Comic performs Heimlich manoeuvre on a choking woman

Benji Waterhouse has saved a life during his day off at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The comedian, who is an NHS psychiatrist by day, performed the  Heimlich manoeuvre on a woman he saw choking in the Assembly George Square beer garden on Monday.

He said he was having a drink with fellow comic Ben Pope, who noticed the woman hunched over, ‘doing that terrifying, totally silent type of choking - the classic "I’m dying but don’t make a fuss" look in her eyes’.

Recalling the incident on Instagram, Waterhouse added:  I leapt into action or reluctantly trudged over, depending on how I like to remember it. I tried back slaps. Nothing. She still couldn’t speak or breathe. 

‘She was looking very pale now (and not just because she was Scottish), so I did the Heimlich manoeuvre which felt very showy and Hollywood in front of hundreds of people. 

‘I kept thinking "why is this happening? It’s my day off!" Luckily after ten awkward thrusts, the food finally dislodged - although not quite the satisfying catapult of shrimp like in Mrs Doubtfire – and she started breathing again. 

‘Surreal moment as usually I’d have been on stage around then. Her family were lovely and asked if I was a doctor. I said "yeah, a psychiatrist". The dad laughed and part of me wished I’d hadn’t bloody bothered.’

Dr Benji Waterhouse’s show Maddening is on at the Pleasance Courtyard at 5pm during the Edinburgh Fringe.

Published: 20 Aug 2025