Job hazard: the recent history of comedians being assaulted on stage

A man looks at a mural in Berlin featuring the likeness of Will Smith (right) slapping comedian Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony. Photo: AFP

Comedians being assaulted on stage, as Chris Rock experienced at the hands of Will Smith during the Oscars on Sunday night, is extremely rare - but not unheard of.

An attack often requires something more offensive than Rock's gag about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, appearing in GI Jane 2 (a reference to her lack of hair, caused by alopecia).