Quotes About Humor

A lot of newspaper columns used to be written in a rat-a-tat-tat, fast-paced style - and they tended to be funny. They were a little relief from the grimmer, grayer parts of the newspaper, and one of the best people at doing this was Will Rogers.

Going to AA helped me to see that there were other people who had problems that had found a way to talk about them and find relief and humor through that.

Everybody kind of looks to comedians and comedy for relief and a fresh breath about what is going on in the world.

Dad liked to self-deprecatingly joke about his career, but Ernie Johnson was a pretty darn good relief pitcher.

When I go onstage, I want to relieve your mind, your pressures.

It is not funny that anything else should fall down; only that a man should fall down. Why do we laugh? Because it is a gravely religious matter: it is the Fall of Man. Only man can be absurd: for only man can be dignified.

Most people I know are not hard-core religious people. They are what I would call 'lightly religious.' So I don't buy the notion that we can't laugh about religion in America.

It doesn't hurt my feeling when I get vilified by fundamentalist religious people. I've actually made comedy out of it. I've made light of that.

I think the people that most often cross a line are comedians. I think they relish that, and take pride in that on some level - at least, from what little I've seen and understand about people that do stand-up.

My platform has been to reach reluctant readers. And one of the best ways I found to motivate them is to connect them with reading that interests them, to expand the definition of reading to include humor, science fiction/fantasy, nonfiction, graphic novels, wordless books, audio books and comic books.

There are many reluctant young readers who haven't yet found books that make them laugh.

I come from a much freer kind of performance thing, where I rely on my own improv and my own sense of humor.

I personally feel that, for some people, their physique and looks work for them. And when you're deprived of both these aspects, you rely on humour!

Frank Skinner was a terrible flatmate in some respects. He never cooked and the cleaning lady refused to go into his room. But he was brilliant because he was very, very funny. You could just sit around at home and have a laugh without having to rely on any social arrangements.

Reminiscence and self-parody are part of remaining true to oneself.

The other stuff of marriage can fade a little bit, but as long as you can laugh with your partner, that's everything because that's what remains at the end of the day. I think that's how we pick our friends and that's how we ultimately pick who we marry.

How about a good comedy? 'Raising Arizona.' Remains the funniest movie I've ever seen in my life.

I don't know how one can differentiate between comedies. A burger is a burger and though it may taste differently in different food joints, the fact remains that it is still a burger. It's the same with comedies.

I am a comedian. You may or may not find me funny, but the fact remains, that I am a comedian.

Everything I experience in life, I put through the sausage-maker that is comedy, and then try to make it funny for others. Whether that is healthy or not remains to be seen.

I guess if they ever do a remake of 'Sophie's Choice,' I could play the Meryl Streep part. I've got to work on my Polish accent. Maybe I'll be the definitive King Lear one day. You know, if they ever feel that King Lear should be more Jewy.

Witticism. A sharp and clever remark, usually quoted and seldom noted; what the Philistine is pleased to call a joke.

Where Americans might coo over a child's most inane remark to boost his confidence, middle-class French parents teach their kids to be concise and amusing, to keep everyone listening.

I always knew I was quite good at getting laughs. At school, I loved having a ready audience if I made a cheeky remark.