{"id":8139,"date":"2025-10-25T23:38:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T03:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/?p=8139"},"modified":"2025-10-25T23:38:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T03:38:29","slug":"the-comedy-police-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecomedybook.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/25\/the-comedy-police-force\/","title":{"rendered":"The Comedy Police Force"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey Dave \u2013 I was at an open-mic last week. A comic went on stage and \u201ccalled out\u201d another comic who had gone before him for stealing jokes. He did this from the stage. Afterwards, he couldn\u2019t prove it – and no one else remembered hearing those jokes anywhere else. We think he was wrong and handled it wrong. Any thoughts? \u2013 D<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

Comedy police out for joke-stealers!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Hey D \u2013 I always have thoughts. And when they\u2019re about comics stealing material, they\u2019re never good ones.<\/p>\n

What a jerk.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wait\u2026 let me rethink that. We might have two jerks<\/strong> here. Allow me to think out loud – or at least in loud writing.<\/p>\n

JERK #1<\/strong><\/p>\n

This honor goes to the comic who \u201ccalled out\u201d the other one from the stage.<\/p>\n

First of all, he admitted afterward that he had no proof. Maybe he thought he was being edgy\u2014sometimes that works\u2014but not when it\u2019s at the expense of another comic who\u2019s just trying to improve at an open-mic. That\u2019s what these nights are for: getting better.<\/p>\n

(And of course, this assumes the first comic didn\u2019t<\/strong> actually steal material.)<\/p>\n

The accuser should\u2019ve talked to him privately, not trashed him in front of an audience. Unless a comic is known<\/em> for stealing, the professional move is to speak offstage, one-on-one.<\/p>\n

Bill Engvall talked about this in my book Comedy FAQs and Answers<\/em><\/strong>. He called it the comedy police<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Mention it!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

When you think someone\u2019s stealing, mention it\u2014but privately. Comics should police each other, keep each other honest. If the warned comic keeps doing the same bit after being told, then<\/em> there might be consequences.<\/p>\n

But sometimes it\u2019s not theft – it\u2019s coincidence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I once knew two comics, one in New York and one in Los Angeles, who independently wrote the same joke. They didn\u2019t know each other and had never worked the same clubs. But the LA comic did the joke on the television show, A&E\u2019s An Evening at the Improv.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(I know, because I was the talent coordinator standing off – camera when it happened.)<\/p>\n

After the taping, I called the NY comic – both are still friends of mine – and told him what happened. He immediately said, \u201cWell, I can\u2019t do that joke anymore.\u201d He wasn\u2019t mad, because he knew they\u2019d both written it honestly. But now that it had aired nationally, the other guy \u201cowned\u201d it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just how the business works.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So yes, a comic can accidentally do something too similar to someone else\u2019s bit. The right way to handle that is quietly and respectfully – not grandstanding from the stage.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got proof, talk privately. If he keeps doing it, then<\/em> you can call him out.<\/p>\n

JERK #2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s talk about the other jerk – the one who really does<\/em> steal.<\/p>\n

Back in New York, when I was starting out, there was an open-mic comic who ran a popular show. He was a nice guy, gave people stage time, and claimed to be a headliner in Florida.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t quite add up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turned out, he was going to Florida and doing the best material he\u2019d stolen from comics performing at his open-mic.<\/p>\n

Say what?!<\/p>\n