Patton Oswalt: Joke Theft Is No Laughing Matter (HBO)

Conan O’Brien is embroiled in a $600,000 civil suit alleging that he or his writers stole jokes from a Twitter user named Robert Alex Kaseberg. But the case is far from clear: O’Brien’s team maintains they wrote the bits and that the plaintiff lacks evidence.
The case highlights how difficult it is to own a joke legally, and to prove it’s been stolen. Comedian Patton Oswalt is a witness in the case and can’t address it directly.
VICE News spoke with Oswalt about joke-stealing, and where the line is.
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[@VICENews]

"If you are a comedian, you know when something's been stolen, when something is not right, when clearly someone is doing something that is just not theirs." WATCH NEXT: The video game that allows players to become everything - bit.ly/2xOKQT6

[@jamesearlcash1758]

It happens in the music industry as well regarding music and or song theft. Is there a chance that you guys could cover music and song theft?

[@ulfragnarsson]

Joe Rogan's discussion about Ari w/Carlos? Not gonna mention it? At all? Okay.

[@dannytreyus7020]

Fake News is worse. You have been notified.

[@pepefrog9262]

VICE News look into Amy Schumer.

[@RockMonster1000]

Comedians have been swapping and stealing jokes forever, why is it suddenly a big deal? It used to be a compliment! now, if I ended up becoming $20,000 richer off your that, would that bother you?

[@chrisconnell4074]

I used to steal Mitch hedberg jokes, I still do but I used to too.

[@cvc-gamingglitchrespositor9607]

Hey, can't steal from the dead, can ya? This sounds like a Mitch joke, but i don't think it is (watch it's like a seinfeld joke or something): I tried to drown my demons with some booze, but they started taking swim lessons.

[@TellEveryoneRecords]

Chris Connell well played.

[@pinfold1000]

Chris Connell R.I.P Mitch died doing what he loved. Heroin!

[@Luke-te2ez]

lol well done

[@bhgentry]

can i steal this?

[@HomersIlliad]

The background music made it sound as if Patton Oswalt was talking about being an arms dealer.

[@seanhastings4432]

I want to see Patton Oswalt play an arms dealer in a movie, now.

[@podcasterat1542]

@@seanhastings4432 It could happen

[@pepesylvia848]

Maybe in a bad anime or something

[@ryanott1407]

It's not easy getting jokes through customs. Just try being funny with TSA. Doesn't go well.

[@bcbphilosophy]

The background music sounds like they're talking about arms dealers, am I right??

[@ramseykeilani9569]

The legal case surrounding Conan just ended this week: O'Brien settled out of court with Kaseberg for an undisclosed amount.

[@geoffreybentley5619]

not sure about the other jokes but definitely the Seattle Seahawk joke was not stolen, That joke was seen everywhere after the game, the memes were endless. It would be impossible to tell who that joke came from, hell when not even joking about it sport commentators would say pete gave away that game.

[@CaliforniaCarpenter7]

Rad, thank you for that!

[@AndorranStairway]

Conan explained that he settled because he “decided to forgo a potentially farcical and expensive jury trial in federal court over five jokes that don’t even make sense anymore” and that he simply wanted to defend his writers. A simple search on twitter revealed that plenty of other people made similar jokes, but only one guy decided that he was robbed

[@chrishansen2409]

@@geoffreybentley5619 yeah, that joke was not stolen, too many people said it at the same time

[@liquidmang]

Yeah that’s something that happened with their writers for talk shows.

[@sonofbatman5233]

I’ll save y’all the time. All the comments are about Amy Schumer being a Joke Thief. Carry on.

[@benjamingardner3314]

Thank you for your service. In honor of your heroics, a bat emoji will shine when you're needed once again (M/°∆°\M)

[@sonofbatman5233]

Benjamin Gardner If you need me...I will be there...

[@henrysmith9725]

I mean I’m not disagreeing with those other comments, but there’s just so many of them...

[@TheDiegobean]

Thanks and I'm out

[@schisandra]

OMFG! It’s a 6-min vid, and folks are losing their minds because Amy isn’t mentioned! I want to shake their bobble heads - IT IS ONLY SIX MINUTES LONG! ALSO, MAKE YOUR OWN F%%%ING VIDEO IF YOU HAVE SUCH A GIANT STICK IN YOUR A%% ABOUT IT! Phew. Needed to get that off my chest. Please note I’m not an apologist for Amy. I simply don’t care about this issue. Yes, stealing is bad. No, it’s not the worst thing in the world. That is all.

[@TheAnthraxBiology]

Conan doesn't write a lot of his jokes. People should be blaming his team.

