filipino comedian

Joke Stealing

One thing I noticed about some of the comedians out here in the Philippines is the unbridled stealing of jokes from other comedians. I’m not singling out just the gay comics because I’ve seen straight comics do a “Filipinized” version of an American comedian’s joke. One guy actually just did a Tagalog translation of Dave Attell’s joke about the one-legged man, and when I called the comic out on it, he said he thought of it. Yeah, sure, you and Dave share the same thoughts – highly unlikely.

Stealing someone else’s joke is plagiarism. It’s disrespect for intellectual property, which is the hardest right to protect in the Philippines. Why do you think there are so many pirated DVDs, fake Rolex watches, and triple A class Louie Vuitton bags? Of course, China and other Asian countries are guilty as well.

One time I watched a gay comic do a bit about being a flight attendant (I know, hacky right). Then, a few months after, I went to another show and another gay comic was doing the exact joke with the same sound track and everything. I just couldn’t believe it. One local comic, whose name I will not mention, actually went up to me and said “that’s the beauty of us comedians, we can borrow each other’s jokes”. I just stabbed her right there and ran out of the bar.

Parallel thinking is one thing but to outright just copy someone else’s material is just wrong. I know I have made some jokes that sounded so much like Dave Attell’s (but who hasn’t?), but when I realized that, I stopped doing them. It’s a hard call because I listen and watch so many comedians that when I write a joke, sometimes I can’t tell if it’s something I thought on my own or was influenced by somebody else. But as much as possible, I try to correct any mistakes I make.

So the solution – be original. If someone has a routine that sounds a lot like yours, you could do three things: 1. confront the dude and tell him that your joke is older, 2. sell your joke to him, or 3. write a better and more unique joke. To me, that’s the challenge. If you have similar material, that means you have not fully explored the possibilities of that topic and you have not milked your talent and skills. That is why it is so important to keep writing punch lines. The more you write, the more you will carve out your unique point of view on things, and that can never be copied.