Robert Klein Quotes

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.

When I am on a long run in a play, I'm not sure how I would fill the days if I did not paint or write. On a basic level, it just stops me going crazy.

There's something about doing stand-up that's cathartic.

Once I started doing stand-up, everything fell into place. That was when I started acting more; I felt like I'd found my place in the business.

I realize as I get older that stand-up is a huge part of who I am. I think I'll do it for the rest of my life.

Stand-up. It's the only place I'm comfortable.

I've got the sort of personality that requires me to find some sort of release, and for me, it's performing.

There is something about being on stage that's a release for me. It gets my mental energy out.

I like stand-up. I've done it since I was a teenager, so it's kind of my first job and first kind of creative way to express myself.

Before stand-up, I'm not sure I even had a point of view.

Not all comedy clubs or situations are ideal, especially when you're first coming up and I think that's good for you. Eventually you get to express your real personality.

Performing comedy, you develop a rhythm of ideas and laughs. I live for it.

I love to work out. I need to work out! Nothing makes me feel better than walking out of a spin or barre class knowing my body and mind got some attention.

I try to work out more now. I have been really thinking about getting into yoga, though. I can use that, believe it.

What I became a comedian for was to get my art out. To get some of these feelings and things I had on my chest out. I don't care if people believe them, listen to them, change their ways, or think, or any of that kind of crap. I'm interested in showing off. I'm the same kid from sixth grade who stood up and said "watch this."

There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking far without fatigue.

In stand up every joke is thought about so meticulously, and one word can completely change how the audience responds. You're up there with no safety net; you can't shirk responsibility. It's your thoughts; it's your voice. You can't blame it on the writing, you can't blame it on the editor. You are just up there completely naked.

When someone says to me, do you do stand-up I say absolutely not. I like to think of it as a theatrical performance. With me the show changes maybe five to ten percent every night. Of course, whatever I see in front of me and sometimes I get on a little run about it and it changes the show. And my delivery is such that people who have seen me many times say Gee, I never heard that before. Actually, they have, but I might have changed it around.

I remember I used to go to The Laugh Factory and just goof off onstage, and then I'd see Dane Cook. He did a bit about his Mom making the bed in the summertime when he was a kid. He just said "Vroom!" and threw the sheet up in the air and the sheet would just stay over the bed for like a minute and a half. All he had were his arms out, but I could see the sheet. And he didn't do anything. He just kept it there. And I went, "I have to write more."

I work out at least once a day. If I'm not working, I'll work out three times a day. I do it because I enjoy it. It's a way of living and it makes me relaxed. It gives me mental stability, honestly.

Stand-up is not something that you're good at right away. You have to do it a ton. But, I think I got to shave a year off because I didn't have to get over stage fright.

Standup is more me talking the entire time. There's definitely an exchange of energy because that room, that audience, is giving back.

My workout is my obligation to life. It's my tranquilizer. It's part of the way I tell the truth--and telling the truth is what's kept me going all these years.

Pilates is definitely my favorite workout because it's hard but at the same time relaxing.

I sat down and wrote some jokes and went to the talent show, got up on stage, fell in love with it and never turned back.