Mime Chokes To Death During Performance; Receives Thunderous Applause [Daily News Brief]

Santa Monica, CA – 10am PST
By Joshua Mauldin

Amidst what was called a tour-de-force by spectators, street performer Francois Armand accidentally swallowed a chain of scarves and passed away from suffocation at the Santa Monica Promenade Wednesday afternoon. The scarves, which he normally hid in his mouth at the beginning of the routine, were intended for the finale but became lodged in his throat while attempting to escape from an invisible box. The unfortunate event was witnessed by thirty-six people, none-of-whom stopped to help him. “I thought he was tearing it up,” said Andrea Carpenter, a UCLA student waiting in line at the Apple Store, “At no point did I think he was ever in a stiff wind but the choking thing, that was so realistic I was like ‘damn, you go mime.”

Services for Armand will be held at the Our Lady of the Obvious Joke church this Sunday at six o’clock.

featured image credit: danny hammontree