Greg Fitzsimmons - Crusader Or Thief

Let's just start with the obvious. In the comedy world The Green Room is a particle of dust compared to Greg Fitzsimmons and so am I. His podcast Fitzdog radio is incredibly successful. He's written books, hosts his own radio show and is a regular guest on the Howard Stern Show, just to name some of his accomplishments. So who am I to say anything? I've been a standup comic since 1992 and honor that by following a pretty well defined basic principles. One of them being that you don't do someone else's bit.

That's why I was shocked to see this article come across one of my Google comedy news searches.

The Comedian Who Steals Cosby's Jokes to Save Them

I encourage you to read this article. In it Fitzsimmons says this:

"Yeah, can you separate the artist from the art? So for me, I was thinking about how to put a light on that by taking that good material and re-assigning it to comedians that can get something out of it. The tricky part I'm finding is I don't want to glorify him by doing it."

At least he doesn't seem to be worried about being caught. As far as I am concerned what Fitzsimmons is doing is outright theft. I know that's a strong statement and it's not one I've made lightly. I will also for the record say, I'm not a Cosby supporter. While I can appreciate his contribution to comedy I feel it has been irreparably harmed by his own actions.

Even so, that gives NO ONE the right to do someone else's material. The only time that right is available to ANYONE is if it given by the the person who wrote it. I don't care how horrible a human being has been. The right to your own material, regardless of what kind of individual you are is sacred. It is one of the cornerstones of entertainment.

There is no justification for this and I believe that Fitzsimmons knows this. Yet here is his reasoning:

"... I think it's also robbing Bill Cosby of his equity. I want to hurt him. I want to do what crowds have done by abandoning him, by taking away the thing that's probably most precious to him, which is his material."

Second only to "he's dead; he doesn't need it any more" and followed by "he doesn't deserve it" I can't think of any worse reasoning.

Taking someone's material because you don't like him or what he's done is as slippery a slope as you can stand on. Over the course of my comedy career I have met my share of douchebags. Alcoholics, drug addicts, serial philanderers, petty criminals and former criminals. Then there are those that have abandoned their kids and cheated on their spouses. It's a business filled with narcissists.

Yet not once have I thought about stealing their material. Not once have has it entered into my head, "Here is how I am going to punish this piece of human garbage, I'll start doing his material. That'll show him!". What a ridiculous idea! How does it punish the person you stole from? If anything it gives them back some of their power. You've now made them a victim. You've given them a way to deflect some of the righteous anger that should be directed at them.

Why do that when the natural order of things is doing just fine on it's own? Take a look at Cosby's career, it has been destroyed. I would go so far as to say he will never come back and rightfully so. In many ways Cosby is "dead" but that still doesn't give anyone the right to do his material.  That's like saying, "Well George Carlin is dead, he won't be using his material anymore. So ...". It's sounds ridiculous because it is.

Like it or not Cosby hasn't even been convicted of ANYTHING and even that wouldn't be a good acid test. If being convicted of a crime and sent to prison was an acid test for whether or not an artists material becomes "public domain" let's look at Vince Champ.

Vince Champ is a comedian AND convicted rapist who was convicted of raping at least 4 women and will be in prison until 2025. Unlike Cosby who was accused of rape, Champ has been convicted. So if being accused of rape is your acid test Mr. Ftizsimmons why aren't you doing Vince Champ's material? It would serve you right if Cosby sued you and used that money to fund his rape defense.

Get over yourself. You don't have the right to do Cosby's material and as far as I know, no one has given you the authority to decide to change one of the most fundamental rules of comedy.

You're looking a lot like click bait ...

Vilmos has been a standup comedian since 1992. He created GreenRoomRadio.net a web site with Podcasts by comedians. He is the host of The Green Room which is the longest running Podcast on standup comedy. He also hosts The Spew. His web site is Vilmos.com. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com.vilmosthecomic or Twitter @vilmosthecomic.

Why Amy Schumer Isn't A Joke Thief

One thing we have plenty of in the standup comedy business are "joke thieves".

While there are a couple that have become famous (I won't mention their names here). Most of the time "joke thieves" are contained to the lower ranks of standup comedy. Some are lazy, some have no talent and some (my guess is most) are a combination of both with a healthy dose of entitlement mixed in.

There is no doubt that "joke thieves" are despised. Especially so when they are able to use the stolen material to actually earn a living. In essence, using some one else's hard work for their own personal gain. The saddest fact of all is that the people that hire these thieves could care less. Clubs are interested in making money and very few worry about where the material a comedian uses on their stage comes from. The way they see it, it's not their "problem". As long as their audience laughs and the drinks are selling, they don't care.

Accusing someone of being a joke thief is a big deal. It's mostly done amongst comedians in the back of showrooms. It's rare that the accusation is made publicly, and when it is; for a comic, it's like when a man is accused of being a child molester. Even if the accusation is shown to have absolutely no merit, some people will ALWAYS believe the person is guilty.

Here is the video put together to support the claim that Amy Schumer Ripped off the late Patrice O'Neal.

Here is why Schumer didn't steal the joke ...

If you watch the video you will see the accusation stems from the fact that both Schumer and O'Neal were talking about the same sexual acts but used different names for them.

The truth is that both comedians are working a pretty well used premise. Doing material on "shocking" sexual acts is nothing new to standup comedy and actually has almost become "hack". Meaning that it's been done so many times that a joke on the topic has ceased to be considered "original".

I'm not making that judgement here. In fact, O'Neal's bit was from 2007. You could make a case that those kind of jokes weren't hack back then.

Why is it not hack for Schumer? Mostly because she's a woman and the topic of shocking sexual positions just isn't a thing women do. Plus she added her own personal reaction to the bit.

It's no secret that Schumer has a reputation for working "dirty" and this joke fits right into that. I suspect that this accusation comes from either an uber O'Neal fan, a jealous comic or someone that needed some good click bait.

So move along .... there's nothing to see here ...

Vilmos has been a standup comedian since 1992. He created GreenRoomRadio.net a web site with Podcasts by comedians. He is the host of The Green Room which is the longest running Podcast on standup comedy. He also hosts The Spew. His web site is Vilmos.com. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com.vilmosthecomic or Twitter @vilmosthecomic.