Comedian Harry Deansway is suing Steve Coogan’s production company Baby Cow over a comedy series called “Live at the Moth Club,” which he claims rips off his YouTube show “Shambles.”
In his filing, Deansway, whose real name is Joshua Rinkoff, describes “Shambles” as a sitcom “centered around a live comedy night” at a run-down club struggling to make ends meet. The show blends fact and fiction by combining a sitcom set behind the scenes of the club with real comedy performances in front of a live audience.
“Shambles,” which featured appearances from well-known comedians including Aisling Bea and Dan Schreiber, was released on YouTube in 2013 as a six-part series, followed by a second season in 2015.
Related Stories
VIP+AI Content Licensing Deals With Publishers: Complete Updated Index
Deansway has accused Baby Cow of copying the series with a show called “Live at the Moth Club,” which aired on UKTV last December. According to the comedian, “Live at the Moth Club,” which stars Jamie Demetriou, Natasha Demetriou and Phil Wang, among other acts, bears a number of similarities to “Shambles,” including the setting, the format and characters such as a shambolic promoter.
Popular on Variety
His legal filing also lists a number of jokes he claims were ripped off, including one about the lights at the club not working and another in which an intern ends up writing material for one of the comedians.
Deansway in the filing says he is acquainted with Baby Cow’s head of development, Rupert Majendie, who is credited as the creator and executive producer on “Live at the Moth Club,” and once pitched him an “embryonic” version of “Shambles” when Majendie was working at the BBC.
A source close to Baby Cow told Variety that while the parties’ lawyers are in communication, the production company regards the similarities between the two shows as “quite light,” comparing them to the closeness of soaps such as “Coronation Street” and “Eastenders.”
Baby Cow was founded by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal in 1999. Coogan stayed on as a shareholder after BBC Studios took a majority stake in the company in 2016.
A spokesperson for the production company told Variety: “We strongly refute this claim, which has no legal merit.”
Read More About:
Jump to CommentsMore from Variety
‘Rob Peace’ Review: Chiwetel Ejiofor Finds Nuance in the Story of a Gifted Student Who Sells Drugs to His Classmates
Olympics Screenings in Movie Theaters Highlight Exhibitors’ Need for Alternative Content
‘Sebastian’ Review: An Aspiring Queer Novelist Loses, Then Rediscovers Himself Through a Double-Life in Sex Work
‘Borderlands’ Blunder Proves Hollywood Hasn’t Mastered Adapting Video Games to Film
Most Popular
Channing Tatum Says Gambit Accent Was Supposed to Be ‘Unintelligible’ at Times and He Was ‘Too Scared to Ask’ Marvel for the Costume to Bring…
Ryan Reynolds Was ‘Mortified’ to Cut Rob McElhenney’s ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Cameo but the ‘Sequence Wasn’t Working’: ‘I Had to Kill a Darling…
Box Office: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Returns to No. 1 in Fifth Weekend as ‘The Crow’ Bombs and ‘Blink Twice…
‘Ted Lasso’ Eyes Season 4 Greenlight With Main Cast Members Returning
Zach Galifianakis Warns Hollywood Endorsements Could Hurt Kamala Harris: ‘I Do Wish the DNC Would Step Back from the Celebrities a Little Bit…
‘Inside Out 2’ Becomes First Animated Film to Hit $1 Billion at International Box Office
Chris Hemsworth Plays Drums in Surprise Appearance at Ed Sheeran’s Romania Concert
Denzel Washington Says ‘There Are Very Few Films Left For Me to Make That I'm Interested In’
‘Blink Twice’ Ending Explained: What Really Happens on Channing Tatum’s Island?
Dear Beyoncé and Taylor: Thanks for Staying Home. The DNC Benefited From Treating Musicians as Opening Acts, Not Headliners
Must Read
- Film
‘Megalopolis’ Trailer’s Fake Critic Quotes Were AI-Generated, Lionsgate Drops Marketing Consultant Responsible For Snafu
- Music
Sabrina Carpenter Teases and Torments on the Masterful — and Devilishly NSFW — 'Short n' Sweet': Album Review
- Film
Tim Burton on Why the 'Batman' Films Have Changed and How 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' Saved Him From Retirement
- Film
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Are the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton of the 2020s
Sign Up for Variety Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.Variety Confidential
ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9nfXN%2Fjq2taJ%2BcpK%2BiuI6hmKuqqWKxpq3NrK6asV2XrqPFjJymsGWcnsOmecCtZK2glWK6sMDHZpqlrZJifnN%2FlG9sbGhhbHw%3D