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Extraordinary work from James Corden’s writers. I presume. It’s the only real explanation isn’t it. I don’t think James Corden writes his own jokes and it seems highly implausible that whoever does write them chanced across the exact same scenario as Ricky Gervais. It’s possible that the writer saw the routine, forgot about it and then remembered it and thought it was their own. But it’s just too close to the original I think.
Maybe the writer knew they were copying it but thought they might get away with it - sometimes it’s tough to come up with ideas under pressure. But if so they are insane because they were bound to be caught.
Most cases of supposed plagiarism are just two people independently coming up with an obvious idea or occasionally a less obvious one (in the year I did a routine about the Penguin Race game a US comedian at the Fringe also had one - but I am confident neither of us had even heard of the other and had just seen the comedic possibilities of this quite niche item). But this one is too specific and too similar to be just a coincidence and the obvious conclusion to reach is that at least one of Corden’s writers wanted to make Corden look stupid. So pitched him a routine that was bound to be recognised as it was by one of the most watched comedians in the world. The fact that Corden and Gervais have a bit of a beef makes it more humiliating for Corden. But also makes you question what kind of man Corden is, if the people he employs would do this to him. I assume the writer will be fired, whatever the truth of the genesis of the gag, so it’s essentially a fuck you resignation (if I have the scenario correct). I believe the show is ending soon anyway, so maybe it’s not that great a sacrifice. But if that happened to me I’d take a look at myself. Luckily it never will because I write my own material and it’s basically self-hatred anyway and also because I am unlikely to get a show that is any bigger than Twitch of Fun (back on Thursday).
In other successful egotist fucking stuff up news, Elon Musk seems determined to ruin Twitter. I’d say it was nice whilst it lasted, but it’s not been very nice. But Twitter is my most visited site and I more or less live on there and I will be sad if it goes tits up. As much as it’s led to tears and frustration and unpleasantness for me (dealing with Ricky Gervais fans calling me a spastic because I’d asked people to think about using casual disablist language or people making terrible accusations towards me because I suggested we should call people what they want to be called - Ironically the two most seemingly benign tweets I’ve ever made have led to the most anger), but it’s also done so much good stuff. Twitter is an amazing place to raise money for charity, if you find the right vehicle and it’s a lovely place to come up with silly and long-running jokes (the International Men’s Day gag proved both the comedy and the charity points), but also it’s made it much easier to contact potential guests for my podcast and I’ve made friends on there, some of whom I’ve never met.
The stuff about the blue tick is worrying, not only because the tick is actually white. I have a blue tick, but I never wanted one and always turned it down when I was offered one, but one day it just turned up on its own. It felt unnecessarily showy for me. Who would want to pretend to be me? I don’t even want to be me. But it serves a purpose for many, mainly to ensure that people can’t pretend to be someone famous in order to con people (though there was that guy who somehow pretended to be Derek Griffiths a few years ago, who very nearly took me in). If people have to pay to use the site or to get a better service, I am not sure it will work. Because most people won’t pay. I am not sure that I would, though it’s probably worth £7 a month to me in promotional terms, but will become less worth it if people stop using it because they don’t want to pay.
I am just not sure that Musk understands the site and I find it weird that anyone who has 44 billion dollars to spend (and I think it still leaves him with about 180 billion) would spend that on a social media site, rather than doing some big altruistic gesture. Not even to be a good person, just to be a successful egotist. Look, I have come up with a solution to global warming or I have fed the world or whatever.
Ah well, let’s see what happens. Perhaps being forced off Twitter and back into the real world might be the best thing for all of us, freeing us to look around us again and form genuine human relationships. I hope not and I will fight this with all my heart.
The day was bookended with pointless podcasts as I played a tired game of snooker against myself. Available in the usual places on Wednesdays.
