New Evidence: Carlos Mencia vs. Bill Cosby
Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy
There was a shadow of doubt possible in prior accusations of Carlos Mencia, but for this latest charge of joke stealing, I have a difficult time imagining how this is defensible.
First the video, which contrasts a joke from 1983’s Bill Cosby: Himself, a fantastic example of the comic working in his prime, and 2006’s Carlos Mencia: No Strings Attached, the same show which brought the accusations of stealing from Ari Shaffir. Here’s the video:
This video fits the exact criteria that I believe makes for true joke stealing. This is unique material that fits the personality of the original performer and cannot be transplanted onto another. When Bill Cosby tells the story of teaching his son how to play football there’s such a humanity about it, a real awareness of what being a father is like that goes hand-in-hand with the humor. It’s almost touching and makes the twist of not being thanked after the big game that much more hysterical. With Mencia, the material looks shoehorned into the wrong performer. Not only is it not grounded in the small touches of being a parent, but there’s an attitude of anger at his own son which, if it’s a story drawn from personal experience, shouldn’t be there. While it isn’t the word for word plagiarism some have described it as, this is as close to a smoking gun as I can imagine.
This type of video will light the fire in detractors, making them likely to search for more evidence against Mencia. A new video quickly surfaced that contrasted a Sam Kinison bit about Jesus with a Mind of Mencia sketch (far less damaging in my mind because a staff writer other than Mencia could have wrote it). It’s not going to stop, If they are out there, more examples of Mencia’s potential larceny of comic material will come to light. I don’t see much damage yet to Mencia, but an abundance of examples drawing from multiple sources will eventually have its effect, if not on the industry then on fans, certainly many of whom become disillusioned as they have to defend the comic from the latest barrage of accusations.
When the original video came out, I had a short correspondence with a friend about how I was happy to see this brought to light, but I was worried that we don’t want to know how deep this rabbit hole goes. In truth, there’s a lot more parallel thinking going on out there than many comics will want to admit. I watched a Bill Maher special earlier this week and at one point got deja vu about a similar George Carlin bit. Neither of those two comics are thieves. Both are original comics who have similar attitudes to a lot of topics, so there’s a chance in some overlap in material. And if two comics who are as vital, smart and skillful as those two can have parallel thinking, comics who aren’t at that stage of their careers will too. But with YouTube video becoming the judge, jury and executioner for comedic integrity, I’m a little afraid we’re going to get carried away. Or are my fears unfounded?
Amazing—Mencia managed to steal the joke without taking any of the humor with it!