# People who steal your joke right in front of you... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336 "2006-02-27T17:49:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/21 "2006-02-28T05:51:36Z")
**Jacknifed Juggernaut,** I know this feeling exactly. I was once at an out-of-town meeting with people like, oh, my boss’s boss, and other people I mostly talked to on the phone from other offices. A subject came up, and I had a joke for it! This was very unusual as I’m the kind of person who only ever remembers one joke at a time and it’s usually not a very good one. This joke was no exception, except that it fit the circumstances and conversation _so perfectly._ So I shared it with the guy on my left. He immediately shared it with _the whole table,_ in a nice appropriately booming voice and then, at the end of it, said in a very _low_ voice, “actually, that was Suzanne’s joke.” As everybody was laughing, of course. So who got points for the great wit, hmmm? Of course it wasn’t like I invented the joke or anything. I wanted credit for the timing. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/22 "2006-02-28T05:55:20Z")
Oh, wait, was I supposed to actually tell the joke in this thread? Sorry, I’ve forgotten it. It’s no longer the one joke I remember, I’ve got another one. Anyway you had to be there. I would have shared it with the whole table but I just don’t speak that loudly. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/23 "2006-02-28T15:17:23Z")
Channeling Sling Blade Carl: Mmmm-hmmm Two men on a bridge went to the bathroom. The water was cold and deep. Mmmm-hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/24 "2006-02-28T16:02:26Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > I thought jokes like that were taboo on an airplane? > > You don’t want the credit when the air marshals wrestle her to the ground and drag her kicking and screaming into a room for a few hours. 😃 Yeah, it can get pretty dicey. I ran into my boss, Jack, at LAX one time and said, loudly, “Hi Jack.” Then realized what I had just said and I sort of shrank into my seat waiting for airport security to come and get me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/25 "2006-02-28T16:05:40Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > I had a cousin who would recycle jokes from people and retell them the next time. We will all be sitting around saying, “Yup, it was funny when Richard told that one” or "“That was better than when Tommy said it.” Don’t people remember who told it to them? I remember something fun happening along those lines at my sister’s college graduation party. We were all hanging out, and this nerdy older guy was kinda hitting on her, and he told her this funny anecdote that had happened to him when he was in college. Now, I was a nerdy kid. The kind that read _Campus Comedy_ in my gramma’s _Reader’s Digest_ when we visited her. So I knew where he’d gotten this funny anecdote from. I wish I’d said something, ruined his nerdgroove. But I was too shy. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/26 "2006-02-28T19:51:05Z")
I just thought of something. Maybe the plane was _shot down_. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/27 "2006-02-28T19:58:08Z")
I was in the audience of a small club once to see an artist who was something of a folksinger, but more original than that implies. When he sat down with his acoustic guitar, he said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to sing Kum By Ya.” Everybody laughed. After the show was over, he came out for an encore and said, “Does anyone have any requests?” I said, to my table mates, “I’m gonna request Kum By Ya.” One of them goes, “Count of three, all of us shout KUM BY YA!” I’m thinking, how lame is that? All shout it out? So they did, and I didn’t. I felt like it woulda been funnier if I had just requested it, like a real request, rather than some lame unison shout out. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/28 "2006-02-28T20:02:25Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I was in the audience of a small club once to see an artist who was something of a folksinger, but more original than that implies. When he sat down with his acoustic guitar, he said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to sing Kum By Ya.” Everybody laughed. > > After the show was over, he came out for an encore and said, “Does anyone have any requests?” I said, to my table mates, “I’m gonna request Kum By Ya.” One of them goes, “Count of three, all of us shout KUM BY YA!” > > I’m thinking, how lame is that? All shout it out? So they did, and I didn’t. I felt like it woulda been funnier if I had just requested it, like a real request, rather than some lame unison shout out. Totally agree - they obviously didn’t understand comedic presentation! ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/29 "2006-02-28T20:25:18Z")
Eh. Happens all the time. It doesn’t bother me at all. I tend to enounce my zingers somewhat quietly, or privately - the only time the whole group is going to hear it is if the group is comprised of three or four people at the same table/in the same room, etc. If someone wants to take what I said and run with it, more power to them. It’s not my style to shout it out, and so I would never have gotten credit for it in the first place, right? I know the truth, if it was my joke, and I’m often just pleased to see other people enjoying it. Penis ensues. 😉 Though in **lissener** ’s case, I think his delivery would have been far more humourous than the united chant. Myself, I wouldn’t have been annoyed as much as embarrassed for them, though only briefly, as I would be for anybody that delivered it in such a cringe-worthy fashion. Like **lissener** , I wouldn’t have taken part in it, either. You’re on your own, there, kids. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/30 "2006-03-01T02:31:02Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > I was in the audience of a small club once to see an artist who was something of a folksinger, but more original than that implies. When he sat down with his acoustic guitar, he said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to sing Kum By Ya.” Everybody laughed. > > After the show was over, he came out for an encore and said, “Does anyone have any requests?” I said, to my table mates, “I’m gonna request Kum By Ya.” One of them goes, “Count of three, all of us shout KUM BY YA!” > > I’m thinking, how lame is that? All shout it out? So they did, and I didn’t. I felt like it woulda been funnier if I had just requested it, like a real request, rather than some lame unison shout out. Of course, it would have been 10 times funnier if you had shouted out KUM BY YA on the count of two! hh ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336/31 "2006-03-01T09:37:20Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > I had a great joke which works well in both Japanese and English Well? Share! I promise to credit you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-steal-your-joke-right-in-front-of-you/346336.md?page=1)