Comedian Quotes - Page 18

• I think, as a comedian, the funniest you can be is with people you know, and [whom] you've known for years, in a pub. That's as funny as you get, and so the aim [while stand-up] is to get that funny on stage with 5,000 strangers, to get that funny in a room where people shouldn't be listening but they are.

  Ricky Gervais

  Thinking, Years, People

  8 Copy quote

• Funny bones, to me, are more important than funny lines. If a comedian is just not likable and doing the lines, you could read them yourself. Whereas if someone [you like] shambles out, and they tell you what a bad day they've had, they don't have to say anything. I love them. I want to hug them because they've been through something. And it comes back to empathy, always empathy.

  Ricky Gervais

  Bad Day, Empathy, Hug

  8 Copy quote

• There have been many definitions of hell, but for the English the best definition is that it is the place where the Germans are the police, the Swedish are the comedians, the Italians are the defense force, Frenchmen dig the roads, the Belgians are the pop singers, the Spanish run the railways, the Turks cook the food, the Irish are the waiters, the Greeks run the government, and the common language is Dutch.

  David Frost

  Sarcastic, Running, Government

  16 Copy quote

• We mustn't complain too much of being comedians - it's an honorable profession. If only we could be good ones the world might gain at least a sense of style. We have failed - that's all. We are bad comedians, we aren't bad men.

  Graham Greene

  Men, Style, Complaining

  GRAHAM GREENE (1966). “THE COMEDIANS”

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Canadian comedians are generally more well-rounded... They have to do a lot more. In order to have a career in this country, you have to do everything. And in the States you can narrow-cast, you can be just a sitcom performer or a stand-up comedian or a sketch performer.

  Scott Thompson

  Country, Careers, Order

  4 Copy quote

• Chevy Chase and Bill Murray - we thought those guys were funny. We love Bill Murray, but we didn't think they were right for Airplane! because it would step on the joke if there was a known comedian.

  David Zucker

  Love, Airplane, Thinking

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The only one that got through was Jimmy Walker, because he plays the gas station attendant. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, it's just that we were kind of purists at the time, and we didn't want any comedians.

  David Zucker

  Time, Mean, Play

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I put a new engine in my car, but forgot to take the old one out. Now my car goes 500 miles per hour. The harmonica sounds amazing.

  Steven Wright

  Car, Sound, Hours

  5 Copy quote

• I don't know if I even consider myself a comedian really - I do comedic acting in some films and dramatic in others.

  Kristen Wiig

  Acting, Film, Dramatic

  Source: www.indielondon.co.uk

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Everyone thinks I'm a comedian - which I am and are. I was born into a comedic family but I'm trained as an actor.

  Marlon Wayans

  Thinking, Actors, Born

  Source: www.indielondon.co.uk

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The skill of a good actor is to make it always seem like you're in that fantastically spontaneous moment. Very often, a stand-up comedian has a different instinct, which is to reinvent. Once you've laid down some material, and made them laugh, you move on and find some new material.

  Colin Firth

  Moving, Skills, Laughing

  "St Trinian's - Colin Firth interview". www.indielondon.co.uk.

  21 Copy quote

  Show source

• I often think it can often be very difficult for comedians to revisit the same gag. I think Russell's a bit more than a comedian.

  Colin Firth

  Thinking, Often Is, Difficult

  "St Trinian's - Colin Firth interview". www.indielondon.co.uk.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Most comedians want to be the architect of their own embarrassment. They have horrible self-esteem issues. I would rather push myself into the mud. I don't want to be pushed into the mud. I think that is probably true. I think most people struggle with self-acceptance. But comedians get a chance to self externalize.

  Mike Myers

  Self Esteem, Struggle, Acceptance

  Source: www.movieweb.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Sometimes I don't want to go out and socialize; I just want to watch my favorite shows and comedians. But then I have to remember that it is important to participate in life if you want to portray real life on screen.

  Josh Peck

  Real, Important, Watches

  Source: www.movieweb.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• If you make a bad movie about stand-up, then comedians will mock you for the rest of your life.

  Judd Apatow

  Rest Of Your Life, Bad Movies, Mock

  Interview with Gregg LaGambina, www.avclub.com. July 30, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The first comedians I became fascinated with were the Marx brothers. I couldn't get enough of them. Later in life, I thought, "Well, maybe it's because they were so rebellious and they were just flipping the bird to society and all the rules we're supposed to follow." They were saying that none of it is fair.

  Judd Apatow

  Brother, Later In Life, Bird

  Interview with Gregg LaGambina, www.avclub.com. July 30, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• My problem with being in New York City is that you really can't make a living as a comedian. You can, but you have to also take writing jobs, which means less stage time.

  Mike Birbiglia

  Jobs, New York, Mean

  Interview with Steve Heisler, www.avclub.com. November 11, 2008.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I could never be a professional comedian, 'cause you have to keep telling the same jokes. For me, they're like word solos.

  Robyn Hitchcock

  Causes, Solo, Jokes

  Interview with Christopher Bahn, music.avclub.com. November 13, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I always made people laugh, and everybody wanted me to sit at the table with them. I don't joke as much as I used to, but I can still be a little comedian every now and then.

  Missy Elliot

  People, Laughing, Tables

  "New Again: Missy Elliott". Interview with Michael Musto, www.interviewmagazine.com. July 30, 2014.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Jewish comedians do the best Jewish jokes, and anyone else doing that, they don't have a right to, because they're not coming from that experience. I know that's a slightly heightened example, but it's the same thing. We're bumpkins, so we can make bumpkin jokes.

  Simon Pegg

  Example, Do The Best, Jokes

  "Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, and Edgar Wright of Hot Fuzz". Interview with Keith Phipps, film.avclub.com. April 18, 2007.

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• You get to a certain point, especially if you're a comedian, where people think certain things. It's like, I don't take the time to explain it to people, it's just part of what I do.

  Denis Leary

  Thinking, People, Certain

  Interview with Tasha Robinson, www.avclub.com. June 22, 2005.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I'm glad that that era of stand-up is over, because I think it adversely affected a lot of people who could have been really, really great comedians. Because they unconsciously or subconsciously stifled their wild impulses, and were thinking about the five clean minutes for The Tonight Show, or the 20-minute sitcom pitch as a stand-up act.

  Patton Oswalt

  Thinking, People, Eras

  Source: www.avclub.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• You saw a lot of guys, especially in the early '90s, whose acts were a pitch for a sitcom. A lot of them were very funny, but there's nothing worse than watching comedians or musicians who are up there and are doing something they're not interested in.

  Patton Oswalt

  Guy, Musician, Saws

  Interview with Scott Tobias, film.avclub.com. August 26, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• With a comedian, it's the opposite. You put that album out, and they've heard it. If they're coming out to see you, you'd better be doing new stuff. There's always a tiny part of the audience that want to hear certain bits of yours, or they've brought friends to see you, and they've told them about some of your bits. Then maybe you should do them.

  Patton Oswalt

  Opposites, Stuff, Tiny

  Interview with Scott Tobias, film.avclub.com. August 26, 2009.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The key to comedy is commitment - if you're afraid, you shouldn't be a comedian.

  Nick Swardson

  Commitment, Keys, Comedy

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  6 Copy quote

  Show source