Joke thieves?

[Terin]

Seems that Joe Rogan is going on a rampage bringing down comics who have stole other comics acts. Two HUGE comedians that he has in his sights are Carlos Mencia and Dane Cook. Here are the jokes in question:

http://scamboogah.blogspot.com/2006/06/dane-cook-steals-his-material-from.html

and you can watch the video of Joe Rogan vs Carlos Mencia here:

http://www.myspace.com/talkingmonkey

EDIT: More evidence of C. Mencia stealing material gets him banned on radio show:
here

EDIT:
Youtube of Mencia stealing a bit from Bill Cosby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCixAktGPlg

So please discuss. Do you think it's ok to steal material from other comics if it's not ALL of your act? These two seem to think so. I gotta say I don't... Feel free to research more before coming to any conclusions.
-T

[Kugyou]

Well, just like the comments on the Dane Cook story have said, it's quite possible for similar jokes to evolve parallel to each other without need for someone to have "stolen" a joke from another comic. Shoot, a few weeks ago I woke up with a joke in my head that I'd never heard before, figuring I really had something, a nice little play on words. I tell it to a friend online and she's like "Yeah, heard it already. That one's old."

Then again, the commenters also fell into "Even if it's stolen, Dane Cook told it better" / "Dane Cook is a crappy comedian" wars. I figure that if someone wants to try to claim theft of intellectual property, pony up and file suit. All this macho posturing and insulting other comedians' fanbases...I thought the comedy biz was supposed to be about making people laugh, not making them call each other idiots for not liking the "right" comic.

[Terin]

The way I see it, whether or not they file suit doesn't change the fact that there is still a theft going on. Isn't this audio plagerism?
-T

[Kugyou]

I'm with the commenter on the Dane Cook story. The Greeks thought of it first; anyone who parallels a Greek story or play must then be stealing from them, and all claims are moot as the utilized original work is in the public domain.

On a serious note, I see the lack of real action as a sign that perhaps nothing provable is taking place, and perhaps even the complaining comedians see that parallel stories and jokes can arise without the need for theft. I'm not saying that no theft is taking place, but I think that turning some similar setups and punchlines into "plagiarism" may be taking it too far unless someone's willing to try to prove theft.

ADDENDUM: This is, of course, just my opinion.

[RivaOni]

To be honest, every joke imaginable has probably been told in one form or other over the years of stand-up comedy.

A jokes a joke, and as long as its funny, the audience, who the joke is intended for, is the winner and thats all that should matter.

[Terin]

[Sciler]

Well, I dont think stealing is right, but a good point was made...Carlos may not be as good a comedian as some others, who's jokes he may be using, he is definitely a better performer, which is why he became popular. I'm not condoning it, I'm sure 80%+ of comedians have at some point, "borrowed" a joke or 2 to get themselves noticed, so that they can capture people to return to more shows.

People who DO steal jokes, won't last, so it really wont matter. When the fad of Dane or Carlos (both of whom I think are hysterical) fades, they wont be remembered as well as COMEDIANS, having a mark in Comedic history, such as George Carlin, Sam Kinison, Richard Prior and of course many, many more.

Other comedians who may not get as much recognition, may not ever make the huge amounts of money some of the other guys do, but they definitely have thier fan bases, who keep them living decent lives, provided they keep doing stand up. People like Carlos and Dane will eventually get tired of the stand up gig, and will go to movies and tv or whatever, to try to get more money, a bit easier, while the other guys will always be considered true comedians, who actually enjoy the road life (to an extent). People like Joe Rogan, Louis CK, Dave Attell, Mitch Fatel, Stephen Lynch, Rev. Bob Levey, Lisa Lampanelli, Arty Lange, etc. I could go on all day with all the great acts I get to hear all day long on Sirius Raw Dog (channel 103 lol). I've been opened up to a TON of great comedians, who are not as recognizable as a Carlin or Mencia or Cook.

Makes me giggle though that Mencia's name is really Ned.

BTW- most road comedians DO come up with new material constantly, to keep thier acts fresh and so that people will get thier money's worth when they see them repeatedly. They will keep some of the old act so that people will of course be comfortable with them and laugh harder at the "older" jokes, but most of the time after they do 1 tour, they tend to try to spice up the rest with newer stuff, so the Louis CK thing, while yes, he may not be able to use those other jokes again, as a good comedian, he's alreayd got other stuff in the works, and the older stuff was jsut cycled out. I think that is also when some of the Carlos & Dane's of the world, tend to take the jokes. When a joke isnt said anymore, for a couple of years, but is still a bit relevant and funny, they take it then and use it. (again, not condoning it, just explaining how it most likely happens.)

Can you tell I've been listening to inside comedian stories lately? lol

[Ming]

Ahhh...Officer Joe strikes again. It's funny, I knew that this thread was going to be about Joe Rogan crying from just seeing the title. I remember him taking pot shots at Carlos last year. In fact, I wrote a rather long blog on my MySpace account about it. In the interest of saving myself typing time, I'll just post it here...

[Terin]

[Ming]

I think losing respect over two comedians (two GOOD comedians) over what Joe Rogan says is overreacting. But hey, you can listen to whoever you want.

And really, who cares anyway (aside from Officer Joe Rogan of course)? Jokes are observations of subject matter and sitiations. And you're free to experience the same situations and make the same observations as someone else. And if one guy tells the joke better than the other, then who cares? I'm sure I could tell Joe Rogan's jokes much better than he could.

My only problem with either of them is that Dane Cook's fans ARE kinda douchebaggish. But that's only recently, once he became popular.

I think the problem, ultimately, is that Joe Rogan just wants attention. First it was Dennis Leary, then it was Carlos Mencia, and now it's Dane Cook. I think I'm going to become a comedian and copy Joe Rogan's jokes and get famous so that he can come after me too. Oh wait...if I copy his jokes, I'll never get famous.

Darn...