Wanda Sykes Made an Audience Member Laugh So Hard He Nearly Died

On most nights, we’re pretty sure Wanda Sykes would like to brag that she killed on stage. But certainly not like this.

In response to a question from James Corden asking about “one of the craziest things that’s ever happened to you at one of your shows,” Sykes offered up a recent gig in Memphis where an audience member nearly laughed to death. The show was going well, she said, when all of a sudden, people began yelling from one side of the stage. Sykes stopped the jokes to ask what was going on. The audience response: “You need a paramedic!” 

The house lights went up and the club’s security crew rushed in to check out the situation. “This guy apparently had a lot to drink,” said Sykes, usually a beneficiary of the two-drink minimum. But in this case, “he was laughing so hard that he puked.” The story would be horrible enough if it stopped there, but the audience member then began choking on his own vomit. 

“That must have been a good joke,” observed Joel McHale, also on the Corden couch last night. After Sykes assured them that the hysterical drunk survived the chuckle-choke, Corden argued that he’d given her the ultimate rave review: “I made a man laugh so much he choked on his own vomit.”

Sykes’ story completely overshadowed McHale’s own horror story about a woman unleashing her bladder during a set he performed in Florida (but of course). “She was enjoying the show and then just fully whizzed,” remembered McHale. “All of the urine came out of her.” McHale bantered with the audience member, informing her that he didn’t realize she was that drunk. Her response? “Now you know.”

In case any of you were thinking of taking a janitorial job at a club, you might want to think again. Who knew stand-up comedy required HAZMAT training?