Hey, wait a second, I WROTE THAT!

What to do when someone steals your joke.

Ok, first things first, take a deep breathe. Then decide is the bit your worried about – is it really worth it? In other words, you really want to pick your battles with this stuff. If another comic is doing your bit, is it about airplanes and why you can’t have the tray table down when you land? If so, it’s not very original anyway. So, the other person who is doing it is either a hack or worse, a comic who steals from a hack – that hack being you. If this first case rings true for you, don’t even bring it up to the other guy, just write better stuff.

Second thing, decide if they’re really stealing the bit or if it was just PARALLEL THINKING. What is parallel thinking? Well, great minds think alike. Or minds that are constantly thinking of comedy are going to come up with the same premise. Sometimes it’s just the same premise and the punchline differs or how the bit is filtered down is different and sometimes -although rare- the bit is handled the exact same way right down to the punchline. If it’s parallel thinking, you may want to walk up to the other guy and discuss it with him in a non-aggressive way. Maybe you can find some common ground as to who is going to do the bit when, maybe you just won’t do it on the same show, or something like that. Whatever happens, if you like the other person and you don’t believe they are a thief, then find some common ground, try to compromise, and stay calm. If you go in accusatory, you’re going to get a bad reaction.

This guy really is a thief. Sometimes a dick is just a dick is just a dick. If that’s the case, if you know that beyond a shadow of a doubt, this guy stole from you – than you need to confront him. Start doing this by LAYING OUT THE FACTS. “Listen, Comic x, maybe you don’t realize it, but back when we did that club in Philly together and I went on before you, I did the exact bit that I just saw you do. So, I’d appreciate it, if you refrained from doing my act.” You probably want to say this in an email or in some way that avoids you getting slapped in the face. Provide as many facts as possible, which means…

Record your shit. The more of your act and material you can get on either video or in an audio format, the better. If I hear that someone is doing one of my original bits, almost to the letter, and if I know that it’s on my comedy cd from 3 years ago then I’m not that worried. I have proof that I wrote the bit first. And the other comic is just going to look bad.

When all else fails, remember, “Mimicry is the highest form of flattery.”

Courtesy of Coffee and Showbiz