A recent Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit that targeted Joe Rogan might be a joke stolen from Anthony Cumia’s podcast.
In the skit, a white man is seen complaining about being canceled for saying egregious things on his personal podcast. His friends then gift him a “toy” Fisher-Price podcast, in which the man can say anything he wants without having to face any repercussions.
Later the main character goes on to say very controversial things on his toy podcast, without having to care about “cancelation”. The skit references the way that Rogan used to dress in the 2000s. Also the background of the toy podcast looks very similar to the brick-wall background Rogan used to have before moving to Spotify.
But the skit might not have originated at Saturday night live. Prior to the Saturday night live’s skit another show featured a very similar comedic bit. The Cum Town podcast hosted by New York City-based comedians Nick Mullen, Stavros Halkias and Adam Friedland. In the short bit the three can be heard improvising a bit about Fisher Price podcasting set.
“Listen I went to Radio Shack and I made a fake version of the mixer with even more buttons that you can take home with you and you can press all the buttons. There’s a little color on there…”
“It’s got a little steering wheels like you’re driving. A Fisher Price mixer. ”
This is eerily close to the skit SNL made. In the skit the ‘podcaster’ is seen with the new Fisher Price podcast set for white guys.
Coincidence or not, SNL has been accused of stealing jokes in the past.
Rogan himself has criticized the TV show for stealing from comedians. In an episode of his podcast with guest Shane Gillis, Rogan had harsh things to say about the program.
“By all accounts, that place is a den of thieves,” Rogan said. “You hear Jim Breuer’s account of the climate in that place and it’s horrific. They’re all stealing from writers, they’re stealing from performers. If you’re a writer and you submit your packages, the higher-up writers will steal your s—, according to Breuer.”
“If you submit a package, they own that package, even if they don’t hire you. So if you have some great premises, they decide they’re just going to take your premises and not hire you, they own all those bits.”