The phenomenon of comedians “owning” hecklers is a relatively new one. Like, we never got to hear Milton Berle cursing out an audience member for interrupting his set. Berle might’ve gotten stabbed for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person once, but comics from his era generally weren’t known for putting out recordings of themselves going back and forth with people in the crowd. It wasn’t until stand-up albums and specials became more popular that these disruptive patrons would be caught on tape making fools of themselves for the world to hear. And now, thanks to social media, crowd work videos are just as popular as traditional stand-up specials. Videos by VICE Let’s check out a few comedians who were putting hecklers in their place in the pre-YouTube and TikTok days. 1. SAM KINISON While recording his debut album , Louder Than Hell , back in 1986, Sam Kinison was forced to deal with a heckler before he even made it to the ten-minute mark.…