[@Tikoty]

They are. But Conan's show and NBC have the money and responsibility for their employees.

[@m4kk393]

Conan hasn't been on NBC for over 7 years

[@CosmicFuzzFM]

pwn'd

[@bronzino8213]

I was thinking the same thing. Just like Patton Oswalt mentioned there's a difference between just comedy and an actual comedian. I really didn't see late night talk show host as comedians. So if they told a joke I'd heard before, it didn't bother me. I always figured they had a team of writers for their show.

[@ElMoShApPiNeSs]

This is true but the name of the show is still 'Conan' so he's kind of responsible.

[@libbotoppo]

Man time flys. I remember watching Gerald on Hey Arnold when I was a kid. Now he's all grown up.

[@CurtisDensmore1]

Luc Wicklund Yes!

[@voteZDLR]

LOL thank you

[@FGOKURULES]

You stupid!!! I just got it!!!

[@Humphking]

Luc Wicklund it would blow my mind if he dressed like him one day and then do the awesome handshake with whichever guest he's interviewing at the time

[@lydiap4207]

LOL I knew he looked familiar af

[@jackhenderson3161]

I bet Amy Schumer feels attacked rn

[@juantamad6576]

That's why the person who thought of "Feeling High on Potenuse" should be given credit/acknowledgement. This is serious guys.

[@GreenEnvy.]

I spent the whole video saying in my head "AMY SCHUMER, AMY SCHUMER, AMY SCHUMER..."

[@Gus_Chiggins]

Conans monologue is written by 5+ peeps, don't get mad at Conan... he's 👏

[@andreingramakadjscrewrip7372]

OC-SJC :. I may be wrong, but he was never a comedian (I think).

[@pvlapa]

All talk show hosts has a team that write their material. Hosts perform everyday. If they wrote their material all of them would have a mental breakdown before their 2nd year.

[@DoctorFurioso]

He was a comedic writer, including the Simpsons and SNL. He also has an improv background, and briefly appeared in roles on both of his major writing gigs. So, yes, he was a comedian from early on. Just not a stand-up.

[@renel8964]

He's more carrot than man now.

[@jcobbs4523]

@@andreingramakadjscrewrip7372 I think he was on SNL.

[@Notsomysteriouguitar]

So that's what the guy from Hey Arnold is doing these days.

[@j2times2006]

Super long lol. Man that hi top is annoying

[@matthewwilliams8220]

Super long dude . that’s my joke. not cool.

[@sabahbubbler]

His name is Gerald

[@zaurhasanov5458]

Ahhaahhaha

[@Milkshakes289]

You stole that joke.

[@TheGoodfella2012]

Vice, how do you do a piece on joke theft and not mention Amy Schumer

[@gregdubya1993]

She's one of the crowd. They won't criticize her.

[@nzgamelife323]

Because chuck.

[@jacobjackson7013]

It’s old news. Everyone knows at this point. 😁

[@schisandra]

Layth Adrian Or maybe they decided to make a short video instead of a comprehensive documentary.

[@TheDiegobean]

You mean miss piggy?

[@patrickpoison4803]

I click this because I thought it was going to be about Amy Schumer

[@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494]

I clicked cause I saw Patton Oswalt

[@BeeBumper]

It was.

[@victoriahale5254]

Patrick Poison get over it nerd

[@ACVRG1]

It’s vice. For women by women. You would never see vice call out a female. It’s sexism in its purest form to them.

[@capnmo6718]

Or Trevor Noah. Both are unfunny, and are even unfunny in how they tell the jokes they steal.

[@jasondalton6111]

Ive always wondered why there isn’t the equivalent of a comedy ‘cover song’. Where you do somebody else’s bits, but it’s known and out in the open. Writing good jokes and delivering jokes well are two different skills.

[@paulcarter7403]

It would be to hard to copyright a joke concept I think. I don't think you could copyright a topic like love or war in song as you couldn't copyright a joke about the topic of death or marriage. It would be hard to prove a joke was stolen word for word unless it is actually told verbatim

[@McShag420]

Because with music, you're not waiting for a punchline. You are waiting to be surprised with humor.

[@bjontis]

Lol

[@Faygo33]

@@paulcarter7403 well there's only so many concepts and so many topics just like there's only so many chords in music in the case of comedy there's certain topics that pretty much have been used in comedy for years your bound to have crossover of certain things but if you come up with your own build up and your own punchline then your pretty safe in the case of Conan's jokes that were in this video he didn't do the joke verbatim but his build up and punchline were both very similar and in music you can't copyright a chord structure otherwise every single musician ever would be suing one another you can however copyright how it's played

[@davestar4718]

Karijokey

[@dcaseng]

If stealing jokes was a crime, Amy Schumer would be at the top of the FBI's most wanted list. How her name never got mentioned once during this video is beyond comprehension.

