A Seattle stand-up comic was allegedly attacked by a man wielding a baseball bat while he was onstage at a restaurant Monday night.
According to the Seattle Times, Dylan Avila was struck twice in the head with an aluminum baseball bat while on stage at the Local 907 restaurant in Renton. The attack was reportedly carried out by a man whom Avila barred from performing at that night’s open mic show, due to an overly offensive routine he had performed some weeks earlier.
Avila, a father of three, was reportedly taken to Valley Medical Center, where he underwent surgery on Tuesday, and remains in intensive care with multiple skull fractures.
According to KOMO News, Avila’s fellow comics and some patrons rushed to the stage to help subdue the attacker and care for the injured performer.
“He’s emotional and grateful to his friends and fellow comics who saved his life,” Avila’s wife, Kalimar Avila Pettit told the Times. “We’re both pretty overwhelmed with how amazing the outpouring of support has been.”
Avila’s wife told the paper that the attacker had performed an offensive routine at the venue some weeks earlier, in which he introduced himself as Jesus Christ and proceeded to perform an act involving a Bible and a sex toy.
“It was offensive on every level,” Avila told KOMO. “And I don’t get offended easily. I’m a comic.”
A friend of the Avilas, Jilyan Augustyn, started a GoFundMe page to collect donations for the family to help pay for medical expenses.
“If you known Dylan and his wife Kalimar you know they are great people,” Augustyn wrote on the page. “They’d do anything for their friends and family. So, I’m asking to please help them out. They have three small children and they are a strong loving family! Let’s do what we can to help honor Dylan and the great man he is!”
Avila’s attacker reportedly remains in jail without bail. Charges against him have not yet been announced.
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