Comedian Gary Delaney claims common Christmas joke he wrote 20 years ago is 'his most stolen'

We all know the pain of telling a joke and having someone spoil the punchline. It's a real downer, right?

But let's face it, at some point or another, we've all heard the same jokes that get repeated endlessly. And it can get a bit boring.

But if you're a comedian, and being good with a wisecrack is part of your bread and butter, you're going to have a different view on the matter.

In fact, one comedian has claimed that his Christmas joke from 2004 is constantly being stolen - even 20 years later.

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Christmas jokes are nothing new of course. We're all familiar with the lame gags that come out of Christmas crackers.

They're usually some variation of a pun about snow, ices or elves.

If they're really feeling creative, the writers of those slips of paper may throw in a jab at Rudolph the Reindeer. It's not exactly high brow stuff.

Yet and still, comedian Gary Delaney insists that one of his festive jokes is his 'most stolen joke by a mile'.

He made his feelings known on social media, when he shared a clip of the joke as performed on Live at the Apollo.

It's his assertion that the line, originally performed in 2004, has since appeared on countless t-shirts, pantomime stages and in the pages of joke books.

Delaney remarked: "I get stolen from a lot. I’ve seen comics do sets made up 100 percent from my jokes.

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"I’ve seen my jokes in joke books that got bigger advances than I did for my joke book as the actual author. I see them on Christmas cards etc. etc. Nothing you can do about it, but yeah it’s annoying.

"This particular joke gets repeated more at Xmas than Slade’s 'Merry Xmas Everybody' and Noddy describes that song as his pension."

Okay, so how does the joke go?

It starts off: "I went to buy a Christmas tree. The guy said, 'Are you going to put it up yourself?' I said, 'No, I was thinking the living room'."

Insert a 'ba-dum dum-tsh' drum sound effect here.

It's funny enough, but people online weren't quite convinced that Delaney should be taking credit for the quip.

Instagram/@garydelaneycomedian)

One person replied: "You seem quite bitter in all your replies."

To this, Delaney shot back: "I get stolen from a lot and people make a lot of money using my work without credit so I think it’s understandable really.

"I expect that you think it’s reasonable that you are paid to perform your job."

A second person said: "How do you feel about stolen jokes? I mean I can imagine it flattering, but also gutting that others get the laugh."

Another commenter compared the line to a dad joke, which isn't totally untrue.

But in the spirit of Christmas, let's all share a laugh and stick to the jokes that fall out of crackers onto the table.