To be a standup comedian, one would think that you would have to have a pretty thick skin. Between hecklers, critics, and the occasional drunk audience member, you’re going to take some abuse.
Apparently, comedian Dan Nainan doesn’t care too much for criticism.
According to Daily Beast reporter Josh Rogin, Nainan punched him in the face – twice – following a performance at the DC Improv Comedy Club. The anger seems stem from a couple of tweets Rogin made during the show about some particularly uninspiring comedy that he was witnessing:
Dan Nainan was funny until he dusted off his 2005 Katrina jokes in a gratingly bad GWB impression. #DCImprov
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 26, 2013
Dan Nainan makes his umpteenth joke about how Asians cant distinguish between letters "L" and "R". Election, erection, we get it. #DCImprov
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 26, 2013
I guess that’s all it took to set Nainan off. Rogin pretty much live-tweeted being punched in the face and its aftermath:
Dan Nainan just punched me in the face. Not a joke.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 26, 2013
We are calling the police on Dan Nainan who just punched me twice in front of several witnesses. #dcimprov
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 26, 2013
DC police arrested Dan Nainan for assaulting me.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 26, 2013
Thanks for all the support tweeps. Physically I am fine. Just not used to getting attacked for tweets.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 26, 2013
Here’s how Rogin described the incident shortly after it happened, via Washington Whispers:
“Dan Nainan comes over to me and says, ‘Are you Josh Rogin,’ and I said yes and then he punched me in the jaw, then he pushed me, then he walked away and about 10 seconds later he came over and punched me again. At that point I yelled, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ other people noticed and they courted him off and the bouncers escorted him from the show room and we called the police and he’s in the process of being arrested.”
For his part, Nainan has been mum on the incident, simply tweeting that he had a good time at the event:
Had a blast headlining the DC improv!
— Dan Nainan (@comediandan) September 26, 2013
Image via Dan Nainan, Twitter