Australian comedian Suren Jayemanne says performing in front of one of his Hawthorn heroes was "probably the highlight of my career."
"One year I was doing a festival show in a pretty small room, and I noticed this real tall guy up the back," Jayemanne told the Kickin' Gags podcast.
"Didn't think much about it. I shake everyone's hand at the end of the show ... and the tall guy walked out, and I looked, and I was like, 'that f***en looks like Paul Salmon,' great Essendon [and] Hawthorn ruckman, and I was like 'it can't be...'" he explains.
The comedian details a heartfelt message he sent to the Australian Football Hall of Famer.
"I have no idea why he would have come to see my show, I reckon maybe Luke Heggie was sold out or something and he just picked the one next door!"
"This is a bit self-indulgent ... I sent him a message just saying thanks for coming along, and yeah, I said "I started following AFL as a youngster around the time you joined the Hawks, so it's surreal..." he reads from the text log.
"And then I just said thanks again, and he sent me the nicest message back... Yeah, it's beautiful. It's probably the highlight of my career."
"That's a full love letter!" host Phoenix Trinidad laughs.
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