Comedian Who Collapsed In Tempe Talks 'Hot' St. Joseph's Doctors

TEMPE, AZ — Comedian Heather McDonald took to her "Juicy Scoop" podcast Tuesday to detail her experience in the Valley over the weekend when she passed out on stage at Tempe Improv just minutes into her standup show.

McDonald was only on stage at Tempe Improv for 3 minutes Saturday night before she collapsed, and hit her head, fracturing her skull.

Her sold-out show the night before had gone off without incident.

"I had the funnest show ever," McDonald said in her podcast of the Friday night show.

The show that was in progress when she fell Saturday was canceled, as well as a second show she had scheduled for later that night. Speculation in online articles and on social media abounded with theories that she was hungover, that her collapse was caused by a COVID-19 vaccine or that she had a seizure.

McDonald said none of those theories were true and that after a battery of tests and two nights in the hospital, doctors didn't find any cause for her fall. But the impact of the fall did give her a concussion, a skull fracture and two black eyes. McDonald thinks that she might not have eaten enough before the show.

In the podcast, McDonald gave shout-outs to several Valley establishments, including The Montauk restaurant in Scottsdale where she ate after her Friday night show and BS West, a gay bar in Scottsdale that she also visited on Friday.

McDonald said she had a fairly uneventful day leading up to the show on Saturday, spending time with her 19-year-old son who attends Arizona State University. She didn't have any alcohol at all that day, she said.

When McDonald stood up before going on stage on Saturday, she said she felt slightly weird, thought that she probably should have eaten more before the show but figured she'd be fine.

She remembered looking out at the crowd and feeling dizzy, thinking that maybe the leather jacket she was wearing was too hot. She hoped the feeling would pass quickly or she worried wouldn't be able to complete the show. That's all she remembers before waking up on the floor, with faces surrounding her from above.

"I was like, 'this is not happening, this is a dream,'" she said.

Still thinking that the show must go on, she was worried about how she would remember the rest of her jokes. When she realized the show was canceled, she felt bad for everyone who'd been looking forward to it.

"I was horrified and at the same time, still relieved," she said.

Justin Martindale, who opened for McDonald's Saturday show and joined her on the podcast, poked fun at Arizona when mentioning that the EMTs asked McDonald who was president, since many conservatives in the state believe that Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election.

McDonald's sister-in-law who lives in the Valley and attended the show, drove her to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix.

"This hospital was fabulous," McDonald said in the podcast. "It was so nice, it was clean, it was updated. Lots of hot people working there too."

She met four neurosurgeons there, that she joked were all attractive.

"Each one was cuter than the next," she said.

She also praised the nurses there and their comedy skills.

"These nurses, they should do standup," she said. "All night they were outside my door, just killing it."