tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post3921625493559315890..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Does Amy Schumer steal from other comedians?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-71134934963134166122016-02-08T22:28:51.240-08:002016-02-08T22:28:51.240-08:00In the 80s a friend of Jackie Gleason wrote a biog...In the 80s a friend of Jackie Gleason wrote a biography (some would call it a hagiography) entitled:<br /><br /><i>How Sweet It Is: The Jackie Gleason Story</i><br /><br />Early in the story, when Gleason was first doing standup, Milton Berle (then performing in Manhattan) came to see Jackie's act in Brooklyn. He went backstage and asked Jackie where did he get his material, who retorted:<br /><br />"Where did you get yours, Pally?"Jahn Ghaltnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-24272101955475831692016-02-08T07:20:30.500-08:002016-02-08T07:20:30.500-08:00A long time ago, I decided to try a little stand-u...A long time ago, I decided to try a little stand-up at a venue that had amateur nights. For a week at least, I came up with a few minutes of material, and a joke I thought was golden. Before that, I went back to the venue to watch some more performances and struck up a conversation outside. I started to tell the guy my joke (probably not supposed to do that but whatever). Before I could even get halfway through it, the guy finished the joke for me. I thought it was a really original idea too. I decided right then, stand-up is not for me. Kiri Blakeleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13362222825170547194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56382550487666553302016-02-08T04:48:22.450-08:002016-02-08T04:48:22.450-08:00Amy *has* a small team of writers, Ken. Not that s...<i>Amy *has* a small team of writers, Ken. Not that she needs defending, but in addressing the accusations she said that, as far the "slap-diet" tv sketch goes, it was the idea of one of her writers - and that the writer didn't * steal* that idea either, as its a different take on the same, common germ of an idea.</i><br /><br />Just a small point, Amy was referring to her show INSIDE AMY SCHUMER (where the "slap diet" sketch appeared). She doesn't write it all by herself. Same goes for the clothing store sketch.Johnny Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13086939028445362188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-78537014628035918112016-02-04T19:35:28.442-08:002016-02-04T19:35:28.442-08:00At least she is not Dennis Leary who not only stol...At least she is not Dennis Leary who not only stole jokes but stole a whole persona from Bill Hicks. Lucky for him, Bill died of cancer.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11777496001166356949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-28283983856627838632016-02-04T17:43:20.784-08:002016-02-04T17:43:20.784-08:00David Morse doesn't give himself enough credit...David Morse doesn't give himself enough credit. We cast him because he WAS funny. We loved having him on the show and you can seek out some episodes of BIG WAVE DAVE'S on YouTube and see for yourself. If there was another part in a comedy he'd be right for he'd be my first call. I love David Morse. <br /><br />And by the way, I'm sure this didn't come out -- he was a pleasure to work with. A total pro. By Ken Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25269019264100217462016-02-04T17:33:49.379-08:002016-02-04T17:33:49.379-08:00Amy *has* a small team of writers, Ken. Not that s...Amy *has* a small team of writers, Ken. Not that she needs defending, but in addressing the accusations she said that, as far the "slap-diet" tv sketch goes, it was the idea of one of her writers - and that the writer didn't * steal* that idea either, as its a different take on the same, common germ of an idea.<br /><br />More importantly - The A.V. Club posted an interview today with David Morse, in which he discusses "Big Wave Dave's"<br /><br />Big Wave Dave’s (1993)—“Dave Bell”<br /><br />AVC: Speaking of being funny, Big Wave Dave’s is very much an anomaly for you, in that it’s the only time you’ve ever been a regular on a sitcom.<br /><br />DM: Ken Levine was one of the creators of that, along with David Isaacs, and why they took a chance on me for that show, I don’t know. They were two of the writers on Cheers, and they had such status in the comedy world.<br /><br />It wasn’t too long after St. Elsewhere, and I’d done The Indian Runner with Sean Penn at that point, but I wasn’t getting movies, and I needed money. Sean had asked me to do The Crossing Guard while we were doing The Indian Runner. He ran over to my trailer one day and handed me a scene and said, “Read this.” I read it, and I said, “That’s really cool.” He said, “I want you to play this role of Booth in here, but I don’t know what the movie is yet.” But over the next couple of years, he kept sending me scenes as the script was evolving. And I wasn’t really getting any other work that was paying—just a little bit—but I kept believing that we were going to do this movie. Harvey Keitel was supposed to do it, but he dropped out because he was a big shot at the time, and then Jack Nicholson said he would do it, but we had to wait a year. I was broke. And if I was going to have to wait a year for The Crossing Guard, then I had to audition for television.<br /><br />So I auditioned for a bunch of pilots, I got offered every single pilot I auditioned for, and they were all dramas except for this Big Wave Dave’s. Nobody would ever hire me for a comedy… and suddenly these two guys were interested in me. And I had to go and test for the network and the studio and do that whole thing, which I hadn’t had to do for awhile, but it was a comedy, so I did it. And I got to do it with my friend Adam Arkin—I’d known him for a long time, and he’s a good friend—and we got to do six episodes.<br /><br />Because I’d never done a comedy and I heard we were going to have rehearsals, I thought, “Fantastic! This will be like theater: we’ll do rehearsals, and then we get the day that we shoot it!” What I didn’t realize is that the writing process for comedies is that you do your table read, and if you aren’t funny on that first day during the table read, they take your jokes away and give them to somebody else. Or they change it. And the next day, when you do rehearsals during the day, all the writers come, and they all line up at the edge of the stage, and you have to perform for them. And, again, if you’re not funny, they take away your jokes and give them to somebody else. I went, “Wow, this is not the rehearsal process that I’m used to…” I thought the rehearsal process was, you actually get to work on things, and then when you’re in front of the audience, you get to be funny.<br /><br />It was a little painful for me, that process, and by the sixth episode, I started getting into the swing of it, understanding that I can’t take all this personally, that they just want their jokes to work because this is a comedy, and we’re here to make them work. I wouldn’t mind having another shot at doing comedy, but I’m not sure that’s the way I’d want to go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43295286814876732032016-02-04T16:17:22.439-08:002016-02-04T16:17:22.439-08:00Melanie: memory plays tricks on all of us. I was c...Melanie: memory plays tricks on all of us. I was curious about the FRASIER episode you mention and I looked it up. The FRIENDS episode with Ross's doppelganger, "The One With Russ", aired in January 1996. The FRASIER episode with Niles's doppelganger, "Mixed Doubles", aired in November 1996. So you were correct about spring and fall - but the FRIENDS episode aired ten months before the FRASIER one did. <br /><br />wgWendy M. Grossmanhttp://www.pelicancrossing.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67721475241139205712016-02-03T12:23:11.776-08:002016-02-03T12:23:11.776-08:00I've watched the video, and I'm just not s...I've watched the video, and I'm just not seeing it. The sex position jokes are really, really old-did nobody else attend the 7th grade? I don't think we were supposed to think she wrote those herself. She took some old jokes that are about performing demeaning sex acts on women, and gave them a feminist spin-that's what she does. As for the rest...those skits weren't really all that creative. I have no problem believing multiple people came up with the same idea. Recycled story lines happen all the time in sitcoms-how many "somebody's birthday is on Leap Year so we all need to pretend this person is really turning 5" plots are we going to be subjected to at the end of the month? Nobody is going to accuse those writers of stealing-just laziness. Theft is a really serious charge-I'm not seeing the evidence to support it.<br />Rebeccanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-62140178872819257792016-02-03T07:28:29.037-08:002016-02-03T07:28:29.037-08:00If you're going to rip off jokes, at least rip...If you're going to rip off jokes, at least rip off funny ones. Her delivery is pretty ropey too. Is this Amy's last desperate crack at the big time?blogwardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07362291687463326731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10042774326730759142016-02-03T01:41:10.547-08:002016-02-03T01:41:10.547-08:00Johnny Walker: Thank you for the link to Maron...Johnny Walker: Thank you for the link to Maron's podcast. It's shocking to learn they edited his work to make it sound as if he was accusing Amy Schumer of stealing from him. He vigorously defends her and exposes their unscrupulous methods.Diane D.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69335307205308011632016-02-03T01:06:39.896-08:002016-02-03T01:06:39.896-08:00Mike in Seattle: your comment is addressed specif...Mike in Seattle: your comment is addressed specifically to Ken, but I had to tell you how very much I enjoyed the essay by David Simon---it was elegant and hilarious.Diane D.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-79484157718750834912016-02-02T19:42:45.905-08:002016-02-02T19:42:45.905-08:00i actually wrote about this in my blog.
http://ke...i actually wrote about this in my blog.<br /><br />http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2016/02/does-amy-schumer-steal-from-other.htmldaniel in cherry hillnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-49579990146826976732016-02-02T17:32:30.343-08:002016-02-02T17:32:30.343-08:00Along the same lines, what do you do when a show a...Along the same lines, what do you do when a show airs a storyline so similar to yours that it can't be a coincidence? An example I always think of is when Frasier did an episode where Daphne dates a man exactly like Niles. Hilarity ensues as Niles realizes what is happening. That same season, Friends had an ep where Rachel dated a Ross lookalike. The Frasier ep aired in the fall, the Friends episode in the spring. Of course, it could be a coincidence but it seems like the Friends writers would have had time to change their script if so. (Frasier did it much better, IMO, and of course David Hyde Pierce was just hilarious). It always struck me, particularly because the shows aired on the same network and night. Your thoughts? Melanienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-80983629149342031472016-02-02T16:40:15.166-08:002016-02-02T16:40:15.166-08:00Re: writers Joe Rogan talked about the Comedy Stor...Re: writers Joe Rogan talked about the Comedy Store banning writers from In Living Color for stealing material that would end up on the show Steve Mchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02072882089558326913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56446906725651725892016-02-02T15:36:21.767-08:002016-02-02T15:36:21.767-08:00Groucho Marx to Milton Berle: "You're not...Groucho Marx to Milton Berle: "You're not funny,",<br />Milton Berle: "Everything I know, I stole from you, Grouch." <br />Groucho" "Then you didn't listen."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-8361264784755813382016-02-02T14:57:45.897-08:002016-02-02T14:57:45.897-08:00Here's Maron from his podcast -- it's all ...Here's Maron from his podcast -- it's all within the first 15 minutes -- after hearing Schumer do one of "his" jokes. Or was it?<br /><br />https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-649-aaron-draplin/id329875043?i=355514373&mt=2<br /><br />(Ken: no need to post this, but you might be interested)Todd Everettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-73692959025530091772016-02-02T14:43:57.132-08:002016-02-02T14:43:57.132-08:00From the pre-historic period:
Wilde: "I w...From the pre-historic period: <br /><br />Wilde: "I wish I had said that."<br /><br />Whistler: "You will, Oscar, you will."<br /><br />And from the early modern period:<br /><br />S.J. Perelman: "I could have been arrested for stealing from Ring Lardner."<br /><br />Aristophanes probably ripped off some other Athenian gag-meister.<br /><br />Let it go.Buttermilk Skyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07430011403223875192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66071240215095306172016-02-02T13:28:24.639-08:002016-02-02T13:28:24.639-08:00CapnBob, I didn't know it was a reference to a...CapnBob, I didn't know it was a reference to anything when I saw that trailer. It reminded me of commentary from a Simpsons writer:"If you repeat something it's funny, if you keep repeating it it stops being funny, and if you repeat it more it becomes hilariously funny."<br />This was when Sideshow Bob was stepping on rake after rake.MikeNnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22094624340454273562016-02-02T12:34:22.150-08:002016-02-02T12:34:22.150-08:00Then again, the Abe Lincoln joke is just too speci...Then again, the Abe Lincoln joke is just too specific to be a coincidencetbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29119959050743315652016-02-02T12:14:39.321-08:002016-02-02T12:14:39.321-08:00MARIA: Arnold, that wasn't your joke. You stol...MARIA: Arnold, that wasn't your joke. You stole it from Amy.<br /><br />ARNOLD: It's not a Schu-MAH!Greg Ehrbarhttp://blogs.indiewire.com/animationscoop/author/greg-ehrbarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-18274897689732799522016-02-02T05:43:23.808-08:002016-02-02T05:43:23.808-08:00Additional information, for anyone who's follo...Additional information, for anyone who's following this: Madigan, Liebman, and Pescatelli have all stopped accusing Schumer of theft. They have all deleted and retracted their statements and made their peace with Schumer... So if they're OK with things, what's this call for justice? It's anger from parties who weren't even injured...<br /><br />I strongly recommend listening to Maron's *complete* monologue about it at the beginning of the MICHAEL MOORE episode:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_675_-_michael_moore" rel="nofollow">http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_675_-_michael_moore</a><br /><br />As a videogamer who's seen this thing happen before in the videogame world, I think he hits the nail squarely on the head. There's some scary men out there, and I've seen what they can do when they form cabals together. I think they really believe they're standing for justice, but really they're just venting their twisted anger.Johnny Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13086939028445362188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75799725983823970432016-02-02T04:21:09.415-08:002016-02-02T04:21:09.415-08:00Pat, I think it's mostly men accusing her of s...Pat, I think it's mostly men accusing her of stealing from female comics. Marc Maron has first hand experience of the hatred famous women get from guys on the Internet: He frequently has to moderate the hateful comments on his site whenever there's a female guest on his show. It always happens when he has female guests. Johnny Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13302545167970532080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1203917800819391882016-02-02T02:34:40.976-08:002016-02-02T02:34:40.976-08:00I think Amy's appeal isn't the jokes thems...I think Amy's appeal isn't the jokes themseles but her cute face and killer body. Joan Rivers could tell the same jokes and make people vomit, but Amy makes you want to pinch her cheeks.Albert Giesbrechthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17742338183833125104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52030768427823257472016-02-02T02:20:51.956-08:002016-02-02T02:20:51.956-08:00I guess I'm now old enough to remember when De...I guess I'm now old enough to remember when Denis Leary was accused of stealing from Bill Hicks. Given how angry some people got at the time, I'm surprised they're not being brought up again. Hicks is no longer with us, and Leary went in the acting and production direction.<br /><br />I thought at the time that the example that got the most attention - a joke about Jogging guru Jim Fixx dying while Jogging - was a joke that practically wrote itself. I think there was some truth to the allegations, but then Hicks was borrowing ideas from George Carlin and Lenny Bruce anyway ... brian thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11816630081635941429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-7593787668158844122016-02-02T01:24:20.186-08:002016-02-02T01:24:20.186-08:00That's damping if I ever read it.That's damping if I ever read it.VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.com