Joe Rogan vs. Carlos Mencia

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Im not that big of a fan of Mencia either but at least hes at least somewhat funny...

Carlos Mencia's act was somewhat funny when my dad did it almost word for word at the dinner table 20 years ago, but I can't say it's still that funny now.

 

 

Your dad's Paul Mooney?

[the max 0]

Rogan has a lot of anger towards comedians who steal jokes, and has been extremely vocal about it. And he is an animal so anyone who stands up to him, is likely to get their jaw unhinged and torn off.

 

O&A brought this up today, that Rogan trashed Mencia to his face and didn't once bring up the "I'LL FUCKING KICK YOUR ASS!!" despite Mencia calling him a "little bitch". I guess after that, Mencia decided to go on-stage at the club, got booed off by the crowd and by about 15 comedians who stood in the back chanting the "na na na na" song at him as he was booed off-stage. Mencia complained to the owner of the club that he felt "unsafe" professionally that Rogan was targeting him this badly and Rogan was subsequently banned from the Comedy Store.

 

Mencia is going to get more of a backlash then I think he's expecting, IMO.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Don't support a joke thief? Trick, get off me.

[AmericanDragon 0]

From Joe's site:

 

My agent dropped me because of the Carlos™

 

This is starting to get hysterical.

As the fearful little animals scamper to a safe, dry spot on the sinking ship of lies, characters are exposed and karma is radiantly beautiful.

 

My agent from the Gersh agency, who is the same guy that represents Carlos, spoke to me on the phone today. He told me that he was being "put in the middle of this thing, and forced to make a choice." He said that Carlos wanted to get on the phone with me and end this once and for all, and get this... wanted an apology.

If I didn't do this, he wanted the Gersh agency to either drop me, or he would leave them.

 

I told them that was fucking hilarious, and said that it's been fun working with them. The fact that they would even consider asking me to do something like that meant I was going to leave them anyway, but the sheer stereotypical "hollywood" nature of conversation actually fucking shocked me.

It was like a scene in a movie. Not even a current movie. More like that Kevin Bacon movie "The Big Picture" that was about the evils of Hollywood from the early 90's.

 

I hung up the phone and laughed out loud. A real, hard, pleasure filled laugh.

 

Now can you IMAGINE if I was a young, struggling comic and all this shit went down? THAT is the really ugly part of it.

Now you know why people don't speak up about this shit.

 

Hollywood eats it's young.

At least the Gersh agency does.

 

What a fascinating, and intriguing life this is turning out to be.

[In Credible 0]

That's sad.

 

Fuck Carlos.

[randomguy 0]

Most guys don't speak up because look at what happened to Joe Rogan. The guy is a major guy - he was on network TV on two hit shows. And now he is banned from a club and parted ways with his agent - for telling the truth.

 

Joe Rogan is very well-spoken. He is pretty crazy in some ways (like his moon landing stuff lol) but he is pretty smart and articulate.

 

I have a lot of respect for him. One thing I like about him is that on Fear Factor he obviously didn't take the show or the contestants seriously at all.

 

Joe Rogan is smarter than 99% of people in Hollywood.

[bob_barron 0]

Don't support a joke thief? Trick, get off me.

 

Pretty much. It really isn't that hard to steal material and make it into your own. Why don't you support comedians with actual talent?

[starvenger 0]

Most guys don't speak up because look at what happened to Joe Rogan. The guy is a major guy - he was on network TV on two hit shows. And now he is banned from a club and parted ways with his agent - for telling the truth.

 

Joe Rogan is very well-spoken. He is pretty crazy in some ways (like his moon landing stuff lol) but he is pretty smart and articulate.

 

I have a lot of respect for him. One thing I like about him is that on Fear Factor he obviously didn't take the show or the contestants seriously at all.

It seems to me it was more a case of taking things seriously at the right times. He wasn't afraid to lean on the contestants if they were close to quitting or things of that sort.

 

Anyway, since he's currently agentless, he should be careful. Sleazy D will probably try to renegotiate his UFC contract so that he's making minimum wage or something.

[the max 0]

Most guys don't speak up because look at what happened to Joe Rogan. The guy is a major guy - he was on network TV on two hit shows. And now he is banned from a club and parted ways with his agent - for telling the truth.

 

Joe Rogan is very well-spoken. He is pretty crazy in some ways (like his moon landing stuff lol) but he is pretty smart and articulate.

 

I have a lot of respect for him. One thing I like about him is that on Fear Factor he obviously didn't take the show or the contestants seriously at all.

It seems to me it was more a case of taking things seriously at the right times. He wasn't afraid to lean on the contestants if they were close to quitting or things of that sort.

 

Anyway, since he's currently agentless, he should be careful. Sleazy D will probably try to renegotiate his UFC contract so that he's making minimum wage or something.

 

Rogan was immediately signed by William Morris. He was dropped by the 7th largest agency in LA only to be picked up by the 2nd largest.

 

Also, the agency that dropped him only represented him as far as comedy goes. He has a separate agency for tv.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Don't support a joke thief? Trick, get off me.

 

Pretty much. It really isn't that hard to steal material and make it into your own. Why don't you support comedians with actual talent?

Why do you care? I think Mencia's funny, at least during his standup routine. If you don't like it, you don't have to, but you're not going to change my mind.

 

It's not like I'm going to say, "Wow, that's a good point, fucker; I never thought of it that way... I hate Carlos Mencia now!" You've told me that he steals jokes, and I still think he's funny, so if you've got a problem with that, tough shit.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Would you listen to a band that didn't write their own songs, they just played other people's songs and claimed they were their own? Like, if Metallica went out and played an old Deep Purple track, and said "No no, we wrote that", don't you think that would be just a little fucking absurd?

[naiwf 0]

If they played them better, who cares who wrote them? I'm not losing money on royalties.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Would you listen to a band that didn't write their own songs, they just played other people's songs and claimed they were their own? Like, if Metalica went out and played an old Deep Purple track, and said "No no, we wrote that", don't you think that would be just a little fucking absurd?

1) I listen to a lot of R&B and some pop music; few R&B singers actually write their own songs. And even fewer pop singers. So no, that's not an issue for me.

 

2) It occurs to me that telling someone else's joke is not the same as getting on stage and saying "Hey, I made all these jokes up! I'm original!" I've listened to a few of Mencia's standup performances, and I can't recall him claiming to have thought up all his jokes...

 

3) Funny is more about timing and delivery than the actual joke, in my opinion. If Comic A tells a joke, and I don't react, and then, a year later, Comic B tells the same joke, but tells it in a way that makes me laugh, then fuck Comic A, as far as I'm concerned.

 

EDIT - What naiwf said.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

1. You don't see a difference between someone having a song written for them, by a writer they (or someone else working for them) probably hired, and someone listening to someone else's song, thinking it's good, then going out and playing it and giving no credit where credit is due? Claiming that you wrote the thing?

 

2. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention to the video, but it seems to me that Mencia sure as hell didn't agree with Rogan when he claimed he stole jokes. In fact, I'm pretty sure he said he didn't steal jokes, and that was what the whole thing was about. Unless there was an odd occurance where Rogan said "You're a thief" and Mencia said "yes I am" and they somehow argued about agreeing with each other for ten minutes.

 

That, to me, is the central issue here. If he wants to steal jokes, fine, go ahead. Go on tour as "Carlos Menica performs your favourite jokes from past comedians". Just be up-front about it. Like R&B and Hip-hop is. They have to give credit on samples, as far as I know. So why can't he just admit it?

 

Also, the whole changing his name thing and claiming to be Mexican when he's apparantly not; I'm reasonably certain that if I was a comedian, and I painted my face black and changed my name to Tyrone Biggums so I could tell jokes about black people, I'd get shot. That also bugs me.

[naiwf 0]

I'm not going to rehash the first couple of points you made, but many rappers have been sued for not crediting the people they sample, sometimes due to ignorance other times they did it knowing full well that they were ripping someone off and figured they'd get away with it. No one likes to give credit (and in that case pay royalties) for stuff if they don't have to.

 

To your last point, Carlos/Ned is 50% Latino since his mom is from Honduras and he "looks" like he could pass for a Mexican naturally. As a Latino with brown skin people have assumed I'm pretty much every Latin nationality you can be, in addition to mulatto and Middle Eastern, so I don't see how that's an issue. You however would be a white guy pretending to be black BY GOING UP IN BLACKFACE. You'd get shot for being a racist and an idiot to boot, not because you tried to change your identity to tell some jokes. That's not even close to being the same thing.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

1. You don't see a difference between someone having a song written for them, by a writer they (or someone else working for them) probably hired, and someone listening to someone else's song, thinking it's good, then going out and playing it and giving no credit where credit is due? Claiming that you wrote the thing?

It's not a question of whether I can tell the difference, it's a question of do I care either way? Answer: I don't. Personally, I don't care if he opens his act with "I stole all these jokes," or whether he opens his act with "I wrote all these jokes myself!" and then proceeds to rip off George Lopez's entire act. If he tells the jokes BETTER than Lopez, and he makes me laugh and Lopez doesn't, then that's all that matters to me.

[bob_barron 0]

Why do you care? I think Mencia's funny, at least during his standup routine. If you don't like it, you don't have to, but you're not going to change my mind.

He's good at telling jokes written by other people. Wow, what a talented funny guy. A lot of people could do what Mencia does.

 

You've told me that he steals jokes, and I still think he's funny, so if you've got a problem with that, tough shit.

 

Do you think authors who plagarize are good authors? It's the same thing.

 

I listen to a lot of R&B and some pop music; few R&B singers actually write their own songs. And even fewer pop singers. So no, that's not an issue for me.

Completely different situation. People are hired to write songs for musicians, or they have writing partners. Mencia sees a bit, goes "That's funny" and rips it off as his own.

 

I've listened to a few of Mencia's standup performances, and I can't recall him claiming to have thought up all his jokes...

 

He's a comedian! When you see a comedian perform, I would hope they'd be doing their own jokes. Or at least he could give credit for it!

 

Funny is more about timing and delivery than the actual joke, in my opinion. If Comic A tells a joke, and I don't react, and then, a year later, Comic B tells the same joke, but tells it in a way that makes me laugh, then fuck Comic A, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Not really, no. It's a lot harder to come up with bits and punchlines then it is to deliver them.

 

Mencia's a fuck, and the fact that he's using his "power" to attempt to blackball Rogan for exposing him as the worthless comedian that he is, is quite amusing.

[bob_barron 0]

It's not a question of whether I can tell the difference, it's a question of do I care either way? Answer: I don't. Personally, I don't care if he opens his act with "I stole all these jokes," or whether he opens his act with "I wrote all these jokes myself!" and then proceeds to rip off George Lopez's entire act. If he tells the jokes BETTER than Lopez, and he makes me laugh and Lopez doesn't, then that's all that matters to me.

 

You don't care that Mencia is making money off of someone else's hard work? As Rogan said, coming up with comedy bits is not that easy. For Mencia to do that shows that he's a scumbag who should be shot in the face.

 

Whether he's good at delivering a joke or not, this does show how little talent he has and I don't see how anyone can respect him?

 

Good for Rogan.

[naiwf 0]

Respecting him and finding him funny are not the same thing. There are a lot of people I don't respect who are very good at what they do. For instance, I respect Joe Rogan for taking a stance here but he's not a great stand up comic. If given the choice I'd watch Mencia do Joe's act verbatim and probably find it was done better by Ned, because he's better at what they do.

[Special K 0]

He's good at telling jokes written by other people.

This is incorrect.

 

 

Here's the thing, when Conan comes out and does his monologue, it's written by people who are paid to do exactly that. If Mencia paid people to write his stuff, it wouldn't be a big deal. But he is stealing people's livelihoods! There such a thing called "intellectual property". Whether you personally find Mencia funny or not is irrelevant.

 

Here's something: if being a joke thief is not a big deal, then why was Mencia so upset and vociferously defensive? Becaise it IS a big deal, and he knows it.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

He's good at telling jokes written by other people.

Here's the thing, when Conan comes out and does his monologue, it's written by people who are paid to do exactly that. If Mencia paid people to write his stuff, it wouldn't be a big deal. But he is stealing people's livelihoods! There such a thing called "intellectual property". Whether you personally find Mencia funny or not is irrelevant.

I don't know you from Adam, so I will ask this as a question rather than declare it as a statement:

 

Have you ever downloaded, or otherwise obtained, any copyrighted information without paying for it?

 

Because, if the answer is yes, then you have zero moral high ground to lecture about "intellectual property," or "stealing people's livelihoods."

[justsoyouknow 0]

...that's not even the same argument.

[Ripper 0]

Yeah. That isn't the same thing. This is like me ripping the cover off Moby Dick and placing a new cover called Big Ass Fish by Ripper and pretending I wrote it. I wouldnt be a talented author all of a sudden.

[Fökai 0]

I don't think Mencia would be as popular as he is if he prefaced his jokes by saying "Hey! Here's a good anecdote that my friend and fellow comedian Ari came up with". When you're a stand-up comedian, the point is that it is your jokes. Whether they succeed or bomb, other comedians don't take them. Just see the 'Louis CK v. Dane Cook' video from earlier - Dane just took CK's joke and did a different introduction to it. It's blatant, and insulting to other comedians.

 

EDIT: I don't know why Slim was dragged into this. He said he had no problem with Mencia stealing jokes, which is fine by me. That doesn't change the fact that I hated Mencia's act before, and now with this, I completely loathe him for being exposed for the thief he is.

[randomguy 0]

I would read Big Ass Fish.

 

Another point about comedy is that it is often observational. When you are stealing jokes you are pretending you made this observations that someone else made. It really is taking credit for their ideas, their experiences, and the way they creatively turn those into jokes.

[SuperJerk 0]

Im not that big of a fan of Mencia either but at least hes at least somewhat funny...

Carlos Mencia's act was somewhat funny when my dad did it almost word for word at the dinner table 20 years ago, but I can't say it's still that funny now.

 

 

Your dad's Paul Mooney?

I wish.

[mister foozel 0]

naiwf and citrus

 

give up, you lose, the ship is sinking rapidly and your arguments are on board

the coast guard is on vacation

the life preservers and rafts are full

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I think the real issue here is the fact that anyone actually finds Ned funny.

[naiwf 0]

naiwf and citrus

 

give up, you lose, the ship is sinking rapidly and your arguments are on board

the coast guard is on vacation

the life preservers and rafts are full

 

Oh no, I've "lost" an e-argument. As far as I can see, Mencia The Dastardly Joke Thief hasn't lost any fans in this thread since everyone here who disliked him already still does. Last I checked, he still has a show on CC and will still be doing stand up. So basically, nothing has changed and nothing will, which is essentially my point. This whole issue is meaningless in the real world.

[Yuna_Firerose 0]

Citrus has a point, actually. The correlation between one comic ripping off another, and downloading a film, are rather identical. For the record, I've not seen either comedian's stand up act. I lurk around the thread just for the comments posted.