Jon Stewart Quotes

That's what comedy is like: You have to force yourself out in the world because you're always one experience away from new material.

I know from doing stand-up, I don't want to do a joke that I don't trust.

'Playing House' works because we're being supremely honest to what we think is funny and not what we think other people think is funny.

I think a comedian has a more specific job. Whereas a musician can fall into different categories, you know, of making background music or doing a soundtrack or wanting to be in a band or writing the song, or writing your own songs. And then comedy is a very black and white thing. You want to make people happy.

I'd always liked having a laugh with my friends, and I'd done comedy in plays; but then my friends asked me to join this improv troupe and it went well and I started performing with them.

A lot of people think that comedy is sort of a cop out to not wrestling seriously, but I actually would argue that comedy is much more difficult than wrestling seriously because you have to be creative in almost everything that you do if you want the comedy to make sense within the realms of pro wrestling.

You can't teach standup comedy. You can teach someone how to formulate a joke, but making it funny is different.

In reality, as a comedian, you're successful because you're funny, and you should be able to be funny about anything.

A mimicry artiste should be spontaneous and he should be able to crack jokes on the spot.

I love cinema and creating new things, but essentially, I am creating all this because I want people to see it.

I've tried to go out of my comfort zone to experiment with comedy onscreen.

Doing comedy was liberating in a way.

I'm more interested in - I was going to say putting on an interesting show, but then when I think about it, it's more like putting on several interesting shows. I think I'm more interested in doing funny things than calculating how I'll best be received.

We don't worry about continuity because when we're doing so many improvs, it's better to get the laugh. It's better to get the great lines even if they're in the wrong part of the room.

When doing comedy, I do what makes me laugh. The first person I learned from said I should talk about things I am passionate about - that I love or hate - because the audience likes to see passion. The stuff I rant and rave about stems from a place that really pisses me off.

The reality about shooting films is that you can shoot many jokes and decide later which one works. So it's not worth fighting about jokes.

Why should I waste my good time making a straight dramatic film? The people who can't make you laugh can do that.

I have a side of me that doesn't care. I really enjoy physical comedy, thinking of an idea and pitching it to the director.

I have no skills. I mean, I can make jokes, I'm pretty good at talking to people on the Judge John Hodgman podcast. I can figure out what makes a pretty good story, and I can make eggs really well.

Just because you don't know how to do stand-up doesn't mean you don't know how to put on a show.

Looking back, I didn't realize until years later what a huge influence Red Skelton was in my stage demeanor with the band. I mean, I always liked things that were funny, and later I realized that having a sly sense of humor was a way to get attention and even respect in school.

For aspiring comedians? Don't listen to me. Just go on stage and do what you think is funny.

Humor is basically a cognitive process. And it's a creative process not only on the part of the cartoonist but on the part of the viewer.

But when you're in front of an audience and you make them laugh at a new idea, you're guiding the whole being for the moment. No one is ever more him/herself than when they really laugh. Their defenses are down. It's very Zen-like, that moment. They are completely open, completely themselves when that message hits the brain and the laugh begins. That's when new ideas can be implanted. If a new idea slips in at that moment, it has a chance to grow.

You don't have to underestimate your audience anymore. They'd actually like to laugh a little bit. So, the character came to me and once it's got its grips in you, there's nowhere to go.