Comedian speaks out after going viral for drinking beer thrown at her during set

A comedian is speaking out after she turned a lemon, or in this case a beer can, into sweet lemonade against a heckler.

Ariel Elias spoke with GMA 3 Thursday about the incident that took place last weekend when she performed at Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Elias was taking questions from the audience when a woman kept asking if she voted for Donald Trump.

Elias tried to deflect after the woman kept berating her.

“I can tell by the fact that you’re still talking when nobody wants you to that you voted for Trump,” Elias said as the audience cheered.

A few minutes later the heckler threw a can of beer on stage, splashing behind Elias.

The comedian kept going with her act, picked up the can of beer and drank from it to roaring applause.

GMA 3: If it had hit your head, I can't even imagine what would have happened. You actually reacted in a beautiful way, a gracious way by just drinking it. But what were you thinking when that happened?

ARIEL ELIAS: When it hit, I didn't realize how hard it was until after I got home and watched the video and realized like, "Oh, if that had hit me, I would have had to spend the night in that town, probably," which would have been awful. But I just thought, "How funny would it be if I drank this?" So I picked it up and I drank it.

GMA 3: So, when that was all happening, did it seem like time was going slowly? When did you have the realization and that what had just happened to pick it up, to start chugging it? I think that I would have left the stage.

ELIAS: I think like a couple of things. One, I've been doing this for a while, so I have lost my cool before. I just didn't that night. I think when you're a woman in comedy, it's generally kind of scary. So you get trained to be able to handle these situations. But when it hit, it took me a second to realize what had happened. I felt the back of my legs were wet. And then I saw the can of beer.

I felt that there was still liquid in it. Also, everybody's attention was on the door and I wanted the attention back on stage because I still had another 5 minutes left. So I drank it, [and] got some applause.

Then I did the rest of my jokes, and I sold a bunch of stickers that night.

GMA 3: How close does it get like this for you? I mean, this is a first, obviously, for something this dramatic to have happened. But how concerned are you going on stage following this?

ELIAS: I don't know what it's going to be like because it's only been a few days. I came home Saturday night and I posted it Sunday morning, so I haven't fully processed it, to be honest. I have been on stage since in the city and it was fine. But those are also stages where I feel comfortable.

GMA 3 New York City?

ELIAS: In New York City, yeah.

But we'll see what happens once I'm out of my comfort zone a little bit.

GMA 3: So what happens? We might see you on [Jimmy] Kimmel. You sent a note to Kimmel via Twitter.

ELIAS: You got to shoot your shot.

GMA 3 And you did. And apparently he is going to he said, yes, that he would. You should come on and do your bit on his show. Is that in the works? Is that going to happen?

ELIAS: Yeah, that's in the works. I mean, not to like brag, brag, brag, but I think I've been ready for late night for a few years.

Generally, his audience seems pretty chill. Pretty, pretty, pretty kind.