You might think you're alone in stand-up, but you're not — if you have friends. You want friends in the comedy community who know you and know your act. If you have a good reputation for being an original act who does your own material, you'll get support from other comics, who will watch your back and let you know if someone is taking your material.

If another comic does take one of your jokes, you probably won't have to do anything. Peer pressure from the other comics is usually enough to make them drop it. If that doesn't work, talk to that comic and ask her to stop. Sometimes you can help the situation along by letting comics and club owners know the situation.

Before you take action, you also have to consider the fact that someone else might have come up with the same idea independently of you. This happens all the time. Comics get their material out of the same comedy pool and it's inevitable that some will think of the same joke. It's especially true with observational or topical jokes. The more generic your material, the more likely it is that you'll come up with jokes similar to others. As you develop your persona and focus on your own comedy voice, it will happen less and less. You want to get to the point where your act is so well defined that you basically become steal-proof. The jokes you do are so uniquely yours that they simply won't work for anyone else.