Comedian Mark Normand has finally cleared up exactly what happened after a bizarre incident went down at the New York Comedy Club.
A video of his set went viral after, out of nowhere, a man rushed onto the stage while he was performing. Clearly confused, he tried to continue but made his discomfort fairly evident whilst the intruder was taken away by security, while being pursued by a random woman.
Shortly afterwards, he was rushed off the stage by security who insisted he left immediately, much to his bemusement once again. An increasingly wary audience then began asking questions, with producers doing little to calm their nerves before attempting to evacuate the crowd from the venue.
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The genuinely surreal incident sparked much debate online and a lot of curiosity as to what exactly went down, and now Mark Normand himself has been able to share what exactly happened.
Posting on his Instagram stories, Mark 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, hihi. I had no prior knowledge that this was going to happen."
He posted the update along with a message saying it was a "good ole corporate statement from my publicist".
The venue, New York Comedy Club, also confirmed it was just a stunt by producers for an upcoming show. You have to say, although some may not approve of their methods, they have done a great job at creating a scene and therefore interest in whatever they're releasing.
It's obviously a good thing no one was harmed and no crime was committed, but no judgement here if you're feeling slightly disappointed that it was all just a gimmick.
Though there's certainly sympathy to be had for both the audience and Mark Normand himself, as they were clearly as clueless as we all were as to what was happening and definitely seemed quite panicked by it. Plus, there's no doubt Mark just wanted to get on with his set.
Alex Maxam