James Corden under fire in second 'joke theft' spat after critics say he repeated Noel Fielding gag on Late Late Show
3 November 2022, 08:28
James Corden has become embroiled in another "joke theft" spat after being accused of rehashing a Noel Fielding gag.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The Late Late Show host, who has just had to admit he inadvertently used a Ricky Gervais joke on his US programme, was accused of repeating a skit the Mighty Boosh star performed in 2010.
Social media users dug up a 2017 interview between Mr Corden and the actor Matthew Broderick, in which he says the best way to deal with a mugger is to whisper at them.
Mr Corden, pretending he is being mugged, whispers: "You're never going to believe what happened."
He then gestures as if the mugger would lower their weapon, and says: "Because they go like this: 'What?'
"And it gives you time, you just bolt."
Noel Fielding Just For Laughs Gala 2010
Twitter users previously pointed out its similarity to Mr Fielding's gag at the Montreal Just for Laughs festival in 2010, when he said the best way to avoid being mugged would be to whisper "Oi, mate".
He said: "Because the rules mean they will put down their blade and respond, with a hushed tone: "What is it?'"
When one Twitter user said Mr Corden "totally stole" the joke in 2017, Mr Fielding said: "Yes I believe this is my material".
Read more: James Corden apologises for using Ricky Gervais' joke 'word for word'
The Gavin and Stacey star was already under fire this week for using a joke by Ricky Gervais.
In his 2018 Netflix special show, Humanity, Mr Gervais makes a gag about people who get upset at tweets when they can instead choose to ignore them.
"That's like going into a town square, seeing a big notice board and there's a notice - guitar lessons.
"And you go, 'But I don't want f***ing guitar lessons!"
James Corden uses Ricky Gervais 2018 joke about guitar sign in Late Late Show monologue
He mimics a man calling up the person who left the message and berating them.
"Fine, it's not for you then, just walk away. Don't worry about it," Mr Gervais tells his audience.
During a monologue on the Late Late Show on Monday, Mr Corden, 44, took a swipe at Elon Musk's plan to introduce a charge for users to keep their blue tick on the social media platform.
He said: "When you see Elon Musk talk about Twitter he does this thing where he goes: 'Well, it's the town square'.
"But it isn't. Because if someone puts up a poster in a town square and says 'guitar lessons available', you don't get people in town going 'I don’t want to play the guitar! I want to play the piano, you piece of s**t!
"He sign wasn't for you, it was for someone else. You don't have to get mad!"
Mr Gervais, who mocked Mr Corden when he was banned from a New York restaurant over an omelette spat, said he believed one of his writers gave the joke to him.
Mr Corden said: "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"
