Comedy that chokes: Veep stars respond to laughing lawmaker injured while watching

Graham Perrett was left with three stitches under a blackenedleft eye and surgical glue on his split nose after the mishap whilerelaxing in front of the TV at his home in the east coast city ofBrisbane on Sunday evening.

The 51-year-old opposition Labor Party lawmaker said he laughedso hard that he choked on his eel sushi. He sprang from his loungechair then hit his head on a granite kitchen bench top, breaking hisglasses and knocking himself unconscious for a few seconds.

News of his plight reported in The Australian newspaper on Thursday drew an incredulous response from Veepstar JuliaLouis-Dreyfus, who tweeted: "I mean, c'mon, I'm actually having ahard time believing it. But the real question is what episode?"

Perrett replied that it was the first episode of the new seasonin which a character, Congressman Jonah Ryan, is caught out fakingcancer by shaving his head to milk public sympathy. "Pure gold,your highness!!!" Perrett tweeted Louis-Dreyfus.

Another Veepactor Timothy Simons tweeted in response toPerrett's accident: "oh my god. oh my god."

Veep showrunner David Mandel told Buzzfeed he apologized toPerrett and to Australia.

"I would like to make an official statement on behalf of Veepand the United States," Mandel said. "We would like to apologizeto Australia, our key ally in the Asia-Pacific region, for writingsomething that would cause bodily harm to your people."

Perrett said after all the entertainment Veephad providedhim, he was glad to give some amusement back to its makers.

"For a domestic accident, it's just been bizarre, it's beenquite surreal," Perrett said of the attention the Veepconnection had attracted.

"As someone who lives and breathes politics, I appreciate thenuances in Veep,but for the actors to respond was a real buzz,"he added.

Perrett has watched two Veepepisodes since his accident, buthe has learnt a lesson.

"I definitely wasn't eating," he said.