I wrote this play recently, Taking the Bullet, about struggling stand-up comics. And, naturally, one of the central conflicts revolves around joke stealing - a subject that's been receiving some much deserved attention lately.
And, as others have pointed out, this week saw Joe Rogan confront Carlos Mencia live onstage.
God bless Joe Rogan for standing up for the integrity of hardworking, honest comics everywhere.
And what does he get for having the balls to publicly call out Ned Holness (Mencia's real name)? What does Joe get for calling Mencia a thief and liar - to his face?
Joe's asked to "take a break from the Comedy Store" and he gets dropped by his agent.
It's still about dollars and cents. Mencia has the number 2 rated show on Comedy Central, he makes a lot of money for the clubs he plays, and he has a large following. Most of whom could give a rat's ass about where he gets his material.
But for comics, this is their life, their blood, sweat, and tears. These are their laughs and as long as we sit idly by while the Carlos Mencias of the world make money off the words of other comics, we're just as much a part of the problem.
Luckily, Joe's a big enough name to weather this storm.
But we, as comedians or fans of comedy, should make an effort to stand behind Joe on this one. As he syas:
Now can you IMAGINE if I was a young, struggling comic and all this shit went down?
THAT is the really ugly part of it.
Now you know why people don't speak up about this shit.
Every comic should be talking about this right now.
Every comic should be throwing their support behind Joe. He's clearly a man who loves and appreciates the art of comedy.
If you're in LA, please support Joe. He's at the Improv tonight at 10. From Joe:
The first thing I did when I got the call, is to phone my friend Rita over at the Improv in Hollywood and ask if I could get on there this weekend. She bent over backwards to accommodate me, and gave me spots for Thursday night at 10, Friday at 8:30, and Saturday at 10. To her, and Joel over there, I say thank you very much. I truly appreciate the support.
If anyone wants to see me this weekend, that’s where I’ll be performing.
If you want to come down and show your support and have a good time, the address for and phone number for the Improv is:
323 651 5810
Hollywood Improv
8162 Melrose ave. Hollywood, CA
And if you're a fan of comedy or a comic yourself, I encourage you to stop supporting The Comedy Stop so long as they continue to support joke thieves.
Register your disappointment with them:
323-656-6225
info@comedystore.com
And please, don't watch Ned's show on Comedy Central.
This is something for comics to stand up about; this is about right and wrong.
This is about preserving the integrity of our art form.
Because, as Richard Pryor said:
"Comedy is some serious shit."
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