Russell Howard Quotes

I have never been depressed or thrown a plate, which I attribute to the cathartic effects of writing books about people whose lives are more grueling than mine.

Writing is my salvation. If I didn't write, what would I do?

I think poetry was always where I went to deal with my deepest feelings.

Whatever I'm feeling, whatever I'm going through, whatever mood I'm in... If I'm feeling like dancing or clubbing, then it will be reflected in the music. If I'm feeling dark and vulnerable, then it will reflect in the music, too.

You know early on when you're given a gift that can keep you sane. That's what acting does for me. It keeps me honest and keeps me sane.

Rap was more of a release for me, a journal.

With music, it's a therapy for me. So whatever I'm dealing with at the time, I talk about it when I rap.

I did drag out of necessity. I had to do it... I had to create this other character because - because she's cheaper than therapy.

Finally, everything that has been part of my life, whether I wanted it to or not, has expressed itself in my dresses.

I started to use music almost like a therapist, where it's like, everything that I don't really dare to say or speak about, I can sing about.

I have been blessed with roles that allow me to express something very personal at a specific time in my life. I seek them out; acting is my therapy.

I love pouring my heart out. People don't want to hear you whine when you're with friends, so you can sing about it instead - it's the best outlet.

I think you can really gauge my state of mind by listening to my albums.

I'm lucky enough to be able to make films and so I don't need a psychiatrist. I can sort out my fears and all those things with my work. That's an enormous privilege. That's the privilege of all artists, to be able to sort out their unhappiness and their neuroses in order to create something.

Therapy is therapy. Writing is for writing.

I have a lot of repression. So repression is what I make movies about.

The truth is, for however much my stories come out of things that have happened to me, they're not darkly or as deeply personal as someone like Marc Maron or a lot of comedians, but they are essentially my life and my interpretation of it.

I sing my sorrow, and I paint my joy.

I love writing and directing because it's great therapy. Every project I've done, there's been a personal connection.

I'm never gonna step away from stand-up. I can't. That's what got me where I am, and that's also my muse. That's how I stay level-headed. That's what keeps me going.

Everything I was feeling, all the hurt and the pain and the emotion I was going through, I put into my music.

My work is therapeutic: 'Monster's Ball,' 'Woodsman' and 'Shadowboxer,' because I don't go to therapy, and I sort of live life through my films.

Mostly singing was cathartic, writing was cathartic, therapeutic. I don't think I had a goal, particularly, to sing or put it out there for anybody.

Music is my release.

Comedians don't have a monopoly on suffering. But creative people are sometimes fortunate enough to be able to incorporate their most traumatic experiences into their art.