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The horror– Joke-E-Oke won't go away…
Where to begin? From a recent Wired article:
Karaoke is soooooo 1990s. For those who’d rather make people laugh at their punch lines than cringe at their high notes, the new wave in participatory entertainment is Joke-e-oke.
First of all, this is appalling. Secondly, we must correct the author– “For those who’d rather make people laugh at their punch lines…??! We don’t think it’s a technicality to point out that these punchlines they speak of are not those of the Joke-E-Oke-er, they are the property of the writer, the original comic!
The premise behind Joke-e-oke is that, at some level, everyone wants to be a comedian. It’s a form of entertainment software that allows people, momentarily, to realize this ambition while emulating the classic comedy routines of their favorite comedians.
Did he say emulating? I believe he did. We like to call it “stealing” or “ripping off.”
The idea for Joke-e-oke is simple. It’s basically karaoke with stand-up comedy material. Many dream of the chance to be a comedian with killer material in front of a laughing crowd. With Joke-e-oke, people are able to live out their comedy fantasy of being their favorite comedian onstage, choosing from a list of stand-up comedy icons to perform. A built in laugh track is added, timed perfectly to accent punch lines.
Pathetic.
If that doesn’t angry up the blood, try this:
“I was impressed that a lot of the cool art hipsters at the Rx, people who wouldn’t dare go to normal comedy clubs, got up and did a comic’s act,” said local comedian Mike Spiegelman, who did a mean version of a classic Jerry Seinfeld routine about airline food. “It was fun to see people interpret the material and get caught up in the joking. They got laughs by delivering the jokes, mimicking the comic, or by looking lost and screwing up. A lot were charmed by it.”
Who are the bigger assholes here? The faux peformers or the douchebags (excuse me, the “cool hipsters”) who cooked up this abomination in the first place? Throughout the entire article, no mention is made of royalties, rights or that kind of tiny technicality. The article does mention, in passing that the creeps who cooked up this whole mess, Angry Waiter 4am, “has not yet made a business out of selling the program but is looking into licensing it for distribution.” Stay tuned. This can only get worse. (Thanks to Ken Marx for the tip!)
(Editors note: We commented on this wretched phenomenon way back on Dec. 7 of 2004. In that posting, we said that we would call the venue and complain, but we never followed up. We apologize!)
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I’d read about this a while back, and brought it up in conversation last month when I went to Karaoke with some staff from the local comedy club. We all agreed it was a horrible idea, but that we’d enjoy watching it in a demented way. The way you enjoy watching a car wreck, or fat chicks flashing their tits on Springer. So do they put the words up on the screen facing the audience so everyone can read ahead? Do they instruct you to drop the mic at the end of a Chris Rock bit? Will they ever find a way to use Carrot Top’s material? Pressing issues, these.-Sharilyn
>Did he say emulating? I believe he>did. We like to call it “stealing” or>”ripping off.”Umm… by this same logic hundreds of professional musicians are being “ripped off” because people are performing their songs in karaoke bars every night.I don’t think anyone would go to a Joke-E-Oke night instead of going to a comedy club to see a professional comedian. It would be like staying home from the Janet Jackson concert and going to the karaoke bar instead. How funny can it be to watch amateurs do other people’s material? Joke-E-Oke is more of something fun to do when you’re out drinking with your buddies… nobody is going to mistake it for real comedy…
Paul said:<>Umm… by this same logic hundreds of professional musicians are being “ripped off” because people are performing their songs in karaoke bars every night.<>Well, Paul, the big fat difference is that, in the vast majority of karaoke bars, BMI or ASCAP is seeing to it that the songs composers are compensated for the use of their intellectual property. As we said, there was no mention of rights in this article.Paul also said:<>I don’t think anyone would go to a Joke-E-Oke night instead of going to a comedy club to see a professional comedian.<>We do. And if any did, it would be bad for comedy. Your argument that, “It would be like staying home from the Janet Jackson concert and going to the karaoke bar instead.” is utterly preposterous. It costs $75 to see Janet live and nothing to hear her hits (they’re really not her songs, technically, as I believe they’re all written for her).Paul also said:<>How funny can it be to watch amateurs do other people’s material? Joke-E-Oke is more of something fun to do when you’re out drinking with your buddies… nobody is going to mistake it for real comedy…<>How funny can it be? How honest can it be? How beneficial to the original author can it be? You’re missing all the points.And consider this: If they’re doing contemporary comics’ material (taken, say, from a recent HBO or Comedy Central special) and the comic is still doing the material at personal appearances, it doesn’t take much imagination to see how this might be bad. Jokes, you see, depend a lot on surprise.
If anybody around has made a Comedy Central and has a bit of legal training, could you let us know what your contract said about performance or retransmission rights in other media?This is, unfortunately, why we need those lawyer people to read stuff over– and the smarter ones might think of this stuff ahead of time and make sure it doesn’t come back to haunt us later.-Shaun Eli (not a lawyer)
Sorry, a Comedy Central APPEARANCE, I meant to say.
OH MY!! This is so disturbing to me! I’ve only been doing standup for about 2 and 1/2 months…and despite my lack of experience with performing, I’ve been doing well because I think I have pretty good writing skills. My material is precious to me because it’s something I created!! The thought of someone getting laughs by saying jokes that aren’t theirs??…This makes me sick!!
>>Umm… by this same logic hundreds>>of professional musicians are>>being “ripped off” because people>>are performing their songs in>>karaoke bars every night.>Well, Paul, the big fat difference>is that, in the vast majority of>karaoke bars, BMI or ASCAP is>seeing to it that the songs>composers are compensated for the>use of their intellectual property.>As we said, there was no mention of>rights in this article.Hmmm… good point.>>I don’t think anyone would go to a>>Joke-E-Oke night instead of going>>to a comedy club to see a>>professional comedian.>We do. And if any did, it would be>bad for comedy. Your argument that,>”It would be like staying home from>the Janet Jackson concert and going>to the karaoke bar instead.” is>utterly preposterous. It costs $75>to see Janet live and nothing to>hear her hits (they’re really not>her songs, technically, as I>believe they’re all written for>her).WTF??? Do you really know people who refuse to go to concerts because they can hear the same songs for free at their local karaoke bar? I don’t…>>How funny can it be to watch>>amateurs do other people’s>>material? Joke-E-Oke is more of>>something fun to do when you’re>>out drinking with your buddies…>>nobody is going to mistake it for>>real comedy…>How funny can it be? How honest can>it be? How beneficial to the>original author can it be? You’re>missing all the points.Dude, have you ever heard amateurs try to get laughs by telling routines from professional stand-ups? “I saw this Chris Rock DVD the other night and he had this hilarious routine about men and women, check it out, it goes like this…” In most cases, listening to amateurs repeating other people’s material is PAINFUL… not something that would be entertaining unless you were drunk.>And consider this: If they’re doing>contemporary comics’ material>(taken, say, from a recent HBO or>Comedy Central special) and the>comic is still doing the material>at personal appearances, it doesn’t>take much imagination to see how>this might be bad. Jokes, you see,>depend a lot on surprise.Actually, this is a very good point.