Laugh It Off by Cienna Madrid - Seattle Theater - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper

Laugh It Off by Cienna Madrid - Seattle Theater - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:

It's a Tuesday night in the basement of the Rendezvous, and, up until a minute ago, the room was packed with the kind of crowd comedians dream of—attentive, polite, and quick to laugh. But that all ends when a young male comedian takes the stage with a set that revolves around domestic violence and date rape jokes. "If a girl asks to jerk me off, I'll crack her in the face," he says.

That's precisely the type of comment that doesn't go over well at this weekly open mic, known as the Comedy Womb. The crowd is stonily silent. He pushes on. "I've never understood date rape," he says, nervously running a hand through his hair. "I'd never date a girl after I raped her."

"Get off the stage," someone shouts, breaking the Comedy Womb's no-heckling rule.

"I guess I'll leave you with that," he says.

"Yes, please do," shouts another audience member.

A few people clap in relief as a female comedian—one of 12 performing this evening—takes his place.

Later, Comedy Womb founder Danielle Gregoire will call the experience a "learning lesson."