An unfortunately ironic incident occurred at a comedy club when a British comedian passed away on stage after joking about dying with the audience.
Ian Cognito, a stand-up comedian, was performing at the Attic Bar in the southern town of Bicester in England.
In an interview with the BBC, the show’s host reported that Cognito insisted on performing despite not feeling well. Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird mentioned that the 60-year-old comedian even started to joke about his pain on stage. Cognito said, “Imagine if I died in front of you lot here”.
In the middle of the performance, Cognito decided to sit down on a stool. After breathing heavily for a few moments, the comic fell silent.
According to Bird, the Cognito was silent for five minutes. The entire crowd though the silence was a part of the act and continued to laugh. Nobody realized that something was wrong.
Upon realizing that the situation wasn’t planned, two nurses and a police officer began performing chest compressions.
Although an ambulance was called to the scene, Cognito was pronounced dead.
An audience member by the name of John Ostojak recalled Cogniot’s joke about having a stroke just a few minutes before his passing.
Many members of the audience felt sick after the show. Nobody realized that the incident was real and not part of the act.
Jimmy Carr, another British comedian, wrote a tweet about the late comedian whose real name is Paul Barbieri.
Carr praised the comedian for his commitment to the act of comedy, for his kindness, and for being a great comedian.
Jack Whitehall, a fellow comedian, also took to Twitter to pay tribute to his late friend.
He wrote about Cognito’s “legendary” exploits and enjoyable it was to spend time with the comedian.
