Comedian hits out at audience after doing an entire gig without getting a single laugh
A tough crowd is a comedian's worst nightmare - and after watching this funnyman's painful performance, you will understand why.
Lewis Spears' tried and tested material didn't get a single laugh out of the stony-faced audience while he was on stage at the Kings of Comedy club in Australia, making for quite an uncomfortable watch.
His stand-up set seemed to go down like a lead balloon with the room full of spectators, who refused to reward his jokes with a single chuckle - so you can understand why he had quite the outburst while wrapping the gig up.
Kicking off what was meant to be a night of laughter, Spears began laying into himself.
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"My name's Lewis Spears and I'm freakishly tall," he began. "I'm 6ft 8in, which is exactly two metres tall."
"It's trouble," Spears continued. "I get two questions - and you know what the first question is...'You're so tall, do you play basketball?' I want to look at these people and go, 'Do I look like an athlete to you?'
"I've got the lower half of a wounded flamingo."
Whether that's your kind of humour or not, you'd think that he'd get at least one giggle in a room filled with more than 50 comedy fans.
But sadly for Spears, he did not - and he quickly picked up on the fact that the vibe seemed off.
"This is very strange," the comedian said awkwardly after his opening spiel didn't earn any howls of laughter.
In an attempt to pull it back, Spears switched gears and began to discuss the last performance he had done in Perth, which he explained resulted in him being 'protested' against as he made jibes about the Dalai Lama.
After an agonising few minutes of the funnyman telling another series of jokes and him still getting the same response - AKA, absolutely nothing - he addressed the unamused room.
Spears said: "I don't know what the f**k happened, but I got up here and I feel like everyone agreed, 'Alright, let's just sit in silence'. What the f**k is going on?
"You know, what's really f**ked up is after this set, I somehow have to summon up the courage to invoice the guy running the gig."
This turned out to be the most humorous thing he said all night, according to the crowd - as it gave an opening for a heckler to shout out that he should lower his expectations to just a 'free drink' rather than a big payday.
"That's a good one," Spears replied. "I'll just get a coke and neck myself, alright? You guys have been lovely, I've been Lewis Spears. I tried my best... have a good night."
I think it's safe to say we all had second-hand embarrassment while watching the Aussie appear to flop on stage - but it turns out that not all is as it seems.
YouTubers Misfit Minds had actually staged an elaborate prank on Spears, where they instructed the crowd at the comedy club to stifle their laughter to make him think his jokes just weren't landing.
After he left the stage, the room actually erupted into applause for him as people reckoned he'd been such a good sport - and that some of his wisecracks were actually humorous.
The pranksters then got Spears back on stage to reveal that they were the ones behind it - leaving him both relieved as well as stunned.
He said: "Did you do that on purpose?! You f**king! Bro! Nah, f**k all of you. Oh my God. I am so upset, you know what's really bad about this? My last night in Perth, I actually really bombed.
"So I was doing the same jokes and it was actual silence and then I felt f**king awful, got off stage and no one came out.
"It was like, 'Oh we got you, I just suck!'"
Social media users thought the prank was hilarious, albeit extremely cruel in a comedy setting.
One viewer said: "He took it like a champ though!"
A second added: "Got to give him credit for keeping going."
Someone else joked: "That's how super villains are born."
While another chimed in: "You could tell the 'I tried my best' came from the soul."
Olivia Burke