TACOMA — Tacoma police rushed to a local comedy club Wednesday night after a caller reported a stabbing downtown. The apparent victim? Someone wearing a Spider-Man outfit.
In reality, no one had been harmed. What officers instead found was a group of comedians filming a skit, one of whom donned the arachnid-superhero costume.
Officers responded to the 900 block of Market Street a little after 9 p.m. on Oct. 30, Tacoma Police Department spokesperson Shelbie Boyd told The News Tribune. The comedians quickly informed them that the stabbing was make-believe.
“They all had a good laugh,” Boyd said, “but nobody was injured — not even Spider-Man.”
No arrests were made, she added: “Spider-Man was offered medical aid, though. He did decline.”
In a video posted to YouTube and Instagram, Spider-Man tries to stop an in-progress robbery before getting beaten up and stabbed. Lying face-down on the ground, his wallet gets stolen as one final indignation.
Comedian Mason A starred in the skit. He plays a miscreant who locks Spider-Man in the “walls of Jericho” professional-wrestling hold, AKA the “Boston crab.”
Mason A told The News Tribune that the day before Halloween, he’d been at open-mic night at Tacoma Comedy Club, 933 Market St. He said the guy dressed as Spider-Man, Lonnie Williams, came up with the idea for the skit.
Later when watching the footage, the comedians noticed some people across the street had taken off running, Mason A said. Those folks might have been the ones who called the cops thinking that the fracas was real.
Tacoma police officers arrived “promptly and alertly,” Mason A said. The comics made it crystal-clear that the stabbing was all pretend.
“We told him that Spider-Man was over there, and then he saw Spider-Man perched up on the windowsill in the ‘spidey’ position,” he said. “I believe that’s when the officer was very relieved that he was just seeing some guys in costume and not actual danger.”
The cops laughed it off and blocked the road so that they could finish the skit without further disturbance, Mason A said.
Two Tacoma police vehicles are seen at the end of the minute-long video, red-and-blue lights flashing. Officers gave a further assist by blaring the classic “Spider-Man” cartoon theme song over the loudspeaker, he said — an apt ending.
Mason A walked away from the night with a good impression.
“We hang out at the comedy club all the time, and we’re like, ‘Yeah. If someone stabs us, we know they’re coming,’” Mason A said, laughing. “I was impressed. We were very grateful.”
He continued: “Shout-out to Tacoma PD. If I’m ever doing a show at Tacoma Comedy Club and Tacoma PD wants to pull up, I got the invites.”
