During a comedian’s show in Spokane, a man named Mr. Wende had a heart attack. Right there in the audience, while laughter filled the room, his heart stopped. The show stopped. And the audience immediately performed CPR for over 5 minutes, reviving him.
Think about that. A room full of strangers who’d come for comedy suddenly became a coordinated lifesaving team. No panic, no chaos, just people working together to keep a man alive until paramedics could arrive. Five minutes of continuous CPR—that’s exhausting, that requires multiple people taking turns, that requires everyone present to stay calm and focused.
The comedian was moved by the community coming together, putting aside all differences. Everyone in that room became equal in that moment—it didn’t matter who they’d voted for, what they believed, what divided them outside that venue. All that mattered was saving a life.
Visiting him in the hospital and laughing with his family reinforced why comedy is needed in a divided world. Because comedy does something essential—it reminds us we’re all human. It creates shared experience, shared laughter, shared humanity. And when crisis strikes in a room full of people who’ve been laughing together, they remember that shared humanity and act accordingly.
The photo shows exactly that—Mr. Wende in his hospital bed, looking remarkably cheerful for someone who recently had a heart attack, with the comedian beside him. Both are smiling, genuinely happy. It’s the kind of photo that captures the aftermath of crisis—the relief, the gratitude, the bond formed between the performer and the person whose life the audience saved.
“We’re all human.” That’s what the comedian said this experience reminded him. In our divided world, we forget this constantly. We see people as political opponents, as members of groups we disagree with, as embodiments of views we find wrong or dangerous. We forget they’re humans with families and fears and hearts that can stop beating.
But when Mr. Wende collapsed, nobody asked his politics. Nobody cared about his beliefs or affiliations. They just performed CPR. Because when you strip away everything else, we’re all just humans who don’t want to watch another human die if we can prevent it.
“The audience immediately performed CPR for over 5 minutes, reviving him.” This is extraordinary. Five minutes is a long time when you’re doing chest compressions. It’s exhausting, physically demanding work. Multiple people had to take turns. Others had to clear space, call 911, keep others calm, coordinate the effort.
That requires a community functioning at its best—people stepping up to do what needs doing, trusting others to do their part, working together toward a shared goal. All in a moment of crisis, with no time to plan or organize. They just did it.
The comedian’s reflection about why comedy is needed in a divided world is profound. Comedy isn’t frivolous entertainment that distracts from serious issues. It’s essential social glue that reminds us of our shared humanity. When we laugh together, we remember we’re not as different as our divisions suggest.
And when crisis strikes a room full of people who’ve been laughing together, they respond as a community. They save each other. They put aside differences and focus on what matters: keeping a human being alive.
Mr. Wende survived because strangers cared enough to get exhausted keeping his heart beating. The comedian got to visit him in the hospital and laugh with his family, closing the loop on an experience that could have ended in tragedy but instead became a testament to human goodness.
In our divided world, we need more moments like this. More reminders that beneath our differences, we’re all just humans who would perform CPR for a stranger. We just need to remember it. 💙