Quotes About Stand-up

Stand-up comedy is the most relaxing thing I do. If I want to unwind and de-stress, I go out and do stand-up, often several shows in a night.

At the end of the day, I want to be part of the same conversation as Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor.

I feel like you can share as many jokes as you want to because no joke you do on Twitter is ever gonna be so big on Twitter, for the most part, that you can't say it on stage that same night.

My act is pretty much me reflecting on what I want to talk about and what I think is funny and what has happened to me.

But I love stand-up, and it's where I came from creatively, so it's something I never want to walk away from.

I'm not a comedy writer, I'm a comedian, so I only write stuff that I would want to say.

When you're a young comedian the first thing you want to do is get a laugh.

I don't know how to write jokes from the point of view of a six-foot-two guy. So, I'll always talk about it, but I just don't want it to be the absolute focus of all of my act.

I think all the funny people were bullied. When they talk about outlawing bullying, it's like, what? You want no Comedy Central?

Talking about my personal life onstage, I've realized I'm not one of those comics who can do that. I can allude to it but I don't want to be a confessional performer.

I get to do stand-up every single day. I love that live energy exchange between the audience and myself, and to get to say the things I want to say and comment on.

It's a very short walk to go from making jokes to getting on a soapbox and going on a diatribe.

If I had a choice, I would rather watch a comedian not involve themselves in politics at all but be hilarious than someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about getting on their soapbox and complaining.

I didn't really like the aloneness of doing stand-up. The comedians by nature weren't very - I mean, they were sociable, but they hung out in cliques, and it's very hard to get accepted; lots of competition.

Normally, with stand-up, it's quite solitary, you write the material on your own, you perform it on your own, it's all very much on you. Your own thoughts. You have to sort of modulate your own performance.

Most stand-up comics relish performing 'in one' - solo. They like the autonomy.

Some people say funny things, but I say things funny.

I'm doin' something different. I mean, I talk a little bit about race and interracial dating, but it's not the heart of my act. I just try to do what I think is funny; there's no huge message or through line.

In the U.K. and Ireland, crowd-work is a big thing. It shows you how funny someone would be if you met them off-stage. Americans don't care if you're funny off-stage. They want to see the writing; they want to see the work you did.

In high school the dream was to go on a stand-up tour and front a heavy metal band. I always had that in the back of my head.

When I came on the scene, there was The Nualas, who were doing character comedy, but there weren't any other women doing stand-up because Michelle Read had gone more into theatre.

I'm a frustrated stand-up comic. If you hand me a microphone and I get one laugh, then I'll go on for 20 minutes.

I often ask people in the audience what their favourite cheese is. Anything less than Gruyere and they're just not middle class!

If I leave the mike in the stand, my hands absolutely move more. I'm not sure if it's a conscious thing.