Comic Chugs Beer Thrown By Heckler At Uncle Vinnie's In Point Pleasant Beach

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ – What do you do when someone flings a beer at you during a comedy set?

If you’re Ariel Elias, you pick it up and chug it. And then you deal with the flood of reactions as the video spreads like lightning across the internet.

Elias was performing at Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club in Point Pleasant Beach on Saturday evening when a woman in the audience began heckling her, asking her if she voted for Donald Trump.

The question was part of a bit Elias does sometimes “as a fun Q and A, it can lead to new bits,” she wrote in a caption on the video that spread rapidly online. You can watch it below.

The woman then pressed her on whether she voted for Biden, and Elias said she did. “Why does it matter?”

“I could just tell by your jokes that you voted for Biden,” the heckler said.

“I can tell by the fact that you’re still talking when nobody wants you to that you voted for Trump,” Elias retorted, drawing loud applause and cheers. The woman tried to respond that no one told her to be quiet, and Elias asked for applause if people wanted the woman to stop, again drawing loud cheers.

At that point, Elias moved on with her routine. As she started to tell the next joke, a beer can smashed against the wall behind her. After momentarily registering shock, she picked up the can and chugged what was left of the beer.

Uncle Vinnie’s is a small club, with about 20 feet from the stage to the audience seating. It offers dinner and a show, and is BYOB, and has hosted a range of comedians, including Vic DiBitetto and Andrew Dice Clay. There were 82 patrons on Saturday night for the comedy show.

Dino Ibelli, one of the club’s co-owners, said the incident happened about halfway through Elias’s performance. When Elias turned to change the topic, the woman who had been heckling her tried to continue and at that point he stepped in.

“I told her to calm down, that it wasn’t about her anymore, and she gets up and leaves,” Ibelli said. As Ibelli turned away, the man flung the beer.

“He was sitting,” Ibelli said. “He swung the beer can from his seat.”

Ibelli said the man – who was the husband of the woman who had been heckling Elias – tried to leave as well, and Ibelli stopped him, but the man refused to give his name.

Ibelli said some of the other people who had been with the couple gave Ibelli the name of the man, who he said is from Brick.

Ibelli filed a report with Point Pleasant Beach police on Sunday, and was told he could press charges when the report is finalized in a couple of days. Police told him he could file charges of criminal mischief and trespass, and Ibelli said he plans to follow through. The man also is banned from the comedy club, he said.

Ibelli said he didn’t step in between the woman and Elias because it was clear Elias was handling it.

“Comedians often turn things like that into bits,” he said.

In the 19 years he and his brother have owned the club, there’s never been an incident before, he said.

The couple’s behavior also drew negative responses from those who were with them. At the end of the video, you can hear a man’s voice saying, “I’m never going out with you again.”

The video, meanwhile, has drawn praise and support for Elias from all over, including late night host Jimmy Kimmel, Patton Oswalt, Jim Gaffigan and others.

Gianmarco Soresi, who was the headliner Saturday at Uncle Vinnie's said "... it was not fun in any way shape or form but she closed it out like a f---- champ and that’s the only kind of actual brave I’ve ever seen a comedian be."

Kimmel retweeted one of Elias’s tweets, saying, “five stars for this flawless performance @Ariel_Comedy,” and replied “Definitely” when she asked about appearing on his show.

“I'm happy it's catapulting her, but she didn’t need it – she’s an excellent comic,” Ibelli said.

Elias, who told Buzzfeed that her set had been about being a woman and body image issues, tweeted about the response the video has received:

"I'd really appreciate it if anyone could please just let my teachers know that chugging a beer has in fact been great for my career," she wrote.