![]() |
Jeremy Solomon |
I like to think this segues well from Joe's most recent post, but segues are not always my strength. That post, and a comment on it, relate to being a hack. The comment is from a new comic and concerns his fear that not only his jokes will be hack but that his fear of being perceived as a hack makes his fears hack. I rather enjoyed this sentiment because I think it means he's in some ways on the right track. Of course you want to be thought of as original and embraced by those that you respect and admire. But there is an inevitability of collision concerning joke concept if not structure, whether you are an amateur or a veteran.
I am not the student of comedy I really should be and yet I frequently encounter instances where I think I have heard a joke before. Yes, as I just mentioned, there are only so many things to talk about and so many angles you can take, but every good comic has a style that is just enough their own that even when Comic A is discussing the same topic as Comic B, you should be able to tell they arrived at their conclusions independently. When it's not a coincidence, we enter that ugly realm. I've written scores of jokes only to see the content talked about in a very similar and, often, better way than my own take. It means I will very likely scrap the joke, but I happen to like this, because it means I need to stretch my brain more. Now, in these instances, it's very unlikely these comics took these jokes from me, unless they happen to inhabit my bedroom when I leave my jokebook in there. Were I a more prominent performer, this thing might consume me, but I'm of the school that it shouldn't. Much easier said, though, than done.

The problem, and I speak here from my own inadequacy, is going around thinking that merit stands on its own. That if you just keep at it, someone will notice. They might, but if this is what you want, you are going to have to go out and kick it in the balls. You are going to have to lobby for yourself. I know, I just said this, but really, it's true. With extremely rare exception, everyone is doing dozens of shit rooms, even when they're well on their way. Someone might be lurking in the back, waiting to thieve your joke. But you'll go a lot further coming up with new material than you will hating the asshole who stole your joke.
Even where I was going with this seems thieved from a post from comedian Rob Delaney on Splitsider, but it was on my mind already, I promise! Because see my friend was just telling me how he'd taken a comedy class and his teacher had lifted some material from him. And even though that's true, when you go around explaining yourself like that, you seem guilty. On the other hand, if you don't explain it, someone will probably accuse you anyway.
To me, it boils down to this: bad comics can write great jokes, and great comics can write bad jokes, but only assholes steal jokes. And I'd rather be a bad comic than an asshole any day. That's why I like Chicago.
Contributing Writer
Jeremy Solomon