robertreich:

The 2012 election should be about what’s going on in America’s boardrooms, but Republicans would rather it be about America’s bedrooms.

Mitt Romney says he’s against same-sex marriage; President Obama just announced his support. North Carolina voters have approved a Republican-proposed amendment…

Great article.

courtingcomedy:

5/10. Comedy Bodega @ Esta Noche. 3079 16th St. SF. Free. 8PM. Featuring Ronn Vigh, Marga Gomez, Susan Maletta, Rajeev Dhar, Riah Gouvia and Yvette Fernandez. 

robertreich:

One of the most pernicious falsehoods you’ll hear during the next seven months of political campaigning is there’s a necessary tradeoff between fairness and economic growth. By this view, if we raise taxes on the wealthy the economy can’t grow as fast.

Wrong. Taxes were far higher on top…

robertreich:

As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., wrote in 1904, “taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”

But the wealthiest Americans, who haven’t raked in as much of America’s income and wealth since the 1920s, are today paying a lower tax rate than they have in over thirty years. Even…

courtingcomedy:

4/14. Comedy @ SPARC. 1256 Mission St. SF. Free. 8PM. Featuring Natasha Muse, Chris Storin, Caitlin Gill, Melanie O’Brien, Jesse Fernandez, Keith D’Souza and hosted by Joe Gorman. 

[Non-medical marijuana member attendees need to RSVP: Here.]

courtingcomedy:

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             Stand up Comedy is an art. Within that art, many different writers and performers attempt to write what they think will make an audience laugh while (depending on the artist) staying true to their own beliefs. As is inevitable when anything is monetized, some successful writing has been taken by other performers. Traditionally the comedy community is supposed to take care of and police its own when it comes to stealing, but a more serious and legally binding form of discovering and punishing thieves must be designed and adhered to, but only when the offense consists of actual thievery.

            Robin Williams, Dane Cook, Carlos Mencia, three of the largest names in comedy during recent times have all been accused of stealing jokes. Although some of these stories have been blown out of proportion, the allegations generally have basis in reality. To begin with, the fact that these three comedians have survived these allegations shows that the comedy community has not done enough to stop these transgressions. When it comes down to it, many comedy audiences aren’t as sophisticated when it comes to the jokes which have been performed by other comedians. Frankly, I don’t think they care. We all have done horrible gigs where the audience is more concerned with getting their next drink than with the quality of the comedy let alone its origin.

            In the above situations, some of the discussions surrounding the incidents have shown that not all transgressions are created equal. Robin claimed on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast that he was on stage riffing and he went out with some stuff that he thought he conjured up that moment but later turned out that he had heard and inadvertently recorded from other comedians. To me, this isn’t surprising. When doing open mics and smaller showcases, all comedians have seen their friends and acquaintances repeat their acts so many times that almost anyone with a brain could repeat them verbatim.

            Dane Cook is supposedly a horrible joke thief who used to travel around clubs with two muscled guys and would assume ownership of jokes he liked by having the guys flex their muscles at the poor comedians. Although I have heard this, I haven’t actually seen anything to make me believe it. The problem with Dane and Louis CK, that is their business. The joke about naming people’s kids though, is a problem with premise repetition. In the case of a hackneyed premise, its expected that many comedians will write jokes about it. When this happens, its not joke thievery, its an easy premise that people all want to write about. Its important in this case to ensure that every comedian take his or her own viewpoint on the subject. Generally this will avoid thievery. Similar to the Robin Williams situation, Dane may have heard Louis’s album and internalized it. Our brains are programmed to remember information, but not the place from where the information originated. Could you imagine the amount of clutter you would have if you not only remembered every piece of information you know, but from whence it came as well?

            Carlos Mencia is a different beast. For him, I suggest that you listen to both of the WTF with Marc Maron podcasts with him, as well as the one with Joe Rogan and you make your own decision. The problem is, even if his career is on the wane, Carlos made millions, and not through the most moral of decisions.  So what happened? When it comes down to it, industry people don’t seem to care if a comedian takes others’ material as long as he or she makes people laugh. It doesn’t seem to affect the ability of the comedians to get work until public backlash is so high, that profitability drops, in the case of Mencia, he hasn’t been on television for a few years.

Perhaps one of the most odious of comedy thievery is that of Bill Hicks v. Denis Leary. Denis Leary not only took many of Hicks’ jokes, Leary stole Hicks’ persona and as Joe Rogan says, “made it more palatable.” Denis Leary has rocketed to fame, becoming a household name and having roles on many shows including Rescue Me. Hicks on the other hand died early of pancreatic cancer. This may be why some Bill Hicks fans are so angry about it, but many outside the comedy community don’t even know. Because Bill lived his life only gaining true acclaim in the United Kingdom, much like other artists who are appreciated only after their time, he largely missed out on the career benefits Leary accomplished by stealing his material and persona.

As comedians develop, they go through many phases and sometimes their writing will seem similar to their predecessors. They can use a variety of methods, sometimes inadvertently, such as voice intonation, body language, and rhythm. Going to an open mic or showcase, one can see many examples of one-liners delivered like Mitch Hedberg, or angry rants like Bill Hicks, or lyrical ramblings like Greg Proops. Some may argue that this is what Leary did. However, Leary did not do this of his predecessors, he didn’t do this at all. He directly took everything, material, tone, and persona. He did this from one of his friends and contemporaries.

The one exception to this rule are lines that pay homage, that everyone understands are a reference to older comedians. One good example of that is when Steve Hofstetter and many other comedians use the phrase “suckers of Satan’s Cock.” That phrase is so definitely from the mind of Bill Hicks that I personally recommend every comedian use it, especially in reference to corporations, marketers, politicians, lobbyists, or other suckers of Satan’s Cock.

One should hope that everyone finds his or her voice and makes his or her own material and is successful with that material. Since litigation and copywriting is out of the budget of the majority of comedians, the only option is that other comedians step up the enforcement. Instead of whispering behind someone’s back if you think you hear them stealing a joke, whether or not its yours, step up. Say, “Hey so and so, I think you accidently told a joke like one I tell.” Its probably not best to get confrontational, right away but you should both go through and check the above categories. If it’s a hack premise issue, then both keep the joke, who cares. If you are good comedians and continually write, that should be out of your repertoires within a couple months anyway. Its time that comedians not only enforce stealing, but ensure they know what constitutes thievery.

Some interesting links:

http://splitsider.com/2010/11/is-there-eve-a-justification-for-joke-stealing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w3yR_uBhXs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INarE1WraFA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFp5k9-_m34