Quotes from Jermaine Fowler

When you chase a dream, and no one understand or has your back except seven friends from high school and your grandma, it's not going to be easy.

I felt so contained at home. I always really felt like I couldn't be myself at home, so I was always quiet. I remember I used to sit in my room and listen to Bone Thugs and close the door.

I sat down with CBS, and we talked about me developing a show for them. At the time, I was meeting with a lot of networks. And I told them, 'I don't want to be acting on your show as the token black guy. I want to do something that will change a network and will change the way people view African-Americans on TV.'

Comics are just mirrors. People can either laugh at the reflection or be disgusted by it.

Dave Chappelle - he's one of my favorite icons. I can't think of anyone who's funnier.

You don't expect to be touched by comedy. But when it happens, it's beautiful.

I see myself touring internationally - everywhere, every theater, every arena - and putting out stand-up comedy specials until I can't even stand no more. Even then, I'll probably do my comedy special in a hospital bed.

I was influenced by a lot of comedy growing up, I had good parents. They were funny, too. My mom was hilarious; my dad was hilarious. I guess being at home around the environment was just a good stage to get started.

As comics if you aren't rubbing people the wrong way, to me, you suck.

I was always causing trouble in school. Doing impressions of Bart Simpson, interrupting class - I liked the attention and entertaining people.

I was raised watching sitcoms, and I love long-form comedy.

I'd been writing sketches since high school, but 'Friends of the People' really taught me about structure - how to wait out a joke, how to stick with it for a while. It also made me more confident onstage as a performer.

Knowing what jokes will work is second nature; you just feel it.

Man, that's all I can do, just be myself.

Broadcast TV has a very classy but old-fashioned way of doing television. That's what it's always going to be. But you've still got to introduce young talent and ideas and shows to the masses. That's the way you build a bigger and younger audience, introducing younger writers, comics, TV shows to viewers.

Flying is just such a hassle. If I had a million dollars, I would teleport.

My parents argued a lot. It was pretty tumultuous at times.

I grew up in a very, very diverse neighborhood back home in Maryland. And when I see that on TV shows, it makes me want to watch it, personally. I just gravitate towards that.

I grew up watching people and companies commercialize Black History Month. I watched old McDonald's commercials, and they'd blacken up the commercials for 28 days then go back to normal in March. It got annoying to me.

I'm a '90s kid. I can't wait until the day when more people start appreciating the '90s.

Spider-Man is supposed to be 'neighborhood friendly,' but I've never seen that dude at a Black Lives Matter march.

Nick Cage is so underrated.

I just love pranks, man. They're great. I don't understand why people don't do 'em more often.

I love comedy, but more than that, I love comedy that has a message and that has some stakes.