[@biga173rdify]

Facts and she sucks.

[@joeyj4714]

Her face annoys me

[@TuPapiRicoSuave]

Not even tryna blow a bit of wind her direction. Good move

[@johnc1280]

He can’t lol. This is HBO and they wouldn’t shoot themselves in foot by outing someone that’s on their payroll i.e. whom in turn is really making money for the HBO network

[@McShag420]

Since she is a female comedian, woke culture won't make her face the music.

[@Randomgeneratedhandle]

The interviewer has the same hair as Marge Simpson.

[@emuesiriofovwe8981]

On life

[@MothGirl007]

Totally.

[@pepesylvia848]

He does

[@BaronVonQuiply]

I wrote a joke and then saw it on -American Dad- Family Guy a few years later. It was an interesting mix of pride that it was "good enough" for network TV and feeling like I was owed money. That, and realization that people can write the same joke without ever communicating with each other, especially in cases where the jokes seem to write themselves.

[@MrBeny]

... Go on then?

[@BaronVonQuiply]

Let's dissect the frog then. The premise relies on the fact that Betty Rubble is nowhere to be found in the Flintstone vitamins - Fred, Barney, Wilma, Pebbles, Bam-Bam, even Dino but not Betty. The reason for this is simply that she wasn't deemed popular enough to warrant inclusion but I "tried to start a rumor" that the manufacturer had to recall them because the purple dye used for the Betty vitamins turned out to actually be industrial strength MDMA. I'd then tell people to check for themselves, and see that their Flintstone vitamins are missing all the Bettys. While going through the series (and I could be wrong but I remember it as American Dad) I heard one of the characters talking about how they popped a few Purple Bettys that weekend and rolled their brains out. I'm not sure what it is, but for some reason Betty Rubble, the color Purple, and Ecstasy seem to go together and I just assume that I'm not the first person to string them together into a joke.

[@littledebbie8107]

+Baron von Quiply i love this😂😂😂. whoever you are you just. made my night😂😂😂

[@JamesOhGoodie]

Which, by the way, I won't disparage people for going for the obvious joke in any situation. If that joke is the first thing that popped in your head, it probably popped in some other people's heads too, so there's no shame in just saying it and getting the laugh.

[@Snake3yesEddie]

Baron von Quiply i had exactly the same thought as you. Sometimes people can just come up with the same ideas. When a celebrity does something stupid or illegal. Many people can find similar or obvious connections that humor stems from.

[@biancabeavis7198]

When you make a great joke to your friend in class and they repeat it louder and the whole class laughs.

[@Singleballtheory]

In the Conan case, you're talking about topical references to immediate news items. Nobody is beating anybody else to the punchline. They're all simply brainstorming in real-time while attempting to cull raw news stories for comedy. To that effect you could likely make a montage of all the late-night shows ripping each other off at various points on a weekly basis due to both the nature of the business and the jokes themselves. Obviously they're not watching each other's shows first and THEN writing the exact same jokes. They are instead coming up with the same basic (and often times simplistic) premises which in turn becomes roughly the same jokes being told by each of them. This situation is no different, but in this case you have an individual essentially trying to claim "First!" on the same conclusions thousands of other people also drew at the exact same time but just didn't happen to get to their Twitter feed as quickly. In some ways I would even go so far as to say this is the same mentality and tactic Patent Trolls employ, which would be a horrific precedent to set if applied to general thought or speech. Where joke stealing becomes less ambiguous and more shady is within the context of a bit or routine having an established performance history by one comedian, then later either lifted wholesale or only slightly re-worked and performed by another comedian later on. Hicks versus Leary falls within this category in my opinion. Mencia versus, well, several comedians really also falls within this category.

[@ahein719]

Sure. But that stops being true as soon as you have not one, not two, but three jokes in a row that are identical. The original coming out in print while jokes were being written by Conan’s team for the show is as black and white open & shut as it gets. In my opinion. See if it’s one , no big deal. If it’s one after another, I could still make the coincidence/ parallel thinking case. But one after another after another, 3 instances of the same you’ve got a pattern

[@McShag420]

That's pure bullshit. It's far too close of jokes in the same time frame. Writers just think they can get away with it because there's so much entertainment and the social media cycles quickly.

[@sittinonthegodamcornerdoindope]

@@ahein719 you’re playing devil’s advocate and giving them too much credit - a lot of them DO steal on purpose. I get the argument about stealing general ideas; it’s like stealing a simple chord progression in music. That chord progression existed long before and will be used long after , so who gets to call dibs?

