How to Steal like an Artist: Pattern Recognition
Funny moment from yesterday's Office Hours. At the start of the call we were chatting about @Daniele Ponzo's son, Alessandro Liam. And I joked: I can call him AL. Then I reference that famous Paul Simon Song (da-dada-da) We didn’t watch anything on the call, we moved on. Today I was reviewing the transcript for content ideas. Then I was curious, so I pulled up the You Can Call Me Al music video. It’s basically, actor Chevy Chase performing the song like he’s the star. Paul Simon's pissed because he's being outshined... And it's funny because of the contrast. Then I recognised the pattern. George Ezra's song Listen to the Man (with Sir Ian McKellen) does the exact same thing, years later. Same comedic structure: - big personality co-star - dominates the video - artist looks fed up - tension = funny You immediately know what it's inspired by, but it doesn't feel like copying, because it's done tastefully. And there's the lesson for stealing like an artist... The difference between remixing + copying. The good kind of stealing: ✅ swipe the structure (the format, contrast, mechanics) ✅ then swap in your own language + POV + examples And the lazy kind: ❌ copy/paste someone’s words ❌ copy/paste someone’s offer page ❌ add nothing new and take credit for it We literally talked about this on the call. It happens more than people think. The skill that actually matters here is pattern recognition. Some creators sit down to be original and get stuck. Builders do this instead: - Spot the pattern (what repeats?) - Find the mechanism (humour, tension, etc.) - Remix it with your context (clients, niche, story, lessons) Then create in your style without polishing it into generic AI mush. That’s how you create content that feels new, and without becoming a copycat. Question for you: what’s something you’ve seen lately (post/video/email) where you loved the format, and could remix it for your own work this week?