Mel Brooks Quotes About Comedy

Quotes about: Comedy

• Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.

  Mel Brooks

  Funny, Death, Suicide

  "The 2,000 Year Old Man". Animation, Comedy, 1975.

• Life literally abounds in comedy if you just look around you.

  Mel Brooks

  Laughter, Laughing, Looks

• If presidents can't do it to their wives, they do it to their country.

  Mel Brooks

  Country, Wife, President

• Rhetoric does not get you anywhere, because Hitler and Mussolini are just as good at rhetoric. But if you can bring these people down with comedy, they stand no chance.

  Mel Brooks

  People, Doe, Comedy

  "Springtime of Brooks' autumn years" by John Ezard, www.theguardian.com. February 3, 2004.

• He who hesitates is poor.

  Mel Brooks

  Comedy, Poor

  "The Producers". www.imdb.com. 1967.

• We rest our case on the production numbers.

  Mel Brooks

  Numbers, Comedy, Cases

• The thing is to be brave and move the audience with you, instead of cater to the lowest common denominator, you know, slipping on a banana peel and falling on your ass. You got to move the audience a little further ahead in terms of their appreciation of what is comedy. It's complicated.

  Mel Brooks

  Appreciation, Moving, Fall

  "Mel Brooks on how to play Hitler, and how he almost died making Spaceballs". Interview with Steve Heisler, www.avclub.com. December 13, 2012.

• Good taste is the enemy of comedy.

  Mel Brooks

  Inspirational, Enemy, Taste

• Anybody can direct, but there are only eleven good writers.

  Mel Brooks

  Comedy, Eleven, Good Writers

• I only direct in self-defense.

  Mel Brooks

  Self, Defense, Comedy

• We want to get people laughing; we don't want to offend anybody.

  Mel Brooks

  People, Laughing, Want

• What ignited the rocket that sent you up into the vast regions of comedy, and why? I would say, for me, that philosophical treatise about having black beginnings and wanting love to compensate for that, wanting audiences and wanting attention - I say, "Au contraire." Completely opposite. I want the continuation of my mother's incredible love and attention to me.

  Mel Brooks

  Mother, Philosophical, Opposites

  "Mel Brooks on how to play Hitler, and how he almost died making Spaceballs". Interview with Steve Heisler, www.avclub.com. December 13, 2012.

• The only weapon I've got is comedy

  Mel Brooks

  Weapons, Comedy

• When you get big special effects pictures, sci-fi and things, there's little or no comedy. Or it's a domestic comedy and there's not one special effect. But very rarely do these things fuse and come out right.

  Mel Brooks

  Special, Littles, Comedy

  "Q&A with Mel Brooks". Interview with Patrick Kevin Day, www.latimes.com. May 19, 2008.

• I realised that all one really had to do was just observe. Observe and slightly exaggerate, and you had comedy. Instead of creating a mythical premise for a stupid joke, I found playing off truth got the best result.

  Mel Brooks

  Stupid, Creating, Comedy

• Tragedy is what happens to me; comedy is what happens to you.

  Mel Brooks

  Tragedy, Comedy, Happens

• Comedy is serious - deadly serious. Never, never try to be funny! The actors must be serious. Only the situation must be absurd. Funny is in the writing, not in the performing. If the situation isn't absurd, no amount of joke will help.

  Mel Brooks

  Writing, Trying, Actors

  "Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview". Interview with Alex Belth, www.thedailybeast.com. February 16, 2014.

• The more serious the situation, the funnier the comedy can be. The greatest comedy plays against the greatest tragedy. Comedy is a red rubber ball and if you throw it against a soft, funny wall, it will not come back. But if you throw it against the hard wall of ultimate reality, it will bounce back and be very lively. Very, very few people understand this.

  Mel Brooks

  Wall, Reality, Play

  "Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview". Interview with Alex Belth, www.thedailybeast.com. February 16, 2014.

• Comedy is lively, comedy is joy, and that's what keeps us [people] going, we've got to look forward to little, little happiness's. Little, little joys, and comedy is very, very important, it's a vital. We underestimate its value, but we should see more comedies. Comedy is life giving, it's invigorating. I really believe it.

  Mel Brooks

  Believe, People, Giving

• I'll accept bad taste in a minute, as long as there's some great comedy minds and performances.

  Mel Brooks

  Long, Mind, Taste

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