Routine goes viral... but with no credit

Another comedian has complained after their joke was stolen and distributed across Facebook.

Dominic Woodward’s routine about trying to pay for a few groceries with a £20 note went viral after it was posted by part-time club DJ Alan Clarke – attracting more than 100,000 ‘likes’ in just a few days.

However, Clarke claimed the story as his own, and when one of his friends asked if it really happened, he said: ‘Yep.’

When Woodward pointed out that it was his gag, and would have appreciated the credit,he was flamed with insults from Clarke’s online friends.

The incident follows the case of an online pet store taking one of comedian Bec Hill’s cartoons and rebranding it with their web address, to promote themselves on Facebook.

Clarke, 25, is a mobile DJ and life insurance salesman from Birmingham who says on his Facebook page that he studies at The University Of Eating Pussy – ‘eating pussy and making the bitchez squirt like a firemans hose init’.

He posted the routine last week, saying it was a genuine incident with a ‘thick fcuking chav bitch’ on the Asda checkout.

The following day, Woodward pointed out that he wrote the routine four years ago, saying: ‘I've been doing it at my shows ever since. However it's actually much funnier when a) I deliver it and b) when there isn't all the nastiness in the set up.’

He added: ‘Sad that someone has written it up online (my material pays my mortgage!) but I guess over 30k likes means I'm pretty darn good. Please don't write my jokes up online - they are meant to be delivered by me - live in comedy clubs.’

Clarke replied that the success of his post - which has also been shared by more than 7,000 people – meant: ‘I deliever a punch line better than you’

And he added of Woodward: ‘The only thing funny about him is his looks...do your self a favour and take your face for a shit it looks constipated.’

But that was mild compared to some of the abuse that followed.

Matt North posted: ‘Dominic Woodward you are a full on bell end. Why don't you copyright this "Get fucked you stupid cunt".’

Rich Nibbo Niblett added: ‘Domiprick get a life u weird cunt.’

And Michael 'streakle' Gough said: Were you molested as a child? Because Your facial expression on your website would suggest so.’

Another Facebook user, James Whiten, said Woodward should ‘be happy people have copied it’.

However, if the joke is distributed too widely, Woodward would no longer be able to perform it on the circuit, as audiences would assume he had stolen it from the internet, rather than vice-versa.

Like so many similar incidents, Woodward’s joke was actually first stolen by the Sikipedia website, where it was posted three years ago – again uncredited. Clarke had merely cut-and-paste the Sikipedia entry on to his Facebook timeline, changing the odd word here and there.

Here is the joke, as it was meant to be told:

Published: 22 Jan 2013