Pen-pricks

• NBC News reports the recent spike in violent assaults in Los Angeles has residents on edge. Last night on Sunset Boulevard, I saw one guy in full body armor and protective goggles and helmet who carried a machine gun to defend himself. It was the emcee introducing me onstage at the Comedy Store.

• Netflix announced the live-streamed onstage attack on Dave Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl will be included in the final show. It’s now happened twice in a month on TV and could start a scary trend. The big-name comics are getting nervous enough to invite Alec Baldwin to go on tour with them.

• The L.A. District Attorney George Gascon refused to charge Dave Chappelle’s attacker with a felony in County Court because his knife was inside his bag. Hollywood’s reaction was swift. The audience members who were at the Academy Awards gathered on Zoom to give the attacker a standing ovation out of habit.

• The Laugh Factory comedy club on the Sunset

Strip announced it will add security guards in the wake of recent audience assaults on comics. Allowing too many assaults on stand-ups violates the first rule of comedy which says, always leave them wanting more. It’s also the last rule in anesthesiology.