Amy Schumer is now the latest performer accused of joke-stealing, but she's lucky comedians have her back.
Schumer was accused of stealing jokes from Patrice O'Neal, another comedian who has since passed away. O'Neal was an iconic comedian, and since he passed in 2011, there have been several comics who have been accused of "borrowing" his material.
Schumer, on the other hand, appears to have just been doing a bit that happened to have a small similarity to O'Neal's. During her stand up show, "Amy Schumer: Live At The Appollo" on Oct. 17, she closed the show with jokes that sounded very familiar to some of O'Neal's sex jokes from 2006 and 2007, according to Comedy Hype.
A YouTube video of O'Neal and Schumers stand up back-to-back shows that, yes, the jokes did have the same context as they described different sexual activities and positions, but they used different names, and this is a premise that comics have used on numerous occasions.
The jokes do have the same delivery, but very different punchlines, and these are sexual acts that have "existed online for quite some time," Uproxx explained in Schumer's defense. The two were even good friends, and following all the accusations, Schumer let her followers know that she was unaware of the similarities to his bit.
"I have never seen that Patrice bit, but I will watch today," she wrote. "I love and miss him."
Several other comics came to her defense, explaining that this is something that happens very often, and unlike several other comedians, like Dane Cook and The Fat Jew who have been seen deliberately stealing jokes from people word-for-word, Schumer was unaware of what she was doing, and it was completely innocent.
Comedian Jim Norton wrote a lengthy Facebook post explaining why what she did is okay.
"Naturally, people just assume that she stole them from him. I think these fans are acting in what they feel is Patrice's defense because they love him, and I can appreciate them feeling protective about anything involving him. But they don't love Patrice more than I do, and I am telling you, without reservation, that she did not steal those jokes from him," Norton wrote. "Those terms have been in Urban Dictionary for years, Patrice did not come up with them (I'm not saying he didn't change any of them to make them original, but they have been around for as long as I can remember). To think that Amy would watch Patrice do something onstage and then decide to close with it on her HBO special is simply ludicrous."
He then went on to explain that comedians know who the real joke thieves are and that there's a very big difference between doing similar jokes and stealing jokes.
"People doing similar bits has been happening in comedy for as long as people have been telling jokes," he explained, adding how much O'Neal respected Schumer. "You're certainly allowed to not like Amy Schumer, but to say that she stole this bit from Patrice Oneal is simply ignorant."
Comedian Colin Quinn, who was also friends with both Schumer and O'Neal, also shared his opinion on social media.
"About @amyschumer thing, a premise is not a joke," he wrote. "And a premise that's part of popular culture is not anybody's. Patrice would agree."
Dante Nero, who sometimes opened for O'Neal, also weighed in. "@amyschumer doesn't steal!" he wrote. "Patrice didn't create 'houdini' or 'Polterguise' sex positions he picked them up while doing colleges talked about em."
O'Neal's fiancée Von Decarlo even praised Schumer and let everyone know that the jokes were not even originated by O'Neal.
"@amyschumer has my blessing," she tweeted alongside a lengthy letter. "Read before u respond. Thank u all for ur continuous support and #LoveForPatrice."
There have been a rash of tweets sent out today by people questioning whether Amy Schumer stole a bit from Patrice...
Posted by Jim Norton on Monday, October 19, 2015
