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.
