Viral video turned out to be a staged stunt

Comedian Mark Normand has explained that a bizarre on-stage incident that went viral this week was all just a publicity stunt.

Footage of an apparently random man joining him on stage of the New York Comedy Club, prompting producers to evacuate the venue, spread across the internet yesterday.

But disappointingly, the comedian has now revealed it was all a set-up.

Posting on his Instagram stories, Normand explained: ‘No one was harmed or injured during my performance last night at New York Comedy Club.

‘The disruption was part of a planned "surprise" activity by show producers. I had no prior knowledge that this was going to happen.’

He added that his message was a ‘good ole corporate statement from my publicist’.

Normand’s set on Wednesday night was interrupted when a man wearing a yellow beanie and red coat walked on to the stage

It was not clear from the footage what happened beforehand, and an apparently confused Normand said: 'Oh hey, how are you, what, do we got a migrant here?’ 

‘Oh jeez, everything alright? Just want to make sure everybody is good here. What's going on?'

Two people who appear to be security staff  thentook the man off the stage without a tussle. 

'Anything can happen at a comedy show, that was some kind of weird swinger sex party thing,' Normand told the crowd. Then, in apparent comment about the man who was led away: ’Oh god, somebody got tased, oh boy.' 

It wasn’t clear whether that was an actual commentary on events, or just a joke, although it now appears the latter was the case.

There’s then a cut in the video, which resumes with Normand being approached by a producer of the show.

'I really froze there, I went Mitch McConnell,' Normand said in reference to the  Senate Minority Leader who twice infamously clammed up on camera when asked questions by journalists.

The comic was then led off-stage to be replaced by a woman who seems to work for the comedy club. She told the crowd: 'You guys, everything is fine, we just had a momentary interruption’ - before a producer told the audience to leave the premises.

Anyone know what happened here? pic.twitter.com/wdwk9lpyXc

— Blind Mike (@BlindMike_) January 25, 2024

After the incident, Normand posted: 'Some shit went down tonight. My team is still trying to put together the details, sorry to the fans.’ 

And New York Comedy Club said on its Instagram story: 'Still trying to figure out what happened tonight. If you saw this, let us know!’

The venue has also now stated that it was all a stunt.

It posted: ’Regarding last night… We've received a handful of inquiries regarding a viral clip of our club being evacuated last night. 

‘First and foremost, nobody was harmed or injured. The disruption was part of a filming by @Hi_Hi_, the producers that rented out our venue for the night.’

And they said that since the night ‘took on a bit of a wild narrative’  anyone there could come back to another show for free – suggesting the audience weren’t in on the joke.

UPDATE - 6/2/24

Turns out this was a promotional stunt for the Prime Video series Mr & Mrs Smith,  with HiHi the mysterious chat operator who gives  John (Donald Glover) and Jane (Maya Erskine) their assignments in the show: 

Published: 25 Jan 2024