[@playsauce]

Thanks. Yeah, the way they introduce the Conan thing and then leave it hanging was irritating in how it made him look guilty. I had to look it up. Conan did absolutely nothing wrong nor did his writers.

[@AndorranStairway]

Cough It Up except this video is inaccurate. Conan’s team actually proved they wrote one of those jokes before that dude actually tweeted. His team also showed that at least 30 others on twitter made similar jokes at the same times. Coincidences like this happen all the time when it comes to topical humour

[@Prodbystaymes]

Carlos Mencia, I hope you’re watching this.

[@bluetwinkiesaregood]

He’s not even relevant anymore. So no worries...

[@Noodlepoke]

I hear Amy shumer is the biggest joke stealer but I feel that she may have found a way to get away with it. Carlos Mencia has his career ruined from stealing jokes.

[@jasonomnia9295]

YeahRIght Wanna know how shes getting away with it? It's because shes got a vagina. Society are so easy to pin a guy in a headlock but when a woman does it no one even bat an eye

[@DeathInANuse]

It took a long time for Carlos to go down, and he took himself out. She won't be taken down until women won't stand up for her anymore.

[@kevinmoseley1039]

YeahRIght yea it's cuz calling out women on their bullshit is now sexist. Feminism won at being both victims and bullies simultaneously. Anyone who shots on this comment is wrong and will yell MRA and every other hack defense that aids shitty comics like schumer to continue their theft of material.

[@kevinmoseley1039]

DeathInANoose won't happen that's the sad part of modern feminism. It's a big sister mean girl cult. In the words of former schumer show writer Kurt Metzger. Modern radical feminism boosts up the worst and most horrid representations of women like schumer a joke thief just because they have a vag.

[@OGecalien]

YeahRIght I thought it was from the jackets wardrobe made him wear.

[@trublgrl]

Weirdest interview blocking, lighting, and camera ever. I'm not convinced these guys were wearing pants.

[@Actiomedey]

Lol seriously

[@NathanChisholm041]

Legend has it the reporters hair has now reached the moon! Congratulations....

[@makeit7579]

I dig the interviewers eraser head hair-do

[@bluetextonwhitebg]

what team coco did is shitty, but come on. how do you lose $600,000 in revenue from *tweeting*?!

[@papaya_powerlol3826]

bluetextonwhitebackground most likely Kaseberg is salty because conan, won more money then he did.

[@nviwraith5271]

bluetextonwhitebackground when you choose to sue a big company like that or a rich person you always set the amount of which you sue for to and insanely high amount, its common practice. 600k for Conan is like 2 dollars.

[@joeg6242]

Intellectual property has value. Parallel thinking exists but 3 times in a short period? The odds decrease exponentially. Someone on O'brian's team is a joke thief. Pay up...$600k is cheap for the networks.

[@aoflex]

bluetextonwhitebackground You just stole my KZbin comment. I am sueing you for $69,000.

[@Deathshuck]

Well, if you get cause for suing, might as well sue for as much as you can. It's not like they can't afford it.

[@alphaomega7433]

All jokes after 1989 were stolen from the Simpsons.

[@14AspenDrive]

ALFA OHMEGA the simpsons have jokes?

[@LaGrrrande]

And let's not forget that Conan used to write for The Simpsons. Checkmate.

[@cordlefhrichter1520]

You stole that joke from South Park.

[@SirGeeeO]

All jokes from the Simpsons are stolen from 60s and 70s pop culture

[@shanecollis4207]

Even further back also, lot's of 30's & 40's stuff also. Which Matt Groening and the writers/producers of the original Simpson's would have grown up watching.

[@elmantishrimp1689]

Ever since I've seen Ratatouille I can't help but think of Remy when I hear him

[@tylerbozinovski427]

Also Cringecraft: Story Mode.

[@slxxpyhollow]

Wow this was really fantastic I would love to see a whole documentary about this with all different comedians

[@flatplant]

Amy Schumer has built a career on stealing jokes from other people

[@DK-ub5ph]

Uncle Ben Where else would she steal them from? Toasters?

[@moonlily1]

Not really. She has apparently done that, but if she'd BUILT her career on it, she wouldn't have one- people would have noticed before. The thing is, she CAN write- she wrote 'Trainwreck' and wrote on her own show.

[@ottohedlund9955]

@@moonlily1 check out the videos on youtube. It will change ur mind.

