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NICK FLANAGAN IS NOT DEAD

When Brutal Knights frontman Nick Flanagan fell from the crowd at his Montreal show last Saturday, and just lay on the ground twitching as blood started pooling out from under him everyone kind of just stood there in shock going, "Oh, I guess I just...

When Brutal Knights frontman Nick Flanagan fell from the crowd at his Montreal show last Saturday, and just lay on the ground twitching as blood started pooling out from under him, everyone kind of just stood there in shock going, "Oh, I guess I just saw a guy die." There was a collective "phew" when we found out it was just his arm and he was rushed off to the hospital. He spent a few days in recovery and now has two metal plates keeping two bones in his right forearm from poking out of his skin again. We hit him up on IM to find out exactly what happened and of course in true Flanagan fashion he was super posi and even plugged his stand-up gig opening for Neil Hamburger this weekend in Toronto (details below). Go Nick!

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Hey Nick. How are you feeling?

Good. Today is the best i've felt since the day of the arm crackery.

Glad to hear it. So what happened?

Well, we were playing the show and at the end I went into the crowd. A guy who retold it made it sound like I wanted to be pulled up to crowd surf but that would surprise me. I probably just gave him ambiguous body language and he thought 'oh he wants to go up' which is fine, of course. So i crowd surfed then we started the next song I hustled back to the stage from atop the crowd and fell a bit in front of the stage. I supported my weight wrong, I suppose. The moment was quick so it's hard to tell exactly what happened. Anyway, I felt a crack so i just kinda lay back and played possum. My friend Renee was right at the front they moved everyone away the show wrapped immediately.

Jeeze, no kidding.

I'm glad it was in Montreal. Part of me thinks if it were in Toronto 14 or 15 people would be photographing the wound while also attempting to take charge of the situation/blog/tweet about it.

You ever broke anything before? As I get older, the idea of that gets scarier.

No. But this was a bad break: both bones in my forearm, puncture wound.

Eww!

Just a little though, it wasn't like that part in The Fly where George Chuvalo gets his arm broken by Goldblum. The EMTs showed up and I spoke to them in fairly fluent French through the ambulance ride, it was wild.

I hear when shit like that happens you kind of get high.

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I'm thinking it was pure shock. My friend said i was being super brave, but shock kills pain, it's amazing.

So maybe I shouldn't be so afraid of breaking something after all.

I dunno, I mean i had to stay in the hospital til monday and initially they wanted to keep me for like 3 days the fear of infection was serious and my hand mobility is there, but tweeaked. I'll have to rehab it pretty hard.

Fuck, that sucks.

In the emergency room, being examined before getting the morphine drip, that may have been the worst pain.

Are you on meds?

Yeah a few. I was on a morphine/antibiotics/saline IV for about 36 hours. Then they prescribed me some painkillers. I've been trying to not take the more powerful ones to a crazy extent, I want to save them for recreation. Haha. I'm actually being careful not to take too many, it would be horrible to come out of this with some Limbaugh problem. I took an oxicondone (generic oxycont) yesterday and it didn't actually floor me, probably because i need it.

So what now?

Well we cancelled our shows next week with Mudhoney and in Sudbury but yeah, i'm definitely still doing comedy with Neil Hamburger tonight and tomorrow.

Is it inappropriate to say "break a leg" tonight?

Well, at the same time, if i did break a leg I'd be pretty hilarious looking.

Watch Nick tell jokes in an opioid haze with Neil Hamburger at Comedy Bar, tonight, Friday June 11 and Saturday June 12, 1030PM, and then again Sunday at The Rivoli for the Laugh Sabbath Comedy Network showcase.

Here's a video from the night. Watch how everything seems to be going great until the very end when the hesher in the front starts frantically waving off the band.

PHOTO AND VIDEO BY DANIEL PELISSIER