An Australian MP laughed so hard at Veep he knocked himself out
Graham Perrett ended up with a black eye and stitches – but the show's stars didn't believe him at first...
People talk about laughing their heads off, or splitting their sides – but it is not often you hear of someone cracking up so much that they choke on a bit of sushi, knock themselves out on the kitchen table and end up needing stitches.
That is precisely what happened to Australian MP Graham Perrett, who found a scene in the US political satire Veep so funny that he knocked himself unconscious.
The producer and stars of Veep have responded incredulously to the news. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays the VP in the series, at first couldn’t believe it – and she later told Perrett: “Take good care of yourself and for God's sakes - be careful!”
The scene that left Perrett in stitches, literally, was one in the first episode of the new series in which Congressman Jonah Ryan is caught shaving his head to fake having cancer.
“I was laughing so hard … some of the rice went down the wrong way,” Perrett told BuzzFeed News. “I started choking and I kind of stumbled forward and knocked my head on the corner of the kitchen cabinet.”
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His wife found him unconscious on the ground, “with blood everywhere”.
“I must have been out for only a few seconds because, when I came to again, I was still laughing at Jonah.”
Timothy Simons, who plays Jonah, reacted with disbelief as well, and promised to “tone it down” next series.
Meanwhile, the executive producer of Veep David Mandel, told Guardian Australia he was “very glad someone thinks the episode was as funny as we do”.
“I can think of a few officials in the USA that I may send the episode to,” he added.
“With any luck, their wives won’t be home.”
