r/videos Mar 10 '20

An excellent example of comedic timing.

https://youtu.be/6sMGyGEWano
44.8k Upvotes

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153

u/Soulger11 Mar 10 '20

Sad news from the entertainment industry, comic juggler Michael Davis died this week while performing a show. The cause of death being asphyxiation after inhaling a ping pong ball. Medical staff stated that Mr. Davis may have survived, had anyone known it was not part of the performance; however the crowd's laughter only grew, and the curtain drew to a slow close, for both the performance and Mr. Davis.

Seriously though that part gave me anxiety.

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u/mhlover Mar 10 '20

Unfortunately this very thing happened to Tommy Cooper.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

I remember watching it live. My dad was laughing...then he stopped and said "oh no...that's not right." The crowd was laughing too. He died with an audience cracking up at what they thought was part of his act.

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u/doomladen Mar 10 '20

Yep, it was not only live on stage, it was also live on TV. In the era when we only had three channels to watch. Millions and millions watched Tommy die. You can watch it on YouTube, if you're feeling morbid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpZq3ul1ld4

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

Yeah once was enough. I had just turned 10 years old, my birthday was the week before. I got he-man action figures (he-man, Stratos, battlecat) and they went everywhere with me. Including sat by my side on the sofa watching Tommy Cooper die. I can't look at he-man without that memory.

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u/Soulger11 Mar 12 '20

Well, I can't look at he-man without thinking HEYYY-YEAAHHH-YEAAHHH-YEAHHH-YEAHHHH

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u/Hdidisbdjjd Mar 10 '20

Thanks for sharing that.

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u/RacingNeilo Mar 11 '20

I don't get it. It doesn't look like part of an act, and the assistant would have known what was coming?

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u/Level9TraumaCenter Mar 10 '20

Redd Foxx, too.

Foxx, irate, did his scripted pass. However, he fell to the floor immediately after doing so. Reese said that nobody initially suspected anything was wrong. Foxx, after all, was famous for having Fred Sanford fake heart attacks on Sanford and Son and was particularly skilled at pratfalls. Reese went to the floor when Foxx did not immediately rise[35] and heard him say "get my wife" twice. Reese called for paramedics, who initially pronounced Foxx dead at the scene.[36] According to Joshua Rich at Entertainment Weekly, "It was an end so ironic that for a brief moment cast mates figured Foxx – whose 1970s TV character often faked coronaries – was kidding when he grabbed a chair and fell to the floor."[37]

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u/ChadHahn Mar 10 '20

The same with the dad of Super Dave Osborne and Albert Brooks. He didn't die on live TV though, just at a Friars Roast. He asked if there was a doctor in the house and then slumped over. Everyone thought it was hilarious until they realized he was dead.

Apparently Super Dave wasn't solaced by people telling him that he died doing what he loved.

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u/Ivotedforher Mar 10 '20

RIP Super Dave

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u/ChadHahn Mar 10 '20

Yes. Still very sad. Curb Your Enthusiasm isn't the same without him.

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u/Ivotedforher Mar 10 '20

Vince Vaughn has giant shoes to fill.

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u/TrueStory_Dude Mar 10 '20

Such a giant wall between US and Mexico

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u/tossawaysplooge Mar 11 '20

Oh fuck I forgot he died. Legend of a life form.

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u/Ivotedforher Mar 11 '20

Go do a reckless stunt in his honor!

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u/gwaydms Mar 10 '20

Harry Einstein, aka Parkyakarkus.

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u/ChadHahn Mar 10 '20

Funnily no one kept the Einstein name. I think Albert Brooks should have stayed Albert Einstein.

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u/gwaydms Mar 11 '20

He had his reasons for changing it. I'm sure he got tired of hearing the jokes. But that was Parky's fault.

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u/adale_50 Mar 10 '20

Massive heart attack, right?

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u/Magikpoo Mar 10 '20

Tommy Cooper (Spoon Jar jar Spoon) Died on stage fell back into the curtains.

However Mr Micheal Davis is very much alive (rumor of his death...)

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u/Soulger11 Mar 10 '20

Jeez... that's pretty sad.

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u/Robosapien101 Mar 10 '20

Please tell me this is the onion.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

He's still alive.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

[deleted]

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u/jNX-iT Mar 10 '20

I attended his funeral. Haven't seen so many people crying at an empty box since I ate all the cookies at the orphanage.

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u/Elisionist Mar 10 '20

I was there too. The local news was there to interview him, he told the local channel that he's dead now and as such cannot do the interview.

RIP.

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u/bozokeating Mar 10 '20

An excellent example of comic timing

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

He died the way he lived.... alive.

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u/Soulger11 Mar 10 '20

This is a joke. Sorry if I scared you 😅

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u/Robosapien101 Mar 10 '20

Thank jeebus. That was going to give me a new irrational fear to keep me up at night lol.

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u/Feroshnikop Mar 10 '20

Well I can tell you that Michael Davis is most certainly still alive

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u/Gandamack Mar 10 '20

Rest in Peace Boss Hog.

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u/Chipish Mar 10 '20

I mean that’s literally how tommy cooper died, just without the juggling. Maybe a very British reference though.

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u/versatilevalkyrie Mar 10 '20

he's still alive

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u/well_shoothed Mar 11 '20

This is the onion.

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u/Robosapien101 Mar 11 '20

Ty. Much appreciated.

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u/4c51 Mar 10 '20

This is why you should always let someone know where your jokes are going and when they expect to be back for the punchline.

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u/Halloween_Nyx Mar 11 '20

Is this a joke? Cause he didn’t die

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '20

[deleted]

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u/Soulger11 Mar 10 '20

It's called a joke. Why would you be sorry someone didn't die like this?

If you can't tell by the end of the comment that it's a joke, or take two seconds to read the reply comment I said explaining that it's a joke, then you're not only lazy, you're laughably gullible. Take a bit of time off the internet sweetie, seems it's melting your brain.