1. 28 March 2010 · 12:45 PM ·

    Reaction Paper

    Laura Delarato
    Understanding Media Studies
    Professor Wilder/ TA Sanja Trpkovic
    Reaction Paper
    22 March 2010
                                                   Stealing is not funny

    In standup comedy, authenticity does not exist because there isn’t a correct or traditional way to perform, which means there isn’t a person to acknowledge. Jokes can derive from the same topic but must differentiate in wording, idea, and style. Even though there is a wide variety of comedians in the world, there is always a chance that a few will comment about the same topic. A good comedian is able to tell the joke using an original angle, words, and style to make the joke unique while still talking about a topic used by other comics.

    There are two major ways a comedian can borrow/steal material from another comedian. One being the idea of the joke, and the other being the words that are said. The idea consists of the content, or conceptulization, of the joke. Two comedians can comment on the topic of traffic, for example, but when the subject lands into extreme specifics (example, traffic in Brooklyn at 3:00 a.m. on Wednesdays in July) the joke can be considered stolen. Words in the joke that are copied, not paraphrased is considered stolen — but even paraphrasing can been seen as stolen material.

    Style also has a major par to do with standup comedy. A comedian sets the pace of his/her performance by emphasizing words and placing strategic pauses for comedic affect. A great way to see the difference is by watching a comedian tell the same joke in different ways. Comedian Aziz Ansari has a specific rhythm to his jokes, but for the film Funny People he was asked to play a comedian with a far different style than his own (Funny People). When the audience watches Ansari tell a joke as himself about Cold Stone Creamery he is does his traditional style (“Aziz Ansari on ColdStone.”). As his character Randy he takes up more space on the stage and doesn’t use as many words — there is an obvious difference in the characteristics (Funny People).

    There isn’t an official moderator for joke telling. For the most part people take it upon themselves to sort out who is telling their own material. Actor and comedian, Joe Rogan is known for outing comedians who have lifted jokes from other comedians.

    One incident of his moderator duties were on the television show “Last Comic Standing” where he argued with famous comedian Buddy Hackett over a joke told by contestant Ant Kalloniatis (Masaki). Rogan claimed that Kalloniatis took a joke from a scene in the 2000 film “Boiler Room,” but Hackett explained that comedian speak about the same topics all the time but it is their style that makes it unique (Masaki).

    The most popular of Rogan’s call outs has been when he got up on stage during Carlos Mencia’s set and accused him of stealing jokes at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. He even brought up other comedians on stage to give more proof (“Joe Rogan vs. Carlos Mencia”). “In February 2007, stand-up comedians Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia squared off on stage at a prominent Los Angeles comedy club after Rogan accused Mencia — whom he dubbed “Carlos Menstealia” — of pilfering material from other comedians. A video of the altercation garnered more than 2 million views online and countless mentions on blogs and Web sites,” (Seal). The senario actually hurt Carlos Mencia’s career because the proof was so extensive that he has lost many fans by not owning up to repurposing other comedian’s work (Masnick).

    Also, fans find ways to point out other comedians indiscressions. Youtube.com has become a place where fans can help others spot when a comedian has taken someone else’s material. In the case of the accusation against Dane Cook for stealing jokes from Louis C.K., fans put up sound clips of the original joke with attached information about the date the joke was released against a later version of the joke told by a different comedian (“Dane Cook Steals Jokes – Proof“).

    Another way comedians can figure out if a joke is stolen or not is by confronting the other comedian. “The stand-up community also has enforcement methods for violators. The first step a comedian takes if he feels another is stealing his material is to go and talk to the suspected culprit…The two try to determine whether one of them has copied the joke from the other or whether they each came up with it independently,” (Seal).

    In other art forms dealing with the subject of borrowing material, the medium can exude originality or authenticity. With comedy, the joke must be original and not resembling an original joke from another comedian. Of course, two comedians can speak about the same subject but joke telling has nothing to do with attribution or recognization of other comedians. Each comedian has a signature way of speaking and performing as well as the words they choose for each joke.

    There has been some debate in the comedic community over whether or not a joke or concept is given ownership to any particular comedian because perhaps it all comes down to the audience. “Perhaps it’s not that no one cares, but that people just want to be entertained — and the person who first comes up with a joke isn’t necessarily as interesting as someone who is funniest with that joke,” (Masnick).

    The situation regarding David Shield’s book “Realtiy Hunger” would never be tolerated in comedy. “’“Reality Hunger,’ a feisty literary ‘manifesto’ built almost entirely of quotations from other writers and thinkers,” (Kennedy). The lines are being used word for word, there isn’t any alteration, and there isn’t a change in the idea behind the concept. In this sense, standup comedy must be viewed as an art form moderated by the people within the community with standards of creating a unique set by the use of words, idea, and style.

    Work Cited “Aziz Ansari on ColdStone.” Youtube. 19 Jan. 2007. Web. 19 Mar. 2010 Funny People. Dir. Judd Apatow. Universal Pictures. Television. 31 July 2009.

    “Joe Rogan vs. Carlos Mencia.” Spike TV, Spike Digital Entertainment Inc. 14 Feb. 2007. Web. 19 Mar.2010

    Kennedy, Randy. “The Free-Appropriation Writer.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company. 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2010

    Masaki, Lyle. “When comedians attack: Ant vs. Joe Rogan.” After Elton. Logo Online, Web. 19 Mar. 2010

    Masnick, Mike. “A Serious Look At Joke Stealing.” Techdirt. 19 Feb 2007. Web. 19 Mar. 2010

    Seal, Rob. “To Catch a (Joke) Thief: Professors Study Intellectual Property Norms in Stand-up Comedy. ” Virginia Law, University of Virginia. 10 Dec. 2008. Web. 19 Mar. 2010

    *** The Web sites would not copy into the work cited on tumblr