He is in a safe comfortable environment. We can even say that he is in a Comfort Zone. Suddenly, the performer on stage ask the audience for assistance. So, the spectator suddenly find himself on a brightly lit stage. He is out of his natural environment, bright light in his eyes, it is hot, several hundred people scrutinise his every move.
Nothing seems the same anymore.
But instead of taking care of the spectator, the performer starts to abuse and ridicule him. If your material dictates that you should mistreat a spectator, make sure that the spectator is in a Comfort Zone, or change material. In a Comfort Zone, the spectator can take a lot of abuse, because he is surrounded by friends and he never receive the whole impact alone. But when the spectator leaves his Comfort Zone, we MUST take extraordinary care of him. He MUST be sure that he, in his alienated state, can turn to us for support.