NJ comedy club heckler pleads guilty; comedian reacts to punishment

When Ariel Elias took the stage at Uncle Vinnie's Comedy Club in Point Pleasant Beach in October, she never expected to have a beer thrown at her. This week, the man who threw that beer, Tyler Fischer, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was fined $508.

He's also been banned from the club, although the owner believes he should be banned from all businesses in the town. 

I texted Ariel, who I worked with last December at Catch A Rising Star, for her reaction.

"I'm pretty done talking about that dude. What sticks with me most from that night is not the one guy who did something terrible and frightening. What sticks out is how many people were willing to go to bat for me, how many people apologized on his behalf, and how many people were willing to protect me, even if they didn't agree with me politically. That's what I'll always take from that night, is how good and kind everyone else was."

After the incident happened, Elias came on my New Jersey 1015 show giving her thoughts while it was happening and what made her chug the beer.

"I was thinking I could really use a drink right now. And then I was also just thinking like, you know, I'm a comedian, which means I'm a bit broken inside and everybody was looking at the door after this happened. And I was trying to figure out how do I get the attention back on me. So, that just seemed like the natural thing to do."

Elias chose not to press charges.

"In order to press charges," says Elias, "I would have had to go back to that town to file a complaint. And then I would have had to go back every time if it went to court, and it's like a two-and-a-half-hour drive. And I'm not really interested."

"I had a busy life before this. And now it's very different. So I just don't want to spend the time and resources getting revenge on somebody I guess, who you know, is probably a little sad inside."

The incident led to a spot on the Jimmy Kimmel show for Elias

For more about Ariel Elias click here.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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