“People live onstage in Elizabethan times got things whipped at their heads when they sucked.  So screaming “You suck!”?  Pretty tame.”

People also used to go watch executions for entertainment and shit into holes in the ground, so let’s not go there for context.

I’d suggest if you can’t handle the occasional heckling then maybe you shouldn’t be a comedian

I can handle myself in a fistfight, too, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for a person to occasionally attack me.

It’s a matter of etiquette. Heckling happens, that doesn’t make it and especially doing it okay. There’s a reason not everyone does it, it doesn’t happen at every show, and why when it does it’s isolated: because it’s a dick thing to do.

I’d call “if the dude sucks he’s actually gets killed – live and on stage!” pretty extreme heckling.  :-p  
People live onstage in Elizabethan times got things whipped at their heads when they sucked.  So screaming “You suck!”?  Pretty tame.

I’d suggest if you can’t handle the occasional heckling then maybe you shouldn’t be a comedian.

How you criticize is the important thing.

Categorizing it as a power struggle isn’t the right way to look at it. As an audience member, you are not ceding power, you’re ceding the stage and the microphone. Some would argue that’s the same thing, but it’s not, because your attendance and continued presence as a member of the audience is voluntary. That’s audience, from the Latin audientia, meaning hearing/to hear/to listen.  As an audience member, you are not an active participant. A good comedian gives you the illusion of participation and conversation even though it’s only going one way. That’s part of the craft. 

Those that believe they are or should be a literal, active participant in any way, shape, or form are the worst type of audience member. Comedy shows, like lectures or readings or spoken word performances or poetry, are not debates or blog posts. Most hecklers think they’re “helping” and/or “part of the show.” They are in the minority in this thinking and are wrong, always.