The winner of the Boston University’s Funniest Student competition won over the crowd with material similar – and in some cases verbatim – to websites that lampoon the government’s instructions in regard to protecting against terrorism, The Daily Free Press has learned.
Damon Davidson, who was voted by the majority of the students who crowded into BU Central on Friday night for the comedy contest’s final round, presented a slideshow at the end of his act that displayed images from Ready.gov – a Homeland Security Department site – and made fun of the apparently awkward scenes.
Audience members hailed Davidson’s performance as hilarious, though it was later learned he used strikingly similar jokes to ones found on Politicalhumor.com and Safenow.org.
Davidson, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, could not be reached by phone or email in the days following his victory.
Some of the comedian’s jokes were almost exactly as they appear on the websites. In one slide, two men’s faces appear side-by-side, with one blowing a whistle and one yelling. Davidson remarked that Vin Diesel hates whistle blowing, implying that the second man resembles the actor. On the Political Humor website, the joke states: “If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle. If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.”
Other similar material included a door with a picture of a hand next to it; Davidson said in an emergency, “pimp slap” an emergency-exit door to make it open. For the same slide, one of the websites states, “Exit quickly or feel the sting of the pimp hand.” And in another slide with a man approaching a building, Davidson mentioned how being exposed to radiation can make people grow to disproportionate sizes; for that slide, the Political Humor site states, “After exposure to radiation it is important to consider that you may have mutated to gigantic dimensions.”
Free Press reporter Jillian Jorgensen placed second, and Free Press columnist Zack Poitras placed third.
“There were a lot of really talented comedians there, and if somebody cheated, if somebody plagiarized, it’s not only unfair to the comedians, but it’s also ultimately unfair to the audience,” Jorgensen said. “Plagiarism is no laughing matter, except in this case, where it is.”
Joe Rogers, one of the presidents of Programming Council, which helped plan the competition, said the participants’ material was not screened before their spot.
“Comedians are told not to be offensive,” Rogers said. “We don’t actually see their skits before they perform. . . . Based on the audience reaction, a comedian may change their material.”
Rogers said PC discovered the possibility of Davidson’s borrowed material Sunday, and they are still deciding how to deal with the situation.
Davidson was voted the winner by a “wide gap,” Rogers said, adding the slideshow was half of Davidson’s skit. However, the audience roared with laughter during the slideshow and much less during the first half of his routine when Davidson heavily relied on his own material.
“We are looking into it,” Rogers said. “We want to protect the integrity of the competition.
Last year’s funniest student, Steve Macone, who attended the finals, said he and the crowd enjoyed Davidson’s set. He said he was unaware that some of the jokes were similar to those on the websites.
“It definitely introduces a whole another dimension to the issue,” said the 2007 College of Communication graduate, who hosted the preliminary round of the competition. “I hadn’t known it.”
While watching the finals, Macone said he was familiar with some of the jokes and had heard them before, but he thought it was because he had seen Davidson perform the same routine before.
The winner of the funniest student competition has the opportunity to perform future shows at BU Central, including possibly opening for a well-known comedian later in the semester.
Judges and hosts of the competition did not respond to requests for comment following the performance.
Cristina Rojas contributed reporting for this article.