snuff.
Swardson confirmed that substances had played a part in the terrible show in a social media post from Monday.
Brutal. I really hope @NickSwardson apologizes publicly. pic.twitter.com/iiNKtU6u5F
— Seth Levy (@letsgoskatepool)
March 4, 2024
The comedian Nick Swardson, 47, was pulled off stage on Sunday at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek, Colorado, after a rambling set that left the audience outraged, according to TMZ
The Reno 911! actor appeared to be intoxicated and could be seen shouting back at outraged audience members in fan-shot videos; pictured in 2016 in LA
‘Just casually woke up on TMZ. Travel tip: don’t drink and take edibles in high altitude. F***ing brain diarrhea,’ he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
The comic didn’t seem to harbor any hard feelings over the experience, and he offered to do a make-up show when he was feeling steadier.
‘I’ll make it up to you Beaver Creek!’ he added.
In clips posted to social media, Swardson appears to be slurring his words slightly, and he seems to get sidetracked by long digressions that don’t appear to be part of his planned set.
Videos make it clear that audience members had had enough, and they can be heard shouting back and forth with him over the poor performance.
In one clip shared on X, Swardson says he’s about to do an impression of Jason Statham, but amid the shouts from the already fed-up crowd he keeps repeating ‘Here we go, here we go,’ while occasionally responding to individual hecklers.
He did a surprisingly good impression of Statham when he finally got to it, but he appeared to be stalling endlessly rather than putting on a show.
‘What’d you smoke before you came out?!’ shouted a woman in another audience video as Swardson tried to say something about his late friend Norm Macdonald.
Then he launches into another stalling move by asking the audience if they have kids, as if that’s the introduction to a child-focused joke, but he just seems to leave it at that.
Another person in the crowd could be heard saying the show was ‘so bad, it’s historical.’
Although the audience had clearly had enough of Swardson by the time people started filming him, it’s unclear if he might have been able to stick to his planned set if he wasn’t being mercilessly heckled.
Some audience members even appeared to relish the chance to shout out their own jokes, which may have further derailed the already troubled stand-up set.
Eventually, the venue cut the audio from Swardson’s microphone and turned off the stage lights to signal he was done, and an employee even came out on stage to usher him off.
@NickSwardson
just taken off stage after being bombed out of his mind pic.twitter.com/RvbklPGj78— Sean Guy (@seanrguy) March 4, 2024
In one clip shared on X , Swardson says he’s about to do an impression of Jason Statham, but amid the shouts from the already fed-up crowd he keeps repeating ‘Here we go, here we go,’ while occasionally responding to individual hecklers
‘What’d you smoke before you came out?!’ shouted a woman in one clip, while another person in the crowd could be heard saying the show was ‘so bad, it’s historical’
Swardson confirmed that substances had played a part in the terrible show in a social media post from Monday, and he seemed to offer to do a makeup performance
Witnesses say Swardson was pulled off stage just 20 minutes into his set, and the venue sent an email the following day announcing they would get refunds; pictured in December in Pasadena
Witnesses at the show say he was pulled off stage just 20 minutes into his set.
After the show, the Vilar Performing Arts Center sent out an email apologizing to ticketholders and offering to refund them.
‘We apologize for the negative experience you may have had at this evening’s performance with Nick Swardson. Unfortunately, this show did not meet the Vilar Performing Arts Center’s standards as a world-class presenter of the performing arts,’ the email read, according to TMZ.
‘Therefore, all tickets will be refunded to the original payment method. Please accept our sincere apologies, and be in touch if there is anything we can do to further assist you,’ they added.
