Will Smith slapping Chris Rock has become the iconic example, but Rock isn't the first
comedian to get attacked for something he said on stage.
Who else cracked a joke and then got smacked?
Keep watching to find out.
Our list wouldn't be complete without it: On March 27, 2022, those tuning in to the
94th Academy Awards were subjected to a shocking act of violence on live television.
Comedian Chris Rock made a bald joke about actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, who has alopecia
and has been open about her hair loss since 2018.
Rock said,
"Jada, can’t wait for G.I.
Jane 2."
Her husband Will "The Fresh Prince" Smith then leapt into action.
The beloved actor stormed up onto the stage, bore down on a smiling, oblivious Rock, and
unexpectedly smacked him in the face.
It was said that the sound of the smack reverberated throughout the Dolby Theater and, indeed,
the world, drowned out only by the collective gasp of those in attendance.
That gasp was then drowned out by Smith, who had returned to his seat, profanely berating
Rock as the comic attempted to recover from the assault.
The incident that came to be known as "Slapgate" will certainly go down as one of the most
bizarre, shocking moments in the history of live broadcasting.
Scottish magician and comic Jerry Sadowitz, who made his name banging around clubs in
the '80s, is a guy who really does not care who he rankles.
Sadowitz was a special breed of comedian who would pretty much say anything to get a laugh,
and at the 1991 Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, this got him into a wee bit of
trouble.
In a 2014 interview with the Nottingham Post, Sadowitz remembered how he opened his set
in the Canadian city with a typically pleasant greeting, saying:
"You know what I hate about this country?
Half of you speak French, and the other half let them.
Why don't you speak Indian?
You might as well speak the language of the people you stole the country off of in the
first place."
He also profanely implied that the audience loved moose – like, really loved moose.
A member of the audience clearly took offense, climbing on-stage to punch the comic.
If the incident prompted Sadowitz to tone down his material, it hasn't been evident;
in a 2011 conversation with the Guardian, he said,
"Who's to deny anybody their comedy?
You can't say that one person's strand of comedy is OK to laugh at, but this person's
isn't.
There's a great quote that Steve Martin said when he was doing standup, 'Comedy is not
pretty.'"
Jim Jefferies is a very funny guy, and he's absolutely beloved in his home country of
Australia, as his style is roughly as aggressive as the local wildlife.
"He's a lot of fun."
Apparently, though, there was a guy in Manchester who didn't get the memo about the comic's
M.O.
Jefferies described for CNN how, in 2006, he was performing at a Comedy Store in that
city when he got into a back-and-forth with a heckler in the audience.
It was all going like these things usually go when Jefferies decided to get on with his
act and offered a parting shot:
"I'm gonna leave you alone now, like your Dad did.
Too bad your uncle didn't."
This remark set off a completely different audience member, who didn't say a word before
sprinting onto the stage and immediately throwing blows.
He landed several on Jefferies before being dragged off the stage by audience members.
After taking a few minutes backstage to make sure nothing was broken and/or dislocated,
Jefferies returned to the stage and picked up where he left off.
He brushed off the assault with a truly sublime explanation:
"What many of you don't know is that I employ that bloke for when gigs are going badly."
He later wrapped up his set by saying,
"If you enjoyed my show and you want to see more of me, I'll be getting my head kicked
in in the alleyway."
Greg Fitzsimmons has a pretty deadpan style, so while the onstage assault that took place
during the veteran standup's early years was probably terrifying to witness, it's pretty
hilarious to hear him describe it, which he did for YouTuber Chris Minyen in 2020.
Apparently, it was singles' night at a Boston comedy club where Fitzsimmons was performing,
and one particularly rude fellow was not having any luck with the ladies.
He decided to ease his own pain by posting up in the front row and giving Fitzsimmons
the business, to which the comic responded in kind.
Fitzsimmons says that when the guy ordered him to shut his mouth, he replied with one
more gentle barb:
"Yeah, let me know when your friends get here."
That's when all hell broke loose.
Fitzsimmons describes how the guy jumped up onstage and rushed him with clenched fists,
prompting the comic to bop him on the head with the microphone.
The dude then proceeded to get Fitzsimmons in a headlock and sort of just started swinging
him around:
"I remember my legs were kicking tables, people were diving out of the way."
The bouncers finally intervened at this point and dragged the dude outside, and a brief
intermission followed during which tables were righted and spilled drinks were refreshed.
Then, the club's management added insult to injury by telling the comedian that he still
had five minutes left to fill, sending him back up onstage to finish his set.
There are brave men, and then there is Sampson McCormick, who has been regularly performing
at the Win-River Resort & Casino in Redding, California, for more than seven years.
Redding, you see, is smack in the middle of what the comedian refers to as "Trump Country,"
and McCormick happens to be Black, gay, and hilarious.
One evening in March 2022, the comic was doing his thing when a woman began heckling him.
McCormick told the Advocate,
"As a comedian, I'm going to heckle you back.
I started teasing her about the obvious, which was that she only had about three-and-a-half
teeth in her mouth."
According to witnesses, a big, burly dude then leapt to the woman's defense, and the
two got into a full-on brawl with McCormick the clear victor.
He told the publication,
"I think he was shocked that this Black, gay guy had just beat him because he stood there
like he wanted to throw a chair but thought the better of it.
Then security got involved."
"You have to stand your ground on those stages."
The comedian declined to press charges against the guy, but he did offer a helpful bit of
advice to anyone who might decide to turn comedy night into the Friday Night Fights
in the future:
"It sounds corny, but I like to bring love to my audience.
But don't mistake my being gay as weak, because I grew up in southeast D.C. and I will kick
some ass."
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