Greg Fitzsimmons Quotes

It was probably years before I was confident enough in stand-up that I was able to talk about the things I wanted to talk about, the way I wanted to talk about them.

The exciting part of acting, I don't know how else to explain it, are those moments when you surprise yourself.

None of the records I make are ever a deliberate construction - they're always an expression of who I