[@moonlily1]

I didn't comment on whether she did it or not, Otto. I said you folks are obsessed with her and whether or not she steals jokes has nothing to do why. No one here will call out the person the video focuses on, but insists on changing the subject to her, with an obsessive, one track focus.

[@ottohedlund9955]

Yeah that is 100% accurate. But i belive people take "Patton Oswalt: Joke Theft Is No Laughing Matter (HBO)" as a forum of joke stealers, wich ends up in this comment section of this video. This is like a #metoo movement.. sort of! And Amy is one of them that is stealing a joke almost 99% of without any effort. People here just love comedy and dont want any fake comedians.

[@kylewindere2133er]

Any schemer should not have a career

[@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494]

You, however, would strengthen your case if you could spell her name

[@A-small-amount-of-peas]

Plumo Harris I think she also made the most money

[@kung-fu-kevin]

Even worst . She steals them and somehow make them unfunny

[@victoriahale5254]

kylewinder you should get a life and stop worrying about someone you don’t know

[@eddieadamsfromtorrance8670]

Any? Any? Any Anys in the house?

[@WizKickzsports]

I just found out two days ago sean Astin isn't Patton Oswalt

[@jn2292]

"you've accidently killed your wife...I mean stole a joke..."

[@enochroot9438]

I have never laughed at any of Amy Schumer's stolen jokes

[@zjkingsley7]

Amy Schumer steals from the dead, RIP Patrice

[@paulvander120]

It takes a special person to steal a good joke that got laughs, and then deliver it yourself and somehow make it suck.

[@WhalesWilly]

zjkingsley7 she also stole from people who defend her like Hannibal Burress

[@JuhQman]

I don't laugh at the original ones either

[@willyou8622]

essentially every jokes revolves around her dirty vag....

[@duanegulick9119]

I don't think Conan stole those jokes. Those were literally the easiest jokes I've ever heard

[@DeathInANuse]

Conan doesn't write jokes, he tells them.

[@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631]

Conan has a team of writers. He was a writer never a comedian

[@MrKushinator420]

@@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631 So where is the comedian then? If he's a writer, and all his writers are writers.

[@Thatdudewiththedogs]

They were told the day AFTER they guy tweeted them, in I think almost all 3 cases. And you don't think someone saw them and stole them? Come on now

[@TS-qq7vr]

Youngyoungin 111: Simple punchlines write themselves. I'm sure the same things were said 1,000s of times independently around the country.

[@NorthTexasEagle1989]

Goes to Kaseberg's Twitter. Sees 25 jokes about one topic in current events. Understands Kaseberg's con.

[@thegrovestine]

"Hey, am I the only person with a rotary cell phone?" "Let's not open that can of worms!"

[@aaronshields8135]

Intellectual property,. We need better ethical discussions over the ownership of ideas. Right now it seems profit is the only argument for intellectual property.

[@JdMetal]

Defuq, jokes become an IP now? Get out of here....

[@aaronshields8135]

In case you miss the point, it's a cultural phenomenon, IP rights have always favoured the rich and there is no incentive to give ideas away for the betterment of society. Should any medicine or seed be patented? The usual argument is trying to make me sympathetic towards loss of profit when someone 'steals' your idea. So no monetary system could exist without patents? I would argue patents allow those at the top to stay entrenched.

[@JdMetal]

Aaron Shields seeds and medical tangibles...and have far more impact and important to society....but jokes? Lets just say egg and chicken jokes ideas been claim by me...then whats next for that joke? Everyone who tell that stupid jokes are mine, and whoever use it needs apply for license to use it? Im not saying stealing ideas is good...but jokes is something very different example like musics etc etc....

[@aaronshields8135]

I'm saying tear down the wall we call "Intellectual Property" rights, allow everyone, everywhere around the world access to ideas and the ability to use them for the benefit of the community. I think ideas are owned by all persons because all ideas are not new as much as they are accidental and a natural process of people in the 'right' place at the 'right' time. The fact that any idea you come up with on any Corporate property (while under employment of the corporation) is automatically declared ownership by the Corporation should tell you who IP rights benefit. This is a common practice especially in Media, even in contracted positions and in Journalism! If I make the next idea up that will make my employer save thousands or more, I have no right to any compensation or patent to that idea (typically speaking).

[@Chaparty]

You can't steal a joke. No one owns a joke. You can redeliver it in your own way or exactly as you've heard it. In some days it'll land and you'll get your laughs. In others, it'll bomb because someone (or more than one person) would realise that you're telling someone else's joke and react negatively to it. Whether or not you're a scumbag for doing it intentionally is a different matter altogether. FYI you are.

[@jbravo15]

Why was the end of that interview so awkward?

[@Psychol-Snooper]

Yeah! What was that?

[@doughnutfingers]

Really, he just looked at the producer like "are we fucking done?"

[@MinLee2]

Hahaha! So good.

[@i0rpheus]

Explaining comedy is like explaining a joke.

[@jblue1622]

Editor left in that bit at the end for no apparent reason, I think if that was a normal feature of interviews no one would think it was awkward

[@johnnyboyzZ]

When I’m an old man I’m stealing all the greatest jokes of my era. And I don’t give AF. 😂💯

[@dakotarain7745]

I clicked on this because I thought of Amy Schumar

[@jeffreymark475]

Amy schumer is the queen of joke stealing

[@jlserna11]

And Carlos Mencia is the king

[@dustyomeara5070]

I wonder if Amy Schumer saw this.

[@reut0094]

She's probably gonna do a news spot on stealing jokes now.

[@bryansalazar6828]

Apparently she never saw these people do this bit, it was purely a coincidence she did this segment in her news spot^

[@drumsNstuff79]

Personally I love Patton and his observational, conversational, reality based bits. He just makes fun of himself, pokes fun at the trial of fatherhood, being a good husband, and wacky life in general. His older bit were stolen, but his stuff now is just so HIM you'd know if someone stole it. I agree with him. It's one thing to write a lame joke with an obvious punchline, and then get mad when another hack comedian writes a joke on the same worn out topic and then goes right to that same obvious punchline. But when a comedian writes a joke in his style, on a topic he would write about or finds uniquely funny, and then another lesser comedian does then exact same bit the same way it is stealing. Guys like Seinfeld have such a signature style you know a bit is theirs just by the wording and delivery and that cannot be copied. They worked hard too be unique and original and I can understand them getting mad about a bit being copied to closely. And and audience theses days should be more discerning.

[@pizzaman8409]

2:41 to 2:59 Very true 👍 👌 Conan's writers were clearly a fan of Kaseberg! They should've just hired Kaseberg as a writer lmao 🤣

[@AndorranStairway]

Nope. It was a farce. Over the course of the lawsuit, it was revealed that 34 other people on twitter made the same joke about Pete Carroll. When it comes to topical humour, people make the same jokes all the time

[@BabysitterSky]

Hands up... Who thought this was about Amy Schumer??

[@Krombop.M]

arrest amy schumer.

[@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494]

I appreciate what you're saying, but SOOO many guys are on these threads kvetching about her it seems kinda disproportionate. Anybody mentioned Denis Leary? At all? Happy to have it pointed out if it's occurred...

[@dishmanw]

I would love to see a group comedians file a class action suit against her.

[@louisdonzo3474]

#BurnAmySchumer has a better ring to it.

[@Adarkane325xi]

I don’t think Patton Oswalt has to worry about anyone stealing his jokes.

[@dwayneadamsworld]

Carlos Mencia is sweating while watching this

[@thrasher2094]

1:55 I have had the same stuff happen to me as a musician before. After fucking around coming up with riffs sometimes i will come up with some riff that i think is awesome just to later find out its from a song i listen to that i forgot was in that song until i listen to it later. And i had never played those particular notes in the riff ever before but i later figure out why i wanted to keep it for a song. Now, usually before the song is done i'll figure it out and take the riff out or change it just enough to not be stolen. But its still pretty much based off of that riff hahahaha. There are inly so many ways to play and different variations before all the good riffs are taken. I play metal so a lot of riffs are similar to other people's riffs.

[@UndercoverRat]

blah

[@uhby6297]

I remember when the show "Mind of Mencia" came under fire for the same reason.

[@Issacandjacob]

Every insult imaginable has been said way before a lot of our ancestors were born.

[@dinosanchez8528]

If you tell a joke unknowingly that was someone else's first, the best thing you can do is own up to it immediately. People will respect it.

[@Allagi22]

As far as "The environment for a joke stealer could be very unpleasant" I think we are already in that time. "Mind of Mencia" was a big hit show on comedy central until Carlos Mencia was proven to be a joke thief. I really like Conan O'Brien, but I think in this case they are clearly at fault, and the issue is that one of Conan's writers' stole the jokes off the web, and the right way to handle it would be to fire said writer, and admit fault on air. Because the evidence is plain as day and you can't silence these things today. Conan and his company took the wrong approach, instead they could have acknowledged a writer stole some jokes, fired the writer, made fun of themselves and hold on to the show's integrity, which is a big thing with the Conan Show. Conan is the ostracized late night host, the one who wasn't supposed to succeed but ended up hosting "Late Night" longer than Letterman, and fair and square earned "The Tonight Show" but declined to bend that show's traditions to the will of a major network, and had the balls to lose that coveted show. So to be clearly in the wrong NOW with stealing jokes, which one of the stupid young writers clearly did....just fucking admit Conan. Admit the wrong doing, fire the writer, make fun of yourself, and continue to have comedic integrity and freedom of voice in a way Colbert, Fallon, and even Kimmel clearly cannot. If ever there was a hill NOT to die on, it's to defend yourself as a non joke theif, when clearly it took place.

[@sparkzbarca]

Except that it didn't because emails show the writers submitting the jokes for review sometimes days before his tweets, but don't let the truth get in the way.

[@David-pf4hr]

My heart goes out for Oswald, hes such an awesome person

[@BeauregardHall]

I saw Michelle in the clip and went "awwwwww" right away.

[@killzalot6667]

You like people who kill their wife? Gotcha

[@charliewallace7197]

it does happen. ive done it more than once. but the big difference is, ive never done it deliberately, and when someone has pointed it out to me, ive always apologised and stopped doing the joke.

[@AlwaysAskQuestion]

If it's that bad to steal someone's joke I'm going to start riots the next time I hear the same knock knock joke

[@WillieDWashington]

Maybe the interviewer still thinks he's in the early 90s when the high top fade was still considered... trendy!? STEAL THAT!!!

[@simplyluis6548]

Hipsters, man. They're into retro anything.

[@dank6617]

Two things: cryptomnesia and convergent evolution. We constantly forget where an idea came from, to the point that you truly feel it is a genuine idea (until you are reminded), and we sometimes get to the same development of ideas (independently) because we are inspired from the same events we witness at the same time. It is not always a case of plagiarism.

[@tonyrosales915]

Mencia, Schumer, Leary, Cook and Williams are the main comics that have built a reputation on stealing jokes over the years...

[@stephanietremblay9851]

Carlos Mencia has a new comedy special. It's called "Eddie Murphy: Delirious"

[@tjrod4089]

*cough* AMY SCHUMER!!! *cough*

[@fabrizio483]

Tell it to Amy Schumer, who manages to be unfunny even with other people's jokes.

[@JediMasterBaiter]

So not only is she unfunny, but she is the biggest culprit of stealing jokes in our day. That's pretty impressive. Can't tell if that's talent or not. That's like antitalent.

[@fabrizio483]

I think she is talented. I mean, it must be some special sort of talent to steal jokes and still be unfunny.

[@jeffbriggs1987]

did you hear that Amy shumer made netflix pay her as much as dave chappelle and chris rock because she said it was sexist that they were getting more money? lol

[@dustinb1070]

carlos mencia is the biggest joke theif. she should get shit but its not near as bad as what mencia did.

[@jimbojim68]

That's not true. She adressed that rumor. She said they are greater and worth more. That didn't happen.

[@John-lk5su]

every stage just needs Joe Rogan on standby to jump in and roast joke theives

[@selfmade128]

How do you accidentally steal something?! 🤣 What a joke!…. No pun intended.

[@demonocusmetalocus3558]

Shows like conan mostly do current event humour so the writers for those types of shows tend to go to news papers etc. to find out what is current then they make jokes from that so it is highly likely for 2 people to come up with the same joke when they are working from the same news story so its not always a case of joke theft.

[@vonmoose1]

demonocus metalocus I think that is true. I heard of a famous comedian that was notorious for stealing jokes. But he got away with it because of his high status in the business.

[@derekd4221]

Three times in a row stolen from the same guy? Not a coincidence. Someone from conans team was stealing.

[@Sphere723]

The worst part is the hypocrisy ...

[@eraldylli]

I would imagine "hypocrisy" is way down the list of... *Wait!* maybe not for this story, haha.

[@fiftyhunnug]

The greatest joke in this video....Is the interviewers two-story townhouse hair.

[@rockstarphantom8112]

Oh man the origin of the Lord in the seat joke! I thought my friend in high school made that up. :D

[@FungusMossGnosis]

Is that Vice interviewer the son of Kid from Kid 'n Play?

[@GMANKOOL23]

😂😂😂

[@AmericanaWoods]

Unless a comedian has grown up in solitary confinement, their jokes are not written from “nothing” they are all inspired from by what they hear every day.

[@lunarmodule6419]

This is what he means. An this is different than a signer doing a cover or an actor playing a scene for a known writer.

[@liquidmang]

It suck cause parallel thinking happens so much. I’m 3 years doing comedy and I’ve already had a case where I couldn’t use a joke onstage because it sounds too much like a Louis CK but I never heard of until after I tried my joke.

[@Povsk1]

Many people can arrive at the same joke.

[@mang_thomas4163]

My teacher stole my joke for a school joke contest

[@bobmoney8689]

Can't blame Conan for the joke theft. He has writers. Its their fault. Conan would absolutely never joke steal

[@octopus8420]

Well he doesn't write jokes, so how could he even steal them himself?

[@mhofi]

also looking at you, amy schumer

[@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494]

denis leary

[@creevey82]

Although Patton Oswalt (surprise surprise), says she's never done that.

[@SailfishSoundSystem]

Robin Williams pissed off a lot of people by stealing jokes. Some comedians would leave the stage if they knew he was in the audience.

[@briancook3923]

It seems like us non-comedian types found out after the fact that Robin Williams was a piece of shit.

[@pts5217]

Brian Cook He was not a piece of shit. He was known as a super nice guy. He was open about taking material and paid ppl off

[@patricko365]

Yeah blame the writers not Conan. He would virtually have no knowledge of that

[@ST-kr7hz]

Really great to see Patton doing well. Guys been through a lot.

[@TacoStacks]

Oh wow!

[@tmmmedia731]

No one ever steals my jokes. Even the super concentrated farts in the tub one

[@yourbigheadcousin5434]

Theres such a thing as parallel thought, but what gives away theft is the structure of the joke. More than one person can think of the same joke with the same punchline but its far more rare for people to arrive at the punchline with the precise same structure and delivery.

[@TempleofAmon666]

I used to love denis Leary till I found out he stole his entire act.

[@DendyJungle]

Why is patron an expert witness at his buddies trial? They don't realise that he and Conan have always been friends and he may be biased?

[@MiguelBKNY]

Mo 2k that’s exactly why u use him...

[@grizzlyadamblack]

So if i hear a joke and then i tell a group of friends then I stole it? Very murky water.

[@TardRepellent]

"Conan stole a few jokes" okay how much do you think they cost? "IDK about $600,000"

[@johnathonmcdaniel751]

The Amy Schumer roast is amazing

[@thorbahn3]

This guy's hair is too distracting. I just keep thinking about his hair.

[@Scrapla1]

OMG You mean his writers were reading Tweets and then stealing them?! lol

[@Lobos222]

"The environment for a joke stealer can be very unpleasant." Now we know what type of person was on the grassy hill. LoL

[@JohnDoe-gk7ok]

How do you monetize a joke? Did Conan make an extra $600,000 from those jokes?

[@andresvargas2768]

True they need to explain this... 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@Gtomer]

Aren`t those jokes just reading a fact about something that happened and then saying the obvious joke. Anyone can see it coming.

[@rishi1514]

This guy was in the initial montage of Magnolia. The scuba diver/blackjack dealer

[@The-Autistocrat-]

My dude there looks like he's pimping out his calculators

[@meowdalachow7932]

looked like he pimed his teachers in high school

[@Lufisyth]

Patton Oswalt should have no worries of anyone stealing his jokes.

[@jacobprice8048]

Joel Walker. TRUUUUUTH

[@nunyaNnunya]

Bulshit, skycake is hilarious.

[@joshmcclain]

I think his story-based, conversational style is harder to rip off than one-liners. I understand you're implying he's not funny, but I also think it would be more apparent if someone jacked his shit.

[@Monochromicornicopia]

Why not? Patton is a legend

[@jamesgross5954]

Well i don't guess you stoled the comment from anyone maybe from Oswalt considering him being in the segment was only about him stealing a joke and no one stealing a joke about him LOL hey did I just make a joke I don't know maybe not maybe just a statement that was funny to me anyway that's about as funny as Oswalt can get LOL

[@melmatrix1669]

May Patrice O'Neal haunt Amy Schumer Ms. Potato Head face till she passes for stealing his jokes.

[@moonants]

It is stealing a joke! Leave the law out of it. What a great opportunity to roast the thief, and use their success to your benefit.

[@TBGmario]

The first person to put out a joke publicly is the owner of that joke

[@ROOKTABULA]

This has happened to me as well with The Daily Show using a joke I tweeted 5 days earlier. And I had a DS and a Comedy Central writer both following me at the time. Guess I shoulda got a lawyer.

[@abdulka2991]

what was the joke?

[@philbertphettbart7930]

Proof or gtfo

[@jrich9017]

I think repackaging the same joke through four stand up specials should also be a crime Patton.

[@raymonddunnit412]

YES haaha.

[@mattsheezy5469]

The same thing applies to songwriting, if the melody comes about a little too easy, and is just a little too “good”, it’s an indication that you might just be remembering something that you previously heard, rather than something you just created.