Who's joke is it anyway?

Last month I wrote a witty one-liner; it referenced a high profile news story at the time and was unique. I told a couple of my friends who thought it was really funny, so I posted it on Twitter. 4 days later, whilst watching a very popular comedy news programme on mainstream television, I saw my joke being repeated verbatim by a well known comedian.
Was I seething? Was I flying to my laptop to track down this disgraceful rapscallions’ website so I could harangue him mercilessly? Was I contacting my shady friends from the local underworld so they could go around, have a quiet word & get my joke back for me? Erm, no.
I sat for a moment, sipped my tea gently, like a guru from the Orient (not Leyton) with all the mystical calm that comes with deep understanding, and smiled to myself. In my mind, I was certain of something. Whether or not my original joke had been ‘utilized’ (plagiarised is such an accusatory and tasteless word) or the comedian in question had merely arrived at the same cerebral place as I independently, it meant that the humour that was emitting from my weird and sometimes wonderful, sometimes ‘blunderful’ brain was deemed fit for the masses.
With the advent of the internet, digital time stamping, intellectual property and the like, many people have become more than a little obsessed with who wrote what first. As if it was a crime for somebody to come up with the same idea at a later date. I pride myself on trying to be original, surreal, fresh & inventive when it comes to writing comedy. Jokes – especially one-liners – have been something I decided to try my hand at recently. I penned over 250 jokes in 2 months on a famous website, only to find that 15 were deemed duplicates that had previously appeared there. The tenet ‘great minds think alike’ or ‘idiocy loves company’ sprang to my surprised mind.
I remember the furore over Bill Hicks’ material being ripped off by Dennis Leary, who has gone on to make a very successful career. Hicks is remembered fondly for his originality and style, and yes, it appears Leary copied a good part of his act for a while. Hicks died 17 years ago, Leary is now a popular movie figure, seemingly continuing to be successful after his main source of material had passed on. I reserve judgement, but it portrays a strange change in the lifespan of a joke.
When I was a teenager in the early 1980s, all jokes were heard in the playground, the pub, at the match or in the young offenders unit. You heard a good one, you passed it on. Many originated in the comedy club scene: Bernard Manning, Chubby Brown, Jimmy Jones etc. or from television, Ben Elton, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Dave Allen etc. People relayed them to share the humour, to have a common ground, a point of reference, or just to give the lads a good laugh in the vault on a Saturday night. Nowadays it appears to be about separatism, ownership, a competitive need to be the first to get the text joke out to all your mates.
Humour has become competitive. Stand ups like Gary Delaney are accused of stealing from websites; he is counter-accusing website users of stealing his material. Did a joke originate with Tim Vine? Or was it one of Tommy Cooper’s? Does it really matter? We’ve reluctantly put the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional – it’s only a small observation of society’s changing ways, but it definitely highlights the way technology has increased paranoia & selfishness in the 21^st century. As the baby goat said to me, “I kid, you not”.

http://www.burybob.com/

Salfordians Unite

Help Bury Bob get to number one one Reverbnation become a fan at the link below

http://www.reverbnation.com/#!/snoodpwhipper

Bury Bob to be released. What's your thoughts on this subject.

Contact: Ian Jameson email: infoburybob@gmail.com

The musical bit of the Bury Bob empire,

Press Release April 9^th 2011

This Beautiful Game by Bury Bob

''Die hard fans are all but gone, players celebrate alone, while you watch on your mobile phone...''

A light hearted, but hard hitting look at the state of British football using several different musical genres and a tongue placed firmly in the cheek. Football fans seem to think that Bob has hit the nail on the head with this lyric and the video even includes some footage shot on Bob's mobile during the Glazier Out demonstration last year. He is singing about a subject he knows about and cares about. Check it out and download it at www.burybob.com/bob_singhs

50% of the profits from donations will be given to a local youth team that is trying to get back to playing for the love of the game.

Only one ''F'' in Salford by Snood P Whipper

A new genre of music that Snood P has named ''terror trance''. Rapper and Urban warrior Snood P Whipper looks at the underbelly of his once great city with music that has you looking over your shoulder. T shirts with the ''only one F'' and Bury Bob logos will soon be available. Some of the profits will go to Uncle Joe's 'New Microphone Fund'' as Snood broke his other one making this record .

No snoods were harmed however.

www.burybob.com/bob_singhs

Register at www.burybob.com to make sure you hear about future releases and new video clips going on line. Send your questions to Bob at ideas@burybob.com

Whatever happened to alternative comedy? Where can I find it today? by James Mcbride

 From those distant days of radio,  to the flat screens of the  present day, Manchester has had more than it's fare share of  comedy giants.
In the mainstream world it was probably one of the most  controversial comedians of the seventies and eighties, Bernard  Manning. He managed to be totally un PC and get away with it  for 30 years...which I suppose is a sad reflection on the society  we live in, rather than Bernard's refusal to be governed by other  people's values. This however does not negate the offense that  was generated by what he said on stage and the stere-types  that he propagated.
In more recent times comedy seems to have lost it's ability to be  controversial and most of the comedians I see on TV are too  middle of the road and happy to have their regular slot on some pre scripted  pretend game show. No one seems to be taking chances  anymore. Hopefully there is a big upsurge of young talent  working the clubs as I write who will prove me wrong in years to  come.
I laugh at things I think maybe I shouldn't be laughing at. From  seeing someone really doing a prat fall in the street to hearing a  dirty joke that was just a little too explicit. I don't like knock knock  jokes or those ones that the guy in the pub reels off. I enjoy  original thought,and people who choose subject matter that is  "out of the box" rather than "off the shelf".
Don't get me wrong I loved Peter Kay when he first started and  think that there is a lot of Mr Kay we haven't seen yet...but looked  at as comic material...his routines are just reworkings of  comedians from the 50's like Al Read or later on Les Dawson and even Mike Harding the ''Do You remember format.'' It's easy to make people laugh using this format, because you know what buttons  to press. But, lets face it ...it isn't original.
The backlash in the seventies generated many interesting acts  from the likes of Alexi Sale to Jack Deeand eventually Eddie Izzard, who though they had  completely different delivery styles, all managed to talk about  subjects that other comics didn't touch on.
As I said earlier this originality seems to be in short supply at the moment  as those rebels now 'are' the establishment, so they and their  clones are the ones that the media shove in our faces. Recently  I’ve noticed a rash of  "Family Comedians" who I wish would just  go back to the holiday camps they cut their teeth in and stay  there.
One comedy writer I have come across on the net is a stream of  conscientiousness comedian called Bury Bob. His material is  videoed by his side kick who goes under the name of Uncle Joe  Bloggs and a whole family history is being built behind the Bob  personna .
From what I understand Bury Bob is an ex ..you name it he's  abused it...olic and also schizophrenic.....not a great combination  you might think....but art comes out of suffering and this guy has  certainly paid his dues by the sound of it.
The premise is that the many characters that have been arriving  on his website over the last few months are all merely different  facets of his schizoid personality.
I was genuinely shocked at times by some of the things he says,  but by the end of each piece I found myself questioning why I  was shocked.
The subject matter ranges from the ramblings of Bury Bob  himself...current subject his army days...
"I was in Helmand province for three years and never saw a jar  of mayonnaise"......to Kenny the Cannibal’s recipe page.
His other characters currently on show include Terry Bull  ,confident and personal life coach to the Q list celebs that fill our  photo press.
Psycho Bob is another member of his collection of personal  daemons and is a 'sit down' comedian who takes ten minutes to  tell a one line jjoke...a sort of extremely stoned Ronnie Corbet.
One of my favourites is DJBNB , a hospital radio DJ who  perhaps doesn't have the right amount of empathy for the job.
The site is very entertaining not just for the video content but for  the text and visual gags that are placed on every page.
There is even some music and a YourTube page where you can  send the weird stuff you find on the net. There's also a free  download page that you get access to when you register, where  you can download the songs for free as well as some things by  other artists including the very talented and very beautiful  "Nymphet". I don't know how they know her.
Behind it all there is a strong moral message usually saying  exactly the opposite of what the words portray.
The really amazing thing is that everything you see was shot live  without rehearsal or script. There are some cuts in the videos  and I emailed Bob to ask what was in these....I got a reply from  Uncle Joe who appears to be the arbitrator and spokesman. He  told me that usually Bob needed a break at that point or said  something in the flow that they later thought was too offensive or  to cheap a laugh or they had just cracked up themselves.
Bob's heroes are legion...a bit like his daemons....and include  Ross Noble, Bill Hicks, George Carlin,John Cooper Clarke as  well as the greats that were around while he was growing up like  Morcambe and Wise and Tommy Cooper. He's certainly no  comedy snob.
So if you are looking for something fresh, funny,truly alternative  and intellectually stimulating all at the same time get over to Bury  Bob's site but leave your preconceptions and your own  prejudices at the door....
James McBride
Manchester Free Press 

http://www.burybob.com/

 Whatever happened to alternative
comedy?Find out here.
Article Source: http://www.articles4reprint.com/