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Why are people so astonished by that answer, is the real question to me.This is as old as the game and almost a way of writing for some comics. It's across-the-board, "no color lines, baby!" We have comics who are alledged pedafiles, convicted serial rapists, serial thieves, frauds and conmen/women. One particularly notorious comic has been rumored to be all of the above! OOOOOOOOOOOOW! Did I hurt some people? If you got comics who will go that far, how safe is a freakin' joke?
There are quite a few joke thieves in this joke telling game, I'm afraid. It's all too common, and it's been practiced by a lot more comedians than you would care to know. I would name names but to be honest, it would hurt me more than it would hurt you (Pssst, I'll give you some names when I see ya', okay?). The fact is, joke theft is done for various reasons, and while I don't agree with any of them, I understand some of them. Let's explore some of them.
There are those who don't trust themselves with what they can create and/or they can't create enough to satisfy their own need to get a standing ovation. Some are actually stupid enough to think it's okay! For real! There are some who use to be able to write the beginnings of good bits on their own. But they need more than the beginnings and can't come up with more that they believe in. So they steal the rest of their bits from other comics. There are quite a few famous comics who use that reason. Then there are the ones who really just DON'T GIVE A FU--! They have no talent to create but they can mimmick others. They can take someone elses joke and claim it for themselves. OUCH! What was that? Did I hurt someone again?
Now I, myself, am not trying to be all holier than thou, but I have been able to pride myself on writing/creating very good material on my own. Some people who are not comics have asked me why I don't or won't steal. Others have had the nerve to even grant me the so called "right" to do so. I'm serious! I say "thanks but I don't need to." I consider what I do to be an art form and I have a God given talent. I don't want to corrupt that. I would like to appeal to the readers out there to understand that if you want comedy to last and grow, you should not encourage thievery and not settle for the same old run down jokes. I know there aren't many original topics to joke about, but we can be original on the way we tackle the topic. That way, John Q. Public, will get more for his/her entertainment dollar.
Lastly, I know you want to know what can be done to stop this. Well, honestly, not very much. I mean some comics-well some of the mainstream ones-will go as far as to copyright their material. But unfortunately there are ways around that, too. Besides, who has the money to retain a decent attorney? Litigation costs. I'm sure you all know. And really, all a comic has to do is just change a word and/or subject a little bit. Example: If you tell a joke that involves a dog, the thieving comic could just change it to a cat and get away with that.
I don't want to make it sound so hopeless, but the ways to stop it are hard and few. Violence has been used before, but you didn't hear me say you should resort to such measures. What if you lose the fight? You know there's nothing worse than a two time loser, losing to another loser. If we could get the important people (the paying customer, the promoters and club owners) to care, to take the side of the real comic and not support these thieves, when exposed, we might be able to beat this. And we as comics should stick together enough to really pull the cover off the thieves. You'll know, but it still won't matter if you don't care. We as comics have to rest on the fact that our material is from within ourselves and our artistic souls. We should only do our own material-the real way it was meant to be done.
I know this is kind of deep, but regardless of how we decide to handle the situation when confronted with it, we need to accept that joke thievery is wrong and hurts everyone. From this beginning we will be in the right place. We need to stay focused on our mission and it will help us remember. Remember what? Remember the answer to the first question. What question, you ask? You know, "So, what made you want to be comic." Peace.
Marc Howard is a nationally known standup comedian and a regular contributor
to UCR.
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