Joke Stealing 2.0
On May 16th of this year, Brian Corman, a handsome and charismatic valedictorian at Columbia University in New York, rose to address his graduating class. He included in his remarks a humorous anecdote about his friend’s eccentric behavior during a physics exam. As the crowd howled with delight, a beaming Corman basked in the warm approval of his audience. However, for those who had listened to comedian Patton Oswalt perform the exact same material on his 2007 live concert album Werewolves and Lollipops, the joke was funnier the first time. Cue the fallout.
While much ink has been spilled over the issue of joke stealing amongst comedians, very little has been written about the act of joke thievery by non-comedians. It is hard to gage how often incidences such as the above-mentioned joke plagiarism at Columbia occur. What we do know is that in the Youtube age, it’s become a lot harder to rip off comedians, particularly if they have as large a following as Patton Oswalt. This is a good thing.
I sympathize fully with Patton Oswalt, as cited in this New York Times article, when he explains that this particular kind of joke pilfering represents a lack of respect for the craft. In Corman’s case, he was aware that his address would be filmed, and could probably deduce that it would find its way onto the web, if not Youtube. He must have thought one of the following:
a) a) No one would care if his story was discovered to be the work of a comedian, or
c) b) No one would ever find out.
Regardless, the ensuring controversy has hopefully convinced other would-be joke thieves that:
a) If you’re speaking or performing in public, someone is probably recording you, and, most importantly,
b) The comedian cares VERY MUCH about his/her material being plagiarized and knows that his/ her fans will descend on unoriginal, hacky joke thieves with pitchforks and torches when they are caught!
This particular crime against comedy particularly rattles my chain because I am an unabashed Big Fan of Patton Oswalt. Yes, I just used an Access Hollywood-like play on words that I promised myself I’d never do. Big Fan, directed by Robert D. Siegel came out in 2009 and stars Oswalt in a dramatic turn as obsessed football fan Paul Aufiero. It’s an intense and inspired performance and hopefully not the last time we get to see him flex his dramatic chops. According to IMDB, he is also currently guest-starring on The United States of Tara which I have yet to see (I don’t have a comprehensive cable package).
Geoff Hendry
(c) 2010 Showflicks Inc.
