Quotes About Stand-up

I never want to compromise my act just to get a laugh.

I really enjoyed doing stand-up. Andy Kaufman was a big hero of mine. I tried to do conceptual stuff like he tried to do.

You have to do stand-up quite a long time before you learn how to do it well. It was probably years before I was confident enough in stand-up that I was able to talk about the things I wanted to talk about, the way I wanted to talk about them.

It was probably years before I was confident enough in stand-up that I was able to talk about the things I wanted to talk about, the way I wanted to talk about them.

Stand-up will always come first. I've been doing it for 22 years, and nothing compares to that connection you have with the audience. It's euphoric.

I think Carmen Christopher is going to be massively huge. He's just too funny. He's got funny in his bones, and he wants to conquer every room.

In most specials, the performer's up - not only not surrounded, but up on a stage - and there's a distance between them and the audience, and I think my comedy doesn't work as well in that way.

I became a stand-up because that was my survival.

Catharsis isn't art. You can't rely on catharsis to get a laugh. Because guess what? People do laugh when something's shocking, but that is, to me, the absolute fakest of laughs. That's not something that sustains a television series, or a movie, or even 45 minutes of a stand-up set at Carolines.

My goal as a comedian is to sway people's opinion. It's not my only goal and it's not the only way I measure myself.

I have what we call a 'symphony act.' I'm the only comedian, I think, in the country that does it.

I'd love to do comedy. And I think I have a pretty good sense of comic thing, so I'd really like to try that.

Comedy is a great weapon of attack. It's not a great weapon of support.

Well, comedy is a great weapon of attack. It's not a great weapon of support.

Everyone was wearing jeans, so I started wearing slacks. I'd walk on, and people would laugh before I got to the mic because I looked stupid.

I'm a comedian. I can't get a spray tan. I can't get a weave. I can't get my teeth done. Can you imagine if I came out on stage looking really hunky? Comedy doesn't work like that.

I had fun doing a lot of low-budget movies and web series. And I got back into stand-up where I started.

I do probably 60 concerts a year in the States. And I go out to clubs in the week. I'm doing new stuff all the time.

If you want to be a comedian, go out. Do a week in Des Moines, Iowa. Try to make those people laugh.

I'm a big believer than a great bit is a great bit - if I go and see someone I love, like Robert Klein. I want to hear some classics and some new stuff. But a great stand-up bit takes a long time to really polish and perfect, and they're beautiful things when they're done.

I'm not a political comic.

I'm a comedian, not a politician.

The Earth will be around for a long time before you have a funnier president than Obama. He has a stand-up's cadence and the awareness and ability to make jokes about himself before comedians can. That's a page almost every politician should try to take from his book.

My act's not heavy on pop culture or stories, just lots of jokes.