NICOLE BYER

It's easier to cast yourself in something you've written because you know your voice.

I know Jonathan Van Ness from comedy, and he's got this wonderful show on Funny or Die called 'Gay of Thrones.'

Be comfortable in your skin.

Dogs are very strange, but they're wonderful and they love to cuddle, and their breath is so stinky!

I'm not sassy all day every day. I have levels and feelings.

During my 20s, I truly said 'yes' to everything, whether it was a good idea or not.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again because you can't say it enough: Your skin is beautiful - dark, light, in the middle, whatever. Brown is beautiful. Your hair is beautiful. If you wear a weave, it's beautiful. If you choose to be natural, that's beautiful. Also, you are enough.

I perform at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, where my race and gender are rarely pointed out.

In my comedy, I'm not always trying to say something, but when I'm playing a creepy dude, you're laughing because you know that creepy dude. You've heard that dude say something awful, and I'm just putting a little creative spin on it.

I think we go through the world feeling alone and singular, and you forget that your one story is probably the same as millions of people's stories. Maybe with different specifics. But a lot of people experience the same things.

When I was little, I used to love eating peanut butter sandwiches with tomatoes, and they would have to be on potato bread. I loved them. It's so weird, and I can't imagine eating it now, but I used to love eating them. It's a lot of flavors.

My mom was a really positive, jovial person, so I try to keep it upbeat like that.

Talking-head shows are just a camera, a sound guy, and then a PA writing down what you say and a producer asking you questions. And you're just supposed to rephrase the question and add a joke to it. Figuring out how to do that was super hard.

In school, no one teaches you to look for things that are right for you.

Red Lobster reminds me of my dad because he would always get coupons and be like, 'We're going to treat ourselves.'

I think I saw 'Ghost' at, like, 6 or 7 - like, a little too early to see 'Ghost' - but I would watch Whoopi over any kids' thing. Everything she did was so funny, and all of her scenes are almost like sketches.

I search my name on Twitter because I don't want to miss the compliments, and I favorite the nice things people say about me so they know I saw it. People are more positive than they are negative, and I try not to harp on the negative.

Improv is so freeing because there are no bounds; there's no safety net. You just say something and get an instant response.

What I needed to do was carve out parts for me, roles for me that weren't just the sidekick, where I got to be the lead, because that's breaking through.

If you want to change your body, that's well within your means to do that, but if you don't want to change your body, you need to accept it and embrace it.

I've always been a mediocre student, so I never won an award in school. I'm not very athletic, so I've never won a sports award. So, I'm a mediocre person.

You don't need someone to complete you.

It's not a weakness to admit that you're wrong.

I like sweet-and-salty things.

I've lived an interesting life.