“I've been a comedian for a long time so writing and performing is a big part of what I do. If anybody's doing comedy they should also work on writing.” WritingLongComedyComedianPerforming Author:Colton Dunn
“Performing as a musician is a lot different than performing as an actor. As an actor, you can hide behind the character in the play, and there's a director and other actors. When you're a musician, you're right there. It's sort of like being a comedian. You're giving the audience in real time something authentic from yourself. As an actor, my bullshit meter was going off like crazy at my first attempts to find my own rock star.” GivingDifferentRealCharacterAudienceCrazyMusicianComedianPerformingBullshitRock Star Author:Billy Crudup
“I mostly want to highlight things that feel like an injustice, and that's not really political. No one is going to - or should - say that bigotry toward Muslims is partisan. It's a matter of being just or not being just. So that's why I started calling myself a social justice comedian.” PoliticalJusticeSocial JusticeInjusticeComedianBigotry Author:Negin Farsad
“I try not to focus on politics too much - I would never be described as a hugely political woman - but the fact of the matter is, just me being a female, immigrant, stand-up comedian, single-mother ... that is political. We still live in a world where a woman with a voice is a political gesture.” WorldTryingPoliticalFocusFemaleComedian Author:Katherine Ryan
“There's all this evidence that we leave now of our life, especially if you're a comedian or an entertainer. I mean, I guess that was always kind of true, but now there's a lot more. We leave a deeper trail. Like a snail trail of our memories, you know? But it's not really about arousal. It's about artistic droppings.” KindMeanMemoriesEvidenceArtisticComedianOur MemoriesSnail Author:Moshe Kasher
“I believe I am God's favorite comedian. I think he is a really big comedy writer. He writes scripts. And I just follow along.” ThinkingWritingBelieveI BelieveComedyComedian Author:Corey Feldman
“I think the role of comedy in your life should supersede anything and everything negative. Just by virtue of the fact that you have to be funny, you can't afford to focus on the negative. As a comedian, your challenge is to turn negative stuff into positive energy. You should be able to hear anything that sounds bad, that people normally wouldn't laugh at, and make it feel funny to you. No one should be able to deter you, once you have your mind set on comedy. Your survival as a comedian should be as natural as breathing. I need to breathe and I consider my career my air.” PeopleThinkingMindEnergyNaturalChallengesLaughingVirtueComedyFocusSurvivalNegativeBreatheComedianPositive EnergyMind Set Author:DeRay Davis
“No matter how you feel, you've got to be able to laugh at yourself. If you can laugh at Donald Trump, then you better be able to laugh at yourself, too. For us as comedians, we have to point out what's funny.” LaughingComedianLaugh At Yourself Author:Michael Che
“There's a very fine line between political comedian and activist, and I don't really think I fall over into the activist category.” ThinkingPoliticalFallComedianActivist Author:Samantha Bee
“That's the thing that most people don't realize. In real life, comedians aren't funny. They save it. They save it up.” PeopleRealRealizingReal LifeComedian Author:Michael Showalter
“Really good comedians, you know, when they go on stage, they don't really care what the audience - they're fearless, you know? They're so comfortable that they don't care. They don't have that neediness where they need the laughs.” CareAudienceLaughingFearlessComedian Author:Aziz Ansari
“When you become a comedian a lot of stuff that made you laugh before just stops. You stop watching your old cartoons you used to watch. You stop reading the funnies. It's like working at a strip club. You don't come home and turn on the Playboy Channel.” HomeReadingLaughingComedianComing HomeCartoonPlayboyOld Car Author:Chris Rock
“To be a comedian: Make peace with the fact that you will never be as funny as a baby falling over.” FallBabyComedianMaking Peace Author:Chris Ramsey
“Comedians are the most challenging people for me to shoot. Because you're not actually in the dialogue with them, they are performing. When I work with a comedian, I become their audience.” PeopleChallengesAudienceDialogueComedianPerforming Author:Norman Seeff
“When young comedians ask me for advice that's the one thing I always say is if they're improvisers I'm like do improv, don't make that your sole thing. And at the end of the day when you do your best work you also just kinda, by definition flush it down the toilet and never do it again.” AdviceComedianAsk Me Author:Chris Gethard
“Somebody who opposes Trump is wound so tight, they're not funny people anyway, that they don't get his humor. They really believe when he tells these jokes that that's dead serious stuff. There's not enough laughter on the left. Even their comedians are angry. Their comedians, the humor they shoot for is all personal put-down kind of humor where it used to not be that way. But Trump's humor, even the stuff that's not subtle, they miss, they take it literally and are frightened to death by it. It's incredible.” PeopleBelieveKindEnoughMissingSeriousLaughterJokesIncrediblesWoundsComedianFunny People Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Seriously, if you want to get inside the head of a stand-up comic, you could do a lot worse than reading Steve Martin's Born Standing Up, all about how he developed his career and his creativity as a comedian. Lots of what he talks about is relevant to anyone in the creative arts - you find yourself, your voice, your technique and then maybe luck calls.” ArtReadingCreativityCreativeLuckComicComedianFinding YourselfRelevantCreative Art Author:Al Murray
“Growing up as a comedian, the first thing you dream of is having your own album, but even more than that, I always wanted that hour special on cable.” DreamHoursGrowing UpSpecialComedian Author:Christian Finnegan
“Of course, the world is different now. There's a glut of comedians with specials, so it's just not possible to make an impact the way Bill Cosby: Himself did. It's like, The Beatles were amazing, but it also helped that not many bands were putting out albums then.” WorldDifferentComedian Author:Christian Finnegan
“I'd like to think I'm a little more memorable or specific now. People laugh at me in a way they wouldn't laugh at another comedian, rather than being like, "Okay, who's the next joke-slinger? Give me some jokes so I may laugh and go about my day!"” PeopleThinkingGivingLaughingJokesOkayComedianMemorable Author:Christian Finnegan
“I had no choice but to make me as a comedian, because I am not particularly gifted with a lot of marketable skills. Unless I really want to spend the rest of my life temping, or teaching drama to third-graders, I don't have a lot of other options - which is freeing, in a way. I never have to say, "Well, I could always go back to law school."” SchoolChoicesTeachingDramaComedianLaw School Author:Christian Finnegan
“Michael Ian Black wears many hats. He's a stand-up comedian, a comedic actor, he's now a writer-director so he knew how to work with all of us. And furthermore, because so much of his career is based on improvisation he gave us the freedom to do that as well.” BlackComedianImprovisationComedic Author:Jason Biggs
“You want to have the experience. As far as the creative side, the more I do this, the more I know that it's all about the writing. You got on a film sometimes and it's sort of half-written, and they expect and think that the actor's job is to bring the extra part and the good part. It's not. We're good at saying what other people have written, but for the majority of it, that's about it, comedians aside. It's all in the writing. Whether that's dialogue or character, or whatever, it doesn't matter. As long as they've done something special, than you can do something special.” PeopleThinkingWritingLongSometimesDoneCharacterFilmCreativeSpecialDialogueComedianExtras Author:Wes Bentley
“The problem with a lot of comedy clubs is not that they are a comedy club; it's just the cheesy way they're presenting themselves. That's why a lot of people have a problem with them. If you're a relatively unknown comedian, you can play at a comedy club, you might play to hundreds of people every night. But if you try to make a concert event out of it, and try to play a rock club or something, where you might play to 10 people or no people. And the flipside of that is, that's also a great thing, to play to people who are your fans. Some people are too hard on the comedy clubs.” PeopleTryingProblemNightComedyGreat ThingsComedianPresentingCheesy Author:Todd Barry
“There's a weird loneliness that comes with being a comedian, especially standup. Even with improvisers, I think there are certain moments of truth where you feel really, really connected to audiences, and that's when you're on stage. I think there's definitely something inside the personality of a person who wants to be a comedian that's looking to connect at all times. That's where the adrenaline rushes in their lives come from.” ThinkingMomentsAudienceLonelinessPersonalityAll TimeComedianAdrenaline Author:Chris Gethard
“Being comedian outside of performing, you're someone who's analyzing life, and thinking about it, and observing so much. In my opinion, it can make you feel sort of on the outside looking in.” ThinkingOpinionComedianPerformingObserving Author:Chris Gethard
“You're always on duty because you're in a constant state of observation. That's one of the challenges of being a comedian. I think one of the other challenges is that, whether we like it or not, it's a profession that requires failure. It doesn't just encourage failure. It requires it because it's all trial and error. You need to know what doesn't work to know what works.” ThinkingChallengesDutyProfessionObservationComedian Author:Mike Birbiglia
“There's many hundreds of millions of people who have jobs harder than comedians. And I also remind myself of that everyday. No matter how frustrating this can be, I'm very lucky that I've been able to cobble together a little life where this is what I do.” PeopleTogetherLuckyEverydayComedianFrustrating Author:Chris Gethard
“Talking about the fact that I get depressed or that I've had some suicidal issues in my life is not easy. I don't know of many comedians who are going all in on that. In some sense, I think I've maybe sacrificed some momentum doing that. In another sense, I'm in a place where if I can talk about that and if it helps some kid in a way that gives them some help that wasn't available to me when I was a kid, then I gotta do that. Put being a good person first. If you have a platform, use it for stuff that's noble and good and worth putting out in the world.” ThinkingWorldGivingHelpingKidsEasyComedianSuicidalGood PersonBeing A Good PersonLife Is Not Easy Author:Chris Gethard
“I'm naturally inclined to want to be funny and make people laugh, and that's what I want to do with my life. I also want to do it on an intelligent level. I want to kill the clown but I also want to preserve the comedian.” PeopleLaughingIntelligentComedianClownMaking People Laugh Author:Casey Neistat
“I'm a comedian, and I definitely see the humor in a lot of things. I am also sad a lot. I cry often and easily. I think you're supposed to feel all kinds of things. You're supposed to laugh, you're supposed to cry, you're not supposed to shove your feelings under the rug.” ThinkingKindFeelingsLaughingCryAll KindsComedianSo Sad Author:Ellen DeGeneres
“When you're 17 years old, you have no idea who you are as a person, so there's no way you can be a good performer. You can't be a good comedian, because you don't know who you are, you don't know what you're saying. Stand-up is nothing but an expression of self-awareness. It wasn't until I was 23, 24 that I got to have a handle on a perspective on life, where I became decent. And I was just a terribly socially awkward younger person.” PerspectiveWho You AreComedianDecentAwkward Author:Dana Gould
“The glass is always half empty. All good comedians are manic-depressive.” EmptyComedian Author:Joan Rivers
“This is going to sound pretentious, but I like comedy that addresses something I find either worrisome or interesting in my life. I like Louis C.K.'s stuff or Bill Burr's stuff. I feel like there's comedy where someone will think of something that they think will work comedically, and then they reverse engineer that point of view so they can say that funny thing. The comedians I like, it could be an allusion, but it feels like their point of view comes first and then the jokes are a reflection of what they actually believe, or are frightened of, or are curious about, or are interested in.” ThinkingBelieveInterestingComedyJokesReflectionPoint Of ViewCuriousComedianPretentiousAllusion Author:Zach Woods
“Some rules are good. For example, off the top of my head, let's say a stand-up comedian or a talk show host wearing a nice suit - as a ponderer, I grew up like, "Why don't they just go up there in their army jacket? They're fine!" Then little by little, you think, "You know, it's kind of nice to look nice, like you made the effort." Then you're back at rule one; that was the original rule.” ThinkingKindEffortNiceLike YouArmyComedianHostYou Think You Know Author:Fred Armisen
“A lot of comedians today have misunderstood the concept of a subversive comedian. If you really want to be subversive, you have to please and offend in equal amounts.” TodayEqualComedianMisunderstood Author:Chilly Gonzales
“I think art is beautiful. It's decoration and adornment. But art is also a really important vessel for social change, and social change begins with thought. And so if you can find humor in something and take a moment to rethink it, you can take a step back and look at your values from a different angle. I think that's a really important way of carrying on with life. I think the best art for me is funny and the best comedy for me is art. Some of my favorite artists are comedians. Comedy is art, and art can be comedy, and the intersection is vital - at least for my own work.” ThinkingArtImportantDifferentMomentsBeautifulArtistValuesComedyArt IsMy FavoriteComedianSocial ChangeVesselDecoration Author:Chloe Wise
“When I'm traveling a lot the flight attendants will ask what I do and if I say I'm a magician then I have to do a trick. But if it's a red eye flight and I haven't slept at all, I'll say I'm a comedian. And then they say, "Do a joke." But if you're a magician you should be able to do a trick anywhere, any time of day. And if it's not the best situation to showcase what I do then I'll offer them tickets to my show that night. Trying to do a magic trick right outside of an airplane lavatory isn't the best viewing conditions.” TryingEyeNightSituationMagicJokesFlightComedianAirplaneMagician Author:Justin Willman
“People have all these preconceived notions about magicians, like that they're lonely and bitter or they're socially awkward people. I don't know what magician hurt all these people, but I'm constantly having to overcome all these stereotypes. So, no. I'm sure there are just as many magicians who are lonely and bitter as there are comedians, lawyers, or any profession.” PeopleHurtLonelyOvercomingProfessionLawyerBitterComedianAwkwardStereotypeMagicianPreconceived Notions Author:Justin Willman
“From my experience working with comedians, there is that competitive aspect. With actors, for instance, they don't want to look competitive even if they are, whereas comedians, I think, are openly happy to play on the idea that they all compete with each other to get the laughs. There's something about comedy, I think, that encourages that. There's this kind of schoolboy sense of wanting to top the other person that we play off of to show them competing for who's smarter or cleverer.” ThinkingKindLaughingComedyComedianCompeting Author:Michael Winterbottom
“I want to show people that there's a side of myself other than just the outrageous comedian.” PeopleWantShowsSidesComedianOutrageous Author:Sam Kinison
“All of my life doing interviews, comedy has been my favorite thing, comedians are my favorite people.” PeopleComedyMy FavoriteComedian Author:Larry King
“What's the good thing about being an actor, you can do more things. Not just being a comedian, not going overboard but expressing myself within the confines of a film.” FilmGood ThingsComedianOverboard Author:Brandon T. Jackson
“I have a very high respect for professional comedians. What they do astonishes me. You have to be really smart and absorb everything, repackage it, bring it back to the person, and make them laugh at themselves. I can make people laugh during my talks because they didn't come to have me make them laugh. It's added value. So my job is way easier than that of a professional comic.” PeopleValuesLaughingSmartComicComedianMaking People LaughReally Smart Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
“I do make a concscious effort to be genuine among other comedians. If I write something or try something that doesn't feel like me, I stop doing it.” WritingTryingEffortComedian Author:Brent Weinbach
“A lot of comics claimed to be political comedians when George W. Bush was in office just by calling him an idiot. For me, Obama is actually more interesting comically, because not everybody can figure it out.” PoliticalInterestingOfficeIdiotComedian Author:W. Kamau Bell
“What I love about comedians is their instinct is always to go against the grain. Their whole existence is pointing out the elephant in the room. Already you can see audiences are pushing back, but we're the ones who really can take it more than anybody.” ExistenceAudienceInstinctComedianGrainPointing Author:Colin Quinn
“My theory about comedians is that their greatest fear is other people laughing at them. So comedy is an attempt to control and manipulate the thing they find most frightening.” PeopleLaughingComedyComedianFrighteningManipulate Author:Ben Miller
“Whatever happens in life can happen on the stage, but as a comedian you should always be clear what your target is. It's fine to be gratuitously tasteless if that's what you are intending to do. It's that old line: I don't defend what a comedian might say but I defend to the death his right to say it.” Comedian Author:Ben Miller
“I came upon whatever I'm doing organically. I didn't study anything. I don't have any real aspirations other than to connect with somebody, and to have the conversation be genuine. That's the best that can happen. Even if it only happens for 10 minutes in an episode. But I think what people forget is that you don't have to try to get a comedian to be funny. Comedians are innately funny. That the real challenge of talking to them is to get them talking about real things and then see where they need to be funny. And let them do that on their own volition.” PeopleThinkingTryingRealChallengesForgetStudyComedianAspiration Author:Marc Maron