The real reason stand-up comic won’t press charges after NJ beer attack

Ariel Elias grew up in Kentucky, where she made everybody laugh at her Bar Mitzvah.

She lives in New York City, but it was when she performed last Saturday in New Jersey that she had a beer can thrown at her at Uncle Vinnie's comedy club.

She responded by chugging it to the approval of the crowd.

Whoever threw that beer threw her career into high gear as she's exploding all over the internet and will be appearing on Jimmy Kimmel.

"I'm taping my set Oct 24," says Elias who joined me on New Jersey 101.5 to open up about the incident.

What was going through her mind while it was happening?

"I was thinking I could really use a drink right now. And then I was also just thinking like, you know, I'm a comedian, which means I'm a bit broken inside and everybody was looking at the door after this happened. And I was trying to figure out how do I get the attention back on me. So, that just seemed like the natural thing to do."

What made her drink the beer?

"I had the idea as soon as the drink landed. I thought it would be funny if I drank it. I picked it up and I felt that there was still liquid in it and I started to move to drink it but I realized nobody was looking at me like that. I gave it a second, I gave it a beat and then I drank it."

People on Twitter actually accused Elias of planning this

Why won't Ariel press charges?

"In order to press charges," says Elias,  "I would have had to go back to that town to file a complaint. And then I would have had to go back every time if it went to court, and it's like a two-and-a-half-hour drive. And I'm not really interested."

"I had a busy life before this. And now it's very different. So I just don't want to spend the time and resources getting revenge on somebody I guess, who you know, is probably a little sad inside."

Is she ready for the change that could happen in her career from this incident?

"I'm ready for it. I have been working towards this for a long time. I'm not new to comedy. It's a dream come true. It's happening much faster. Like everything is happening at once. Usually, this stuff happens gradually. But I think having gotten through the last couple of days and the whirlwind that that was, I think now it's like, oh, the exciting and fun stuff gets to happen now."

For tickets to see Ariel Elias at Catch A Rising Star Friday, Dec. 16 click here

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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