An Indian-origin stand-up comedian died on stage due to a high level of anxiety while performing his act in front of a packed audience here, according to a media report.
Manjunath Naidu, 36, suffered a cardiac arrest while performing his routine on stage on Friday.
He complained of a high level of anxiety, sat down on the bench next to him and collapsed onto the floor, with the audience thinking that it must be a part of the show, Khaleej Times reported.
Naidu was born in Abu Dhabi but later shifted base to Dubai.
"He was the last act in the line-up. He went on stage and was making people laugh with his stories. He was talking about his father and family. And then he got into a story of how he suffers from anxiety. And a minute into the story he collapsed," Miqdaad Dohadwala, his friend and fellow comedian, was quoted as saying in the report. Dohadwala later made a Facebook post describing his friend and what he was going through.
People thought it was part of the act. They took it as a joke as he was talking about anxiety and then collapsed, he said.
Dohadwala said that the paramedics could not revive him.
"His parents passed away and he has a brother but no relatives here. All in the arts and comedy circle are his family," he added.
