Funny Side of Fame: 30 Facts About Your Beloved Comedians

American comedian Dave Chappelle converted to Islam in 1998. He said, "I don’t normally talk about my religion publicly because I don’t want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing."

In 2016, comedian Eddie Izzard ran 27 marathons in 27 days through South Africa to raise money for Sport Relief. Previously, in 2009, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief despite having no history of long-distance running.

British comedian Tony Hawk became so frustrated with being mistaken for pro-skateboarder Tony Hawk that he has published a book called "Tony Hawk's The A to Z of Skateboarding" that contains nothing about skateboarding.

Comedian Daniel Tosh auctioned props from his show, Tosh.O, to raise funds for a fellow comedian Andy Ritchie with a brain tumor, raising $25,000. Tosh then placed a double-or-nothing bet on a Patriots football game and won, ultimately doubling the money he raised for Andy.

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was recognized by the Smithsonian Institution, which put one of his trademark white shirts and red ties on display. When he handed the shirt to the museum's curator, Rodney joked, "I have a feeling you're going to use this to clean Lindbergh's plane."

In 1984, British comedian Tommy Cooper had a heart attack and died on live television. The audience all assumed it was part of his act and laughed/applauded during his final moments.

A Danish comedian named Jakob Haugaard ran for parliament as a joke and actually won in 1994. Some of his outrageous campaign promises were: Nutella in field rations, more tailwind on bike paths, and better weather. Nutella in field rations was actually implemented.

Comedian Bill Burr decided to abandon his prepared comedy set in Philadelphia in order to heckle and berate the audience for his entire 12-minute set after they drunkenly booed several preceding comedians.

When comedian Redd Foxx suffered a heart attack on the set of a sitcom in 1991, his co-stars initially thought he was just clowning around because of the running gag on "Sanford and Son" in which his character Fred Sanford faked heart attacks. He later died at an L.A. hospital.

Comedian Steven Wright has only two comedy albums. The first one came out in 1985 named "I have a pony." The second one came out 22 years later and was named "I still have a pony."