Have you ever wondered where comedians get their material? Well, if you’re Dane Cook it’s easy — you just steal it from other comics. Before you all crucify me and call me a hater, let me go on record as saying I like Dane Cook. I’ve heard his albums, I’ve sat through Tourgasm, I even went out of my way to see Employee of the Month in the theater. Regardless, stealing bits from other comics just ain’t kosher — especially when it’s from someone as talented as Louis CK.
The first clips are from Louis CK’s 2001 album Live in Houston, the second are from Dane’s 2005 release Retaliation.
If you want to hear more, check out this audio of Joe Rogan discuss Dane Cook’s thievery at length on Opie & Anthony.
EDIT: MC just posted a fantastic link in the comments that I wanted to make sure you all had a chance to read. It’s a blog entry detailing the scathing hate mail one blogger received from Dane Cook after making a similar post. It’s delicious. Check it out here. And as a thank you for such an excellent link, let me just give Culture Kills a quick plug. It’s a fantastic pop culture blog that MC maintains, and I urge everyone to check it out.
You should check this out Jim:
http://www.bestweekever.tv/2007/01/17/exlusive-dane-cook-is-my-myspace-pen-pal/
Thanks MC! That was a such a solid link it warranted editing the main post.
Ah, Louie CK…unsung hero of the stand-up industry. It’s funny, I’ve been a big fan of both comedians, and have heard all of these bits, but never actually made the connection between any of them. Now I’m gonna go the safe route here and say that I’m not accusing Cook of stealing the material, but I must say it does seem highly suspect. The only thing I can say in his defense is that, the comedy is very observatory, so I think material like that is simply more apt to being unknowingly redone, if you know what I mean.
As a side note, I think the reason why I didn’t notice the similarities before this despite the fact that the subject matter is spot on identical is that the two comedians have such different deliveries, they almost are like different jokes altogether. Thing is, after Cook’s popularity boom, I’ve been more interested in hearing a more laid back style such as CK, which is why recently I’ve been off the Dane Train and more into, say, somebody like Todd Barry. He’s got amazing little chest hairs.
Yeah, Todd Barry is a good sedate comedian, though the pop cultural goodness of Patton Oswalt will always have a place in my heart.
Dane’s itchy asshole joke actually sounds just like a bit from Billy Connolly from 1989’s “Whoopi Goldberg Presents Billy Connolly” I still have it on tape from HBO. Connolly even acts out trying to “scratch” the itch in public by moving around.
Tom Rhodes. I find myself accidentally stealing his jokes and slipping them into my common conversation. Luckily, he’s “boutique” enough that nobody seems to notice.
And can we just give standups (minus the material pilferers) some props for having a tough job?
And can I hereby admit that, even as a Jewish girl with a decidedly cynical, acerbic flavor, I’ve always thought that Jerry Seinfeld was tragically, monumentally unfunny?
The jokes have similarities, yes, but as someone stated before, they are based on common observations. They are not even close to as blatant as, let’s say, Carlos “Ned” Mencia’s rip-off of Cosby’s football joke. That was almost word for word the same joke. He didn’t even change the sport! I am almost positive that you would find many, many, MANY comedians with similar jokes if you looked hard enough. I promie you…look. Certain things in life are just funny and merit a joke.
In my eyes, this whole thing like the Vanilla Ice/Queen thing (minus the fact that Rob is an idiot who won’t admit that it’s almost the same beat). Yes, the beat in Ice Ice Baby and Under Pressure are VERY similar, but they are two completely different songs in their whole forms.
People are just looking to take Dane down because he’s become the most successful comedian in years.
Steve Martin did a bit very similar to the weird baby name thing decades ago on his “Wild and Crazy Guy” album.
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louis ck did a bit on “live in houston” where he talks about buying things at wall mart in weird combinations saying, “id like a jar of mayonaise, a stopwatch, and a bible.”
mencia stole this idea recently…
I’m neither a Louis CK fan nor a Dane Cook fan but I’d like to point out one thing and that’s the similarity between the naming their kids joke. Maybe Dane did steal it, maybe he didn’t. However, I can see how its possible that Dane released that joke without prior knowledge to Louis CK’s. Just take a look at all of the celebrities naming their kids Peach or Cookie or whatever ridiculous name they’ve come up with. That would be perfect for joke material, which may be why Dane said that joke and it had no connection with Louis CK’s. However, it is still very possible he did steal it.
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on man! i love Dane Cook!!!
Dane Cook is a silly bitch…
i agree with Hue Gass, he makes a good point.
oh and thank you MC
ok dane cook doesn’t have to steal material from other comedians, they have to steal material from him, because he is that cool
I am sorry but everyone gets an itchy asshole and someone is going to make a joke out of it. The odds someone invents a way to convey a joke as similar as someone else is high because it happens to everyone. I use to always complain about why straws were invented then I saw Seinfeld do the same straw bit. I didn’t call him up and ask for my joke back.
The conveying of a comedic story will always cross paths with someone else’s since sometimes people have the same sense of humor of how they look at stupid people AKA the world. None of these observations and reactions are so extraordinary that only one comedian would say it.
Naming Kids is also bad since I can name 5 comedians on a drop that have done that joke. Remember Dave Attell’s PizzaPussySanta? Should Louis CK apologize for stealing that ( he started that joke on the standup circuit around 98 before Skanks so don’t come back and give me an official date of the album.)? Dave Attell’s version is amazing because his story and reflection about naming a boat is hilarious in itself.
If someone stole naming a boat and calling it gay then maybe you can say someone stole from Attell, but a Naming Kids bit is probably used way more than you expect.
Please, if you can’t name more than 50 comedians off the top of your head or have not seen more than 5 standup comedians BEFORE they come out with an album, then don’t argue this. It is mundane, and if you can catch him stealing, make sure the joke structure isn’t already popular amongst other people, or if there isn’t a tribute factor involved ( Chris Rock — Pryor), I am only saying this because when people gather evidence, it looks like the equivalent of a Dick Cheney intel committee. Come with something more substantial.
I think this is so absurrrd…..I totally agree with Juuble…its not stealing..Dane Cook is halarious and everyone is just pissed because he became so big. He obviously is talented or he wouldnt be where he is. And its def not from stealing. You should be ashamed to even say that about him. LOVE YOU DANEEEEE!!!