“A poet can feel free, in my estimation, to write a poem for himself. Or a painter can paint a painting for himself. You can write a short story for yourself. But for me, comedy by its nature is communal. If other people don't get it, I'm not sure why you are doing it.” PeopleIfsFeelsWritingStoriesComedyPaintingPoetPaintPainterNot SureShort StoryEstimation Author:Keegan-Michael Key
“the true art of the gods is the comic. The comic is a condescension of the divine to the world of man; it is the sublime vision, which cannot be studied, but must ever be celestially granted. In the comic the gods see their own being reflected as in a mirror, and while the tragic poet is bound by strict laws, they will allow the comic artist a freedom as unlimited as their own.” MenWorldArtLawArtistVisionComedyDivinePoetMirrorsBoundsGrantedComicTragicStrictSublimeUnlimitedCondescensionStrict Laws Book:Winter's Tales Source: Winter's Tales
“A really good stand-up comic is a poet; it's about the use of language. It can be really poetic. And I like politically conscious comedy.” UseLanguageComedyPoetConsciousComicPoeticUse Of Language Author:Sherman Alexie
“If it really was Queen Elizabeth who demanded to see Falstaff in a comedy, then she showed herself a very perceptive critic. But even in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff has not and could not have found his true home because Shakespeare was only a poet. For that he was to wait nearly two hundred years till Verdi wrote his last opera. Falstaff is not the only case of a character whose true home is the world of music; others are Tristan, Isolde and Don Giovanni.” IfsWorldYearsTwoCharacterHomeLastsFoundWaitingCasesComedyWifePoetHundredCriticsQueensOperaMerryQueen ElizabethTrue HomeWindsorFalstaffVerdi Author:W. H. Auden
“I agree that comedy does a good job - and is often about - stepping over the line - Lenny Bruce, etc. - and that this is important for a lot of poets too. I guess I feel like there has to be depth.” FeelsDoeImportantJobsLinesComedyPoetAgreeDepthEtcGood Job Author:Rachel Zucker
“I'm more than a little suspicious of humor in poems, because I think it can at times be a way of getting a reaction out of a reader, or an audience, that is something closer to relief: i.e., thank god this isn't poetry, but stand-up comedy. Some poets are really funny, but more often poets are fourth rate stand up comics at best. But they benefit from the sheer relief of the audience.” ThinkingWayLittlesAudienceComedyPoetReaderBenefitsRateReactionsReliefThank GodFourthSheerSuspiciousStand Up Comedy Author:Matthew Zapruder
“Dante Alighieri was not only a Christian poet or a priest, he was a man. He was a real poet. We can understand that the goal of Divine Comedy is beauty. You don't need also to understand Italian or to know Italian, because when Dante's writing, when we recite Dante out loud, it explodes a cosmos of illumination like to recite music, a symphony.” MenWritingRealChristianGoalComedyDivinePoetItalian Author:Roberto Benigni
“There is something about a poet which leads us to believe that he died, in many cases, as long as 20 years before his birth.” YearsBelieveLongCasesComedyPoetBirthDied Author:James Thurber