Yet, unless you're a late night talk show host, it's pretty much an unwritten rule of stand up comedy that your set is supposed to be your own, for the most part.
Of course there are comics who use the occasional "two guys walk into a bar" type jokes that they obviously didn't write themselves. And, there are a few comics who buy jokes from writers or other comics...however, those jokes are supposed to only be used by the comic who bought them.
For the most part, your set is supposed to be your own; something pretty much only you do on stage, the product of jokes and stories that you created.
Yet, I constantly hear about joke thieves...comics who steal other comics' jokes and bits.
Why steal jokes? More importantly, why do you want to get the reputation for being a thief?
Okay, back in the day when times were different, if you were a Vaudeville, or, later, a Catskills, comic, you were expected to keep coming up with new jokes and routines, almost nightly. Still, joke stealing was frowned upon, and caused many a physical fight.
I know, Milton Berle used to be infamous for lifting a joke from other comics. That doesn't mean the other comics liked it.
Click here for a link to a Time Magazine article about Patton Oswalt's take on joke thieves, based on his June 2013 blog post titled "A Closed Letter To Myself About Thievery, Heckling And Rape Jokes."
Click here for Patton Oswalt's blog post in full.
Actually, in doing what minimal research I do for my posts, when I came across Mr. Oswalt's post, I started to feel like this post might be considered stealing from his post.
So, just know that I started writing this post based on my personal experiences and conversations with other comedians BEFORE I read Oswalt's post.
Patton Oswalt is one of my favorite comedians working today; he's brilliant. Really, you should stop reading my post and read his right now. Then YouTube him for countless hours (two of my favorite clips are "comedy magician" and "Stella Dora"), buy a CD/DVD/download, and then buy two tickets to his next show in your area.
Patton Oswalt - he'll bust a cap in your ass if you steal his jokes
In his post, it's clear Oswalt abhors joke thieves, and he offers some insightful reasons as to why comics might steal jokes. But, I'm still not satisfied. I really want to know why this happens.
I'm not talking about accidentally doing the same premise, or even the situation Oswalt describes where he misremembered having come up with a joke early in his career that was really a joke he saw another comic do on TV.
In fact, I'm not even talking about the purposeful pilfering of one joke. I don't condone that, it's still stealing, but I'm talking about something else.
I'm talking about the continual stealing of jokes, and, worse yet, whole bits or segments.
Why would you do that?
Before I ever got into standup, I could recite George Carlin's A Place For My Stuff album verbatim, voice inflections and all. Big fat hairy deal. How many clubs would I have gotten into if I just went up and recited Carlin's act? And let's say I got passed by some younger bookers/owners who didn't recognize the bits. Eventually, someone would've said something. I'd either never get booked again, or have one chance to shit or get off the pot with my own material...and I'd fail miserably if I was relying on reciting stolen routines.
George Carlin - A Place For My Stuff (whole album)
That's what a joke thief is, someone who can recite other people's stuff. A thief apparently thinks so little of themselves, and also doesn't care about the other comic(s) they steal from, either. The other comic came up with the bit, worked it out at open mics, and got it to the point where it made the audience laugh. The thief just takes the fruit of all that labor without putting in any of the actual labor.
The joke thief would have probably taken steroids if they played professional baseball. Anything to get an edge. Actually, that analogy doesn't work, because professional ball players have put in the work. They already have talent, they're just looking to enhance it.
Then there's the thief who does the stolen material IN FRONT of the comic they stole it from!! WTMF is that??? Who has that kind of balls?? And why? Are they trying to get caught? Beat up? What?
Sometimes, a thief takes a bit and forgets where they got it from. Sometimes they inadvertently end up working with the comic they took the bit from, and SURPRISE! That's why you should always watch the show, no matter which slot you have. You're always looking out for someone doing the same premise as you, so you can acknowledge or avoid it when you go up. And, apparently, you also need to know if the comics before you took your shit and did it ahead of you.
But, I've heard of thieves taking jokes from comics they're working with that week and using the comic's jokes in front of them the next night!!! Wow. Why don't you kick their dog and take a shit on their shoe while you're at it? I'm not sure if that's total, obnoxious arrogance, or total, obnoxious ignorance, but it's something.
I want to know, are joke thieves oblivious to the reputation they get, or do they just not give a shit? Does the potential for getting laughs outweigh the concern of being liked by your peer comics?
I wish I could tell you that owners have standards when it comes to stealing. Some do, most don't. If the thief is getting laughs, the owner is typically happy. If you complain, most times you will be told to deal directly with the thief, as it's not the owner's problem.
If you're worried about people stealing your jokes, one of the things I've heard over and over again from comics is to make your jokes as personal to you as you can. If you're a 40-something divorced African American woman with two devilish kids, that's something a 30 year old white guy can't make his own. Now, if that same woman just did topical humor, or did typical male vs. female or black vs. white humor, her jokes would be more susceptible to being stolen.
In the grand scheme of Wars On (insert your issue here), joke thieves won't insight the masses like the Wars On Guns, Drugs or Christmas. However, the results will be the same. Christmas isn't going away, kids. Neither are joke thieves.
I think we, as comics, should speak up whenever we see it happening. I'm not advocating getting into a fight because you saw Sally Smith do Bob Jones' set on going to the movies. And I'm certainly not saying you should say something based on hearsay.
I know there's a fear of repercussion if you confront the thief, or even tell the manager/owner. Even so, shouldn't you at least tell the comic whose jokes were stolen?
I get it. We're usually conditioned to not get involved, to look the other way. But as hard as this business is to break into, to get paid, to make a living and to go beyond that, shouldn't we at least consider policing and protecting our chosen profession?
What if you were the comic who had their stuff stolen?
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