Quotes About Comedy

In terms of comedy, there was a Seinfeldian era of comedy that I love but got played out. Seinfeld was great, but then after him it was people acting like Seinfeld and making observations that we felt like we'd kind of heard before, and then you're seeing Seinfeldian comedy in commercials. Suddenly everything is observational funniness.

I can't imagine getting bored with comedy or thinking comedy is beneath us suddenly.

I hadn't done comedy before 'Fresh Meat' - I hadn't really been seen that way, and then 'Fresh Meat' came out, and suddenly a lot more comedy scripts were coming my way, which was really great.

I got so much out of 'The To-Do List.' This is a joke that I say about myself sometimes, in terms of my film career: I feel like I'm always playing the kid in serious adult movies. So, for me, it was so wonderful to suddenly be working with other people my age who were doing this on film.

It's better to make fun of yourself because you've always got someone around to make fun of, and they can't sue you.

Can you sue yourself for plagiarism? If so, then 'Old School' has presented Ivan Reitman with a case.

I met Sue Perkins at the Footlights, where she brought the house down at the auditions.

Have you ever been sued by a midget? It's not fun.

For most people, my suffering is enjoyable. I suffer in a funny way.

Laughter is a way of really letting out all this pressure that you could face in your daily life in the suffering of your people, and comedy is almost like a medicine to your soul in a way.

I think Detroit deserves a comedy that's not about suffering.

Comedy is all about the character. When you're too focused on the gags, the character suffers, and you don't get the laugh. Comedy has to come from the character.

I went to the bank and asked to borrow a cup of money. They said, 'What for?' I said, 'I'm going to buy some sugar.'

In 'Sugar' I'll be singing in every episode and I'll be acting and doing comedy. It's ideal for me if it works.

For any women trying to do comedy, I would suggest you do one thing every day towards your goal. First, you figure out what it is you want to accomplish. Don't be afraid to set a new goal every day, but every single day, do one thing towards your goal, and you will achieve it.

If you're in the writer's room, in any writer's room in the world, before you pitch a joke or suggest an idea, you first think it's funny and decide to say it out loud. The next step is for the people around you to accept it or reject it, before it ever sees the light of day, on film or in front of an audience.

My drama instructor suggested I try comedy. I was resistant at first because I considered myself a serious actor, but of course I fell in love with it.

When we left university, in the late '80s, one of the guys had been to the Comedy Store in London, came back very excited and suggested we set up something like it. And so we did.

I did standup for a lot of years, too, but when you come out as a standup, you get the feeling from a crowd - it's a kind of a 'make me laugh' attitude. But when you come out as an improvisor, they realize that they're suggesting everything you do. So they're already invested in the scene, and they actually want it to work.

I don't think you can teach people how to be funny. You can make suggestions about how to speak a line or get a laugh, but it has to be in them.

'Birdman' is basically 'All About Eve' - the 1950 comedy about rehearsal rivalries in a Broadway show, and another Best Picture laureate - reimagined as a Batman suicide mission. The movie couldn't be actor-ier.

At 'The Daily Show,' we were satirizing a news program. You put somebody in a suit, you put 'em behind a desk, and they become an authority figure.

I loved pretending to be a middle-aged Jewish woman. I just wanted to do what I saw Gilda Radner and Carol Burnett doing. But I'm not a particularly good impressionist. It was never my strong suit.

I think my strongest suit is comedy. I certainly have limits in other areas.