Hard news for me.

[The Mothman]

Im a huge huge Denis Leary fan.
I think No Cure For Cancer is the funniest stand up act in existance.
I was reading through his wikipedia profile, i even edited it to make it say "denis leary is the fucking man"
but as i scrolled down, i read more, and read some news that came off as pretty shocking to me.
Apparently, Denis Leary stole a decent amount of material from Bill Hicks, and used it in in his own comedy act. I watched a youtube video on it, its definetly true....
but idont know what to think at this point. No Cure For Cancer is still freakin hilarious, but it kills me to know that he stole material. this guy's been practically my anti-hero idol for years now...
can anyone justify this? whats your opinion?

[neverending]

Since there have been comedians they have been "borrowing" material from each other. The classic comedians used to joke about it. When one of them went to see the other they'd say "You'll hear that in MY act next week." Jokes and stories would pass through several comedians, each one of them adding their own style or outlook to it.

Leary & hicks had similar styles, and dealt with some of the same topics. I think it's only natural one would hear something in the other's act he want to try out and see what he could do with it. I don't think it makes Leary any less original. He has plenty of cred to his name.

In the 60's every comedian who did impressions did Ed Sullivan.Would you hear similarities in their acts? Sure. Did they watch and borrow from each other? Sure. If you watch comedy showcases today often enough you'll start to hear some of the same material. Who makes it work the best? Not always the one who may have originated the bit.

It's not something I'd lose any sleep over.

[neverending]

I have watched the series of videos on YouTube and they don't convince me. Sure, Leary is plowing the same comedic path as Hicks, but he's not doung a word for word transcription as the Hicks crowd claim. Some of the correlations they try to draw are tennuous at best. The show a clip of Hicks mentioning you can no longer smoke on planes, and then he goes off on a bit about kids running loose on planes. Then they cut to a clip of Leary doing a couple lines about smoking being banned on planes. Guess what? Other comedians ALSO do jokes about not being able to smoke on planes!

Other bits in the videos do have stronger links- but again- Leary is not doing Hicks act word for word. He puts his own spin on the bits he's borrowed. There's plenty of Hicks stuff Leary's NOT doing, and there's plenty of other material Leary is doing.

Did Leary take material from Hicks? Yes. Did he make it his own? Yes. Can Leary stand on his own? Yes.

I like them both.

[illdojo]

Originally Posted by neverending

Did Leary take material from Hicks? Yes. Did he make it his own? Yes. Can Leary stand on his own? Yes.

I like them both.

I 100% agree.

But....Hicks has been my idol for many years. I agreed with anything and everything he said. The man was a true visionary. A person with a mind like his should be President.

It's a good thing that there's still comedians like George Carlin and Lewis Black around. To point the finger, and speak the truth.

[Disease]

I haven't seen a lot of Leary... put up the link for the so called stolen material ..

[Disease]

I watched what I think is the video you were talking about...

Subject matter, that is all, so what... It's not exactly stealing..

[Yellow Jacket]

Subject matter is the same, but the jokes aren't the same. As neverending said, comedians have been "borrowing" material for a long time. It doesn't make them less original. Denis Leary is still the man.

[The Mothman]

its good to know people dont really have beef with him for it.

[Yellow Jacket]

Originally Posted by The Mothman

its good to know people dont really have beef with him for it.

I could never have any beef with Denis Leary. Especially after he starred in The Ref. I love that movie!

[neverending]

I really liked The Job as well.