Comics have to deal with hecklers all the time but cops say one comedian ended up having his head bashed in by a guy with a baseball bat right in the middle of his routine. INSIDE EDITION has the horrific story.
It's a remarkable feat that one comic is able to stride onto the stage to cheers.
Just two weeks ago, there was fear Dylan Avila may never walk again after cops say another comic bludgeoned him with a baseball bat during his performance.
Avila joked on stage, saying, “Yeah, I’m the guy who got hit with a baseball bat.”
The attack happened when Avila was hosting Open Mic Night at a Seattle-area comedy club. He says the guy who hit him was a fellow comic who was upset for having been banned from taking the stage.
Avila told INSIDE EDITION, “It was something I decided was not good for my show and I didn't want him on stage anymore.”
Cops say the suspect, Steven Baldwin, snuck in the back door with an aluminum bat. He rushed on stage and rained downed blows on Avila.
In the 911 call, a witness said: “There was a man that was just attacked at a comedy show with a baseball bat.”
Avila laid on stage bleeding as his audience watched in shock. Fellow comic, Simon Kaufman, tackled the suspect and held him for the cops. Kaufman broke his ankle during the melee.
Kaufman said, “I jumped in and I grabbed him. I went for his hands in the back and then everyone else and all of the other comics came in and tackled him. I planted and we all went to the ground and I broke."
Doctors used 20 staples and two titanium plates to close Avila's injuries. Avila was released from the hospital late last week, but he says the best medicine money can buy is laughter.
Joking on stage, he said, “I don't even like baseball that much.”
INSIDE EDITION was there as Avila performed for the first time since the brutal attack. He got a well-deserved standing ovation from the capacity crowd and even used the attack as material for his act.
“My wife can never use the ‘I have a headache' excuse again,” he joked while finding humor about the scariest night of his life.
“You are going to have to kill me to get me off stage,” he told INSIDE EDITION.
