Getty Images Universes collided for doctor-turned-comedian Ken Jeong during a stand-up performance in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday. In the middle of his…
Getty Images
Universes collided for doctor-turned-comedian Ken Jeong during a stand-up performance in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday.
In the middle of his set at the Stand Up Live Comedy Club, the former physician and « Community » star ran off the stage to help a woman suffering from a seizure in the third row. According to TMZ, Jeong had initially believed he was being heckled by the patron. When he realized there was a real emergency going down, he rushed to the woman’s aid.
« He couldn’t see what was going on with the lights, » audience member Heather Holmberg told USA Today . « He was playing with them from the stage for a second, and it was like, ‘No, no, no. We need you!' »
She added that « a hush came over the room » as Jeong tended to the audience member. Jeong helped the woman until paramedics arrived, then hopped back onstage to continue the rest of his set — though not without a hearty round of applause from the crowd.
Holmberg took to Twitter to praise Jeong on his heroism:
« A woman had a medical emergency during the show. Ken thinks its heckling, when people are asking for his help. He jumps off stage to assist. An EMT helped, too, » she wrote. « Then on with the show! Great night! He is gracious and grateful… AND flipping funny! » she wrote.
Fellow comedian Frank Caliendo also gave a shoutout:
Jeong, who earned a medical decree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and is still a licensed physician, told NPR in 2014 how important it always was for him to keep his two professional lives separate.
« I never let on I was a comedian. I never acted out. It was really important to me, like, to not be Patch Adams, » he told host Arun Rath. « I was so super serious as a doctor, I would bark orders to my nurses. I was hardcore. I wanted to make sure I did my job right. »
The physician gave up medicine when his acting career took off, but his bedside manner seems to remain as lovely as ever.
« He was brilliant, » Holmberg said of Jeong. « He’s a very funny man but you were able to see a side of him that’s very compassionate. You don’t often see that in comedians. »
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