[imagesource: Twitter / @RupertMyers]

In the comedy world, stealing jokes from others in the industry is very much frowned upon.

James Corden knows this, just as much as he knows he could use some good press in the wake of what has been a horrid month or so for his reputation.

Nicking jokes can often go undetected if you take them from someone obscure, whose voice can be easily drowned out. Ricky Gervais is not that person (his raucous, shriek-like laughter is recognisable the world over) and Corden has found that out the hard way.

Corden told the joke during a Late Late Show monologue and this video is about as damning as they get:

In which James Corden basically does a Ricky Gervais joke word for word pic.twitter.com/8MfkrBo8Y0

— Rupert Myers (@RupertMyers) November 1, 2022

Gervais initially drew attention to it by tweeting a video of Corden telling the joke and adding, “The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant”.

He then deleted that tweet but did reply to a few questions, including why he had chosen to take it down and whether Corden had asked permission to use the joke:

That second response is telling.

The easiest conclusion to draw here is that one of Corden’s writers hates his guts and intentionally sold him down the river by including it in his monologue.

There’s also the fact that, in the past, Gervais has taken a few potshots at Corden. Below via Rolling Stone:

One moment of his Netflix show After Life sees grieving widower Tony (Gervais) berate another character after she says that Corden would be among her five dream dinner party guests. “F*** me”, he replies to the suggestion.

He also took aim at Corden during his 2020 Golden Globes Monologue, saying: “The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy. He was also in the movie Cats.

“But no one saw that. And the reviews — shocking. I saw one that said this is the worst thing to happen to cats since dogs.”

Corden has yet to comment on his own social media channels but the Late Late Show account soon acknowledged the incident:

Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him. It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix. J x

— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) November 1, 2022

Nice of him to sign off there with a kiss and all.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall of the writer’s room when Corden asks how the stolen joke ended up on his teleprompter.

Whoever was responsible likely has their bags packed already.

[source:rolstone]