There are brave men, and then there is Sampson McCormick, who — according to a news item in the Advocate — has been regularly performing at Win-River Resort & Casino in Redding, California, for over seven years. Redding, you see, is smack in the middle of what the comedian refers to as “Trump Country,” and McCormick happens to be Black, gay, and hilarious. One evening in March 2022, the comic was doing his thing when a woman began heckling him. “As a comedian, I’m going to heckle you back,” McCormick told the publication. “I started teasing her about the obvious, which was that she only had about three-and-a-half teeth in her mouth.”

According to witnesses, a big, burly dude then leapt to the woman’s defense, and the two got into a full-on brawl in which McCormick kind of handed the dude his own ass. “I think he was shocked that this Black, gay guy had just beat him because he stood there like he wanted to throw a chair but thought the better of it,” McCormick said. “Then security got involved.” (Again: Gee, not a moment too soon!) The comedian declined to press charges against the guy, but he did offer a helpful bit of advice to anyone who might decide to turn comedy night into the Friday Night Fights in the future. “It sounds corny, but I like to bring love to my audience,” he said. “But don’t mistake my being gay as weak, because I grew up in southeast D.C. and I will kick some ass.” Duly noted, sir.