Dossier of alleged plagiarism by Gad Elmaleh

The world’s biggest French-speaking stand-up has been accused of stealing jokes from comedians including George Carlin, Steven Wright and Richard Pryor.

A 14-minute video posted anonymously on YouTube features around a dozen of Gad Elmaleh’s routines that have uncanny similarities to other comedians’ work.

Although it is not uncommon for comics to come up with similar ideas entirely separately, the number of examples in the video - already viewed more than 130,000 times – are likely to have some impact on Elmaleh’s reputation

The video on the YouTube account #CopyComic plays clips side-by-side and asks: ‘Coincidence or plagiarism?’

It starts with a 1996 George Carlin routine analysing the phrase ‘I’d be more than happy to do that’, questioning how anyone can be ‘more than happy’  – followed by Elmaleh asking the very same question on his 2018 Netflix special, American Dream.

That’s followed by a 1992 Carlin routine about universal moments we all share, such as looking at your watch yet immediately forgetting what time it is. In 2014, in a French special entitled Sans Tambour, Elmaleh talks about everyone having the ‘same craziness’… such as looking at your watch and then having no idea what time it is.

Then Francophone Canadian comedian Martin Matte is shown miming how comical it looks to walk in ski boots from a 2000 special, followed by Elmaleh doing similar silly walk to make the same point in 2005.

Some of Elmaleh’s apparent ‘inspirations’ are relatively famous routines. A 2014 joke about his guard dog being stolen has similarities to Richard Pryor’s classic 1979 gag about someone stealing the Doberman he bought to protect his house. 

And the 1995 Steven Wright joke: ‘I bought some powdered water, but I don’t know what to add’ is retold in Elmaleh 2005’s special L’Autre C’est Moi, albeit without the American’s trademark deadpan efficiency.

Similarly, Wright used to joke: ‘A couple of nights ago I came home very late, was having a little bit of trouble getting into my apartment. I accidentally took out a car key, and I stuck it in the door, turned it and the building started up... So I drove it around for a while.’

Elmaleh’s version goes: ’One night I came home very drunk. I made a mistake. I used my car key to get inside. I put it into the keyhole. I turned it. The house started up. At breakneck speed on the highway.’

There are also similarities between Elemah’s work and a  Dana Carvey routine about the faces guitarists pull when playing, as well as routines from Francophone comics from Canada, France and Algeria:  Dany Boon, Dieudonne, Fellag, Donel Jack’sman and Patrick Huard.

It is not the first time the #CopyComic account has cast aspersions about Elmaleh’s reputation. In 2017 it pointed out that a 2005 routine about airline safety instructions – already a hackneyed subject for stand-up –  was very similar to a Jerry Seinfeld segment from 20 years earlier. Elmaleh and Seinfeld are friends, and have appeared on stage together.

Born in Morocco, Elmaleh is credited with helping popularise US-style observational comedy in France, where he started his stand-up career. He has recently started to conquer the US, too, helped by the success of his American Dream special, which was his first in the English language.

Neither Elmaleh nor his representatives have yet commented on the latest allegations, which have also been picked up by major national French newspapers Le Soir and Le Monde.

Here is the video drawing out the comparisons:

Published: 29 Jan 2019