Borrowing Comedy
- Sandra Carusi
- Aug 31, 2015
- 5 min read
Wowwee what a busy month for me and world of comedy. I spent a lot of time with the kidlets at the cottage and developing this snazzy new site. I’ve also spent a lot of time on my big girl radio show “Inside Joke’s “ soon to air on AM640. It will be the only show on comedy on terrestrial radio, or did I say that already (*smirk*). And I had a great corporate gig last Monday performing for some radio peeps at their sales conference. Yes, I performed for competitors and it was a riot!! They were so warm and friendly and I riffed on inside radio jokes and it seems the gang enjoyed it!
The comedy world has been buzzing. Comic ‘curator’ – as he refers to himself-- Josh Ostrovsky, better known as ‘The Fat Jew’ was called out by comics as a joke stealer. While rumours circulated that that’s how he lost his development deal from Comedy Central, that apparently was squashed months earlier. He also got a deal with monster talent agency CAA and rumours are they dumped him from the outing but it hasn’t been verified. All the same, it’ one big Ouch. He was accused of stealing material that he used on his twitter and Instagram posts. There’s even a website dedicated to ‘outing’ him on how he stole material and comics post their original post and then post the one he made ripping them off. Whatever the case, it opened the discussion. I like this excerpt from an article in The Guardian by Elise Czajkowski:
In standup terminology, oft-repeated gags that can’t be sourced are known as “street jokes”, and in the days of vaudeville and Catskill comedy, most comedy routines were simply a mix of these old standards. The focus on original material in standup is generally traced to the 1950s and the likes of Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce, whose timely and political material sparked a standup revolution. Over time, the move to more confessional, personal jokes meant comics felt more ownership over their material, and stealing jokes became seen as a terrible taboo in comedy. Accusations of joke theft have plagued comedians like Robin Williams, Denis Leary, Carlos Mencia and even Keith Chegwin.
See what I did there, see? See? I quoted my source rather than make believe this was my wonderful creation. hardi har har.
Through my various interviews with comics I like to ask the question on the propriety of material and comics simply vary on their opinion. Some believe that it doesn’t matter and everybody should get over it. Others believe its high treason. Others say there are basic premises and all comics riff differently on them. There’s no right answer but when there’s big donairo’s involved a lot of people get funky on it. It’s all fun and games until someone’s making dough off of somebody else’s work. It happens in the music industry so why not comedy? Well…it’s hard to track. So how are these folks making money? The wonderful ‘branded content’ economy, that’s how. Basically someone with a big social media following like @fat jew is solicited to endorse a product or brand like Burger King. Then, when he makes posts, he talks about it embedded in his post so it doesn’t seem like it’s an obvious endorsement. It’s like the old days when you would be watching a movie and the actor would be talking about going for a Coke. I gotta say Coke nailed it way back when because so many people went on to refer to cola as a brand name like Coke. And that my friends is how super brands are created. And our little itty bitty kiddies grow up asking for things by their name brand like Barbie’s. And then wonderful tv shows and movies are created to further perpetuate the brand.
After decades of selling advertising for terrestrial radio to many companies and brands, my heart feels the love and as a mama I’m torn. It is a new trend now in the advertising world and the smart brands have figured out a way to integrate their brand into almost everything. A recent Bloomberg Business article talks about how certain brands like BMW and AMEX hire big name Directors like Guy Ritchie and Spike Jonz to create compelling and authentic documentaries surrounding an issue on their brand. So so cool. At least the brands are providing content and information along the way so why not? They aren’t ‘curating’ content as Ostrovsky is right? As a person who has material ‘borrowed’ and ideas ripped off in radio, I gotta say I’m sensitive on the issues. Being creative is a talent and why should others benefit and not even give me a credit for it let alone a buck?
I just took a break from la blog to check out social media and emails and I just got a message back from old radio pal Dini Dimakos. I met her moons ago when we both started in radio. I remember we were in the radio station and she just started as an intern. I'm old !ha! She’s an awesome comic, actress and now mama. I’m looking forward to having her on the show. The show will feature talents like Dini and then I will have panels with a group of comics, amongst many other elements. Actually my pal Christine Cardoso is helping me with all this and I may trying to pack too much in the show. Christine co hosted a big Toronto morning show on EZRock and went on to produce shows on CBC. Then she produced and hosted Cravings on AM640. She knows her stuff and I’m grateful she’s helping me because lots of stuff going on! My old Second City pal Vince Tedesco will be the producer for the show and he will bring his writing genius to the show along with so much more. The Vinnie spent a few years in LA in the comedy clubs trying to make a go of it and I think his contributions to the show will be big time! I’m also grateful for my friend John Oakley. He spent a whole afternoon coaching me and giving me great direction. I can’t wait to join him on his morning show as a correspondent. And of course, JFL 42 in Toronto is coming up September 24th so lots and lots to prepare. I look forward to your feedback when the show finally hits the airwaves.
I don’t care how busy I am, it’s all so much freakin fun and way better than focusing on my health. I see my awesome oncologist on Wednesday just to check me out. Nothing like a good breast exam to get the juices flowing that’s for sure! A doctor’s cold hands on me fluffy ones. Yup. I’m buying the dude some mitts and mitt warmers for the cold winter months lol. ! All treatments are done and now I get to move on and live the dream!!
Cruzer out!
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