Max Greenfield Quotes

If I think something's funny, I try to mold it into a joke as soon as possible. Once I have a joke, I say it a million different ways on stage until I find a rhythm and it feels like it's as good as it can be.

Being on 'The Office' prepared me for drama. Comedy got me ready, but once you get down to it, they're two sides of the same thing. I mean, the delivery has to be different - in drama, there's more time to breathe, and comedy's all about hitting the joke.

I'm not good at telling a joke, but I can say a line in a certain way that makes people uncomfortable because they don't know whether to laugh or not, and I love that comedy.

Richard Lewis is the master at taking a joke that he's told a million times in a row in the past year, on the road, and making it look like he's pulling it out of thin air.

And you can't hide in a comedy scene either. You have to give in to the scene and commit.

My stand-up is quite good now, people say. It's just like a big conversation each time. Every gig is a rehearsal.

I know what's funny, and I probably know the best way to deliver the joke. Whether it's walking out of a room, facing that way, facing this way. I just have a sense of that.

With silly stuff, it's seventy-five percent confidence. I always tell people that it's because I'm nervous about getting that next laugh and I need to hear it. I always want to condense a joke.

I think so. I can't think of anything that requires more finesse than comedy, both from a verbal and visual point of view.

I started out more interested in drama, but comedy just came naturally to me, and it's become what I'm most known for, even though my sensibilities still lean towards the dramatic for the most part.

You really have to take your time; you have to know your character and your scene. The line you are about to say comes from the moment right before. It's not what's said, it's what is in between the spaces, it's what's in between the lines; that is the most important to play.

Sometimes, comics will make the observation that it's not jokes that are funny, it's characters that are funny. And isn't that true! That's why I always kill jokes. I'm terrible at them, because I get the joke right, but I can't get the character right, and it just goes down like a lead balloon.

I've always been terrible on regular sitcoms with lots of jokes. I don't know how to tell jokes.

To do comedy, you have to be a pretty good actor to start with.

Drama is more focused, and it reveals itself to you, whereas comedy is just right there when you first read it.

Comedy and drama are like two different sports; they both require athleticism but they're different.

One joke coming from one person can land completely flat, while somebody else delivering it in a unique way can really elevate it.

With comedy it's all about timing and presence on screen, as the words are there but you have to say them right and the right timing.

A lot of things matter in comedy - the script, the lines, your timing, the co-actor's timing, how it's shot.

On some level in acting, what you're trying to find is truth, because when it's true is when it's also funny.

Sometimes the writing can be so good that the actor doesn't really have to do anything.

When you are doing stand-up comedy, you are the writer, producer, director, sometimes bouncer.

Some actors try to play parts and do things they can't do. Being funny is one of them. Being funny's hard.

As a comic, you try something and if it works you go with it and grind it to death.

Estelle Getty used the language of a truck driver, or a sailor. Bea Arthur didn't wear shoes. Bea Arthur was a comic genius. Her timing was extraordinary.