American Jewish comedian Sam Morril uploaded a video to his TikTok and Twitter accounts on Monday showing his response to a heckler shouting out "free Palestine" at one of his shows.
"What a sad way to find out you were in Omaha."
Twitter user in response to Morril's heckling clip
Based on the video clip, it is not clear if Morril was talking about Israel or Palestine before the outburst. He is openly Jewish and has appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert as well as Conan and Netflix's That's My Time with David Letterman.
Morril responded to the heckler by thanking her for coming to his show. She identified herself as being "against apartheid."
The comedian is no stranger to hecklers, and often asks them what they're drinking and buys them a drink in response to their interrupting his show. He asked the anti-apartheid audience member what she was drinking, to which she responded, "Nothing. I thirst for justice."
Sometimes you’re trying to work on your new hour in Omaha but instead you have to talk to a crazy person. Phoenix up next. pic.twitter.com/NhCRviZuGY
— Sam Morril (@sammorril) October 3, 2022
A public statement in Nebraska
Morril uploaded the clip to Twitter with the caption: "Sometimes you’re trying to work on your new hour in Omaha but instead you have to talk to a crazy person. Phoenix up next." The apparent conflation of his Jewishness with support for an apartheid state did not seem to faze him.
The activist went on to explain that she is "trying to make a public statement." Morril quipped back to her: "Oh, a public statement? At the Omaha Funny Bone?" referring to their relatively remote location for her public statement.
The last thing the heckler said in Morril's video clip was: "Your tour should be shut down!"
The vast majority of the comments on Twitter and TikTok were supportive of Morril. Even some claimed that they support the cause the heckler was speaking for but agreed that Morril's comedy show was an inappropriate time to bring up their activism. One Twitter user responded simply, "what a sad way to find out you were in Omaha."