“Listen. Look. Desire is a house. Desire needs closed space. Desire runs out of doors or windows, or slats or pinpricks, it can’t fit under the sky, too large. Close the doors. Close the windows. As soon as you laugh from nerves or make a joke or say something just to say something or get all involved with the bushes, then you blow open a window in your house of desire and it can’t heat up as well. Cold draft comes in.” NeedsWellsLooksRunningDesireHouseSpaceLaughingDoorsSkyColdInvolvedFitJokesWindowBlowHeatNerves Author:Aimee Bender
“I suspect that Jesus spoke many of his parables as a kind of sad and holy joke and that that may be part of why he seemed reluctant to explain them because if you have to explain a joke, you might as well save your breath.” IfsWellsKindMayMightJesusHolyJokesBreathsSpokesSuspectsReluctantParables Author:Frederick Buechner
“If you have the personalities down, you understand them and identify with them; you can stick them in any situation and have a pretty good idea of how they're going to respond. Then it's just a matter of sanding and polishing up the jokes. But if you've got more ambiguous characters or stock stereotypes, the plastic comes through and they don't work as well. These two characters clicked for me almost immediately and I feel very comfortable working with them.” IfsFeelsWellsTwoIdeasMatterCharacterSituationPersonalityComfortableJokesSticksGood IdeasPlasticStereotypeAmbiguityAmbiguous Author:Bill Watterson
“Even if the painting is green, well then! The 'subject' is the green. There is always a subject; it's a joke to suppress the subject, it's impossible.” IfsWellsImpossibleSubjectsPaintingJokesGreen Author:Pablo Picasso
“A humorist tells himself every morning, "I hope it's going to be a rough day." When things are going well, it's much harder to make the right jokes.” WellsMorningJokesHarderRoughEvery MorningHumoristsRough Day Author:Alan Coren
“I curse in everyday life, but usually when I stub my toe. The topics I'm discussing, it's not necessary to curse. I found [cursing] is a sign that a joke is not finished or well-written.” WellsFoundWrittenJokesEverydayFinishedCurseEveryday LifeToesTopicsDiscussingCursingWell Written Author:Jim Gaffigan