Quotes About Comedy

There is a cliche that probably has some anecdotal evidence on the side that comedians are very depressed people, but that's because no one is ever going to seem as funny in a normal conversation as compared to when they're up there onstage in the spotlight making a huge audience keel over with laughter.

What I really want to do is comedy. I would love to do some guest star spots on some single-camera comedies.

You can be good at comedy, which means you'll be given spots, but beyond that it is luck that pushes you to the next level. There are loads of brilliant comedians who haven't had the breaks, and plenty of average comedians who have.

If you look at a bill of comics at a comedy club they spread the women out over the months because there aren't that many women doing it.

I loved traditional musical comedy. That was my passion. Then 'Spring Awakening' happened, and it took that rock n' roll and pop music to change gears for me.

My teacher at RADA said I was going to have trouble when I left because I wasn't an obvious juvenile lead, although I could do both comedy and drama. But I understood enough to know that my career was going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

I had such a good time working with Paul Feig on 'Spy.'

They make Spy Kids, they make Scream, they make A Scary Movie. This doesn't do that, so it could be a very bad marriage. I'm trying to keep this potential nightmare quiet because we're just finishing editing.

'Hot Pursuit,' 'Pitch Perfect 2,' 'Trainwreck,' and 'Spy' were all being done in the last year. All four of those movies I just mentioned are not rom-coms: they're all about women doing different things.

My wife has a small part in 'Spy,' and that movie killed me repeatedly.

I think a lot of people like hidden-camera shows where they think they're spying on somebody who doesn't know they're looking at them. And nobody takes it seriously - you either enjoy it and get a laugh out of the reactions or not.

I love the Zucker brothers' films - 'Airplane!,' 'Top Secret' and 'Police Squad!' - are my formative experiences.

What makes 'Pootie Tang' the motion picture enjoyable is its no-brow ambitions; it's a joke action film. It slides through enough African-American pop culture signifiers to raise laughs out of those who will appreciate the references; it revels in more cheese per square inch than a soul food diner.

I'll squeeze the cider out of your adam's apple.

How comedic are squirrels? We don't have squirrels in Australia. The first time I saw a squirrel was at a meeting at Disney.

I started out splitting my time between the Kansas City and St. Louis comedy scenes, which both had bluer sensibilities than other cities that I've worked.

You don't need to be stable to be a stand-up comedian.

If I was a very stable person, I would not have to do comedy. Nobody would have to listen to me.

I don't have a stack of scripts.

Nixon started auditing late-night show hosts because they were making jokes about him. Then, every single one of their staff got tax audits.

I'm not going to lie. I am a psycho. Luckily, I get most of it out on stage.

People think because I can make them laugh on the stage, I'll be able to make them laugh in person. That isn't the case at all. I am essentially a rather quiet, dull person who just happens to be a performer.

There is no way I would ever want to be president for a second. It's much easier to make fun of them on the stage and get paid for it. With all the years of me lampooning the presidents in my act, I know I could never ever want that job.

Comedy is getting more diverse - you can do anything on a stage now. It doesn't have to be just one man and a mic.