Michael McIntyre Quotes

I think I probably would have gone into stand-up.

I started comedy in 2006. I didn't even think it was a thing I could do.

For me, the way I stay consistent is through stand-up comedy.

I've been doing stand-up since '89.

Stand-up will always be my first love, and it has been the primary way I've expressed myself since I was 17.

It took forever for me to get work because I was a political comic, and now it's become good business, and God knows how long that'll last. You have to do it night after night after night to kind of make it. I still find myself on 'Piers Morgan' or on some show and I think, 'I hope this is funny.'

I will always do stand-up, even if my acting career takes off. Stand-up is my life.

But television, when I was doing it, was all about scoring. You had to make these jokes bang, do whatever you could to make the material really pop. And if it didn't, there was something wrong with the material, or with you.

When I'm not on T.V. or working on a movie, I'm on the road doing stand-up. That's my roots.

At some point, all comics have to go out and be retail salesmen doing door-to-door. And this idea of somebody who totally knows their craft having to get up for free in front of a crowd to work out some stuff they're thinking in their head, still, after as much success as you can get, is really interesting.

I would love to do more TV and do movies for the experience, but my ultimate focus is stand-up. It's the number one thing that I love most because there is nothing like being with a live audience.

Seeing the energy of 'SNL' made me want to be a part of it. If that was a job, I thought, that was the job I wanted. That was my plan. Comedy.

I did years of summer stock. I sort of only wanted to be an actor. And then at 19, I was funny, and I had some of these bits that I did for friends, and I immediately could get on television.

I started pursuing stand-up comedy in 12th grade.

If people are coming to see me because they like what I do on 'Mock the Week,' that's great because they are coming to see me being me.

I've been doing comedy for 20 years now. I started when I was 13 and I think for the first 10 years I was impersonating other people.

I remember being captivated by Steve Coogan and Eddie Izzard and wanting to do what they did. That generation of comedians was my main influence.

I continue to do standup because there's a connection with a live audience - there are skills that you do learn as a standup comedian that help you on a set.

I really like to do comedy, and I did comedy the first 2 years after I graduated college, so I really love it and appreciate it.

Late night is no different than making a film, really, except that it's faster, and if you do a crap one, you can do a better one tomorrow. Writing a novel and doing stand-up - that stuff is very similar.

So many of these comics are just frustrated singers or actors - they want to get a gig doing a sitcom. It's paint-by-the-numbers comedy, lame joke-telling. They're drawn to it as a career move.

I feel like every time I go out, I want to do a good job. I want people to say that he's just as good at stand-up as he is in some of the movies I've seen him in, so I try to do the best every time I go out there.

I'm probably more of a stand-up comedian than an actor.

I wasn't really qualified to be on Saturday Night Live - I'm not like an impressionist or anything.

I spent 25 years as a stand-up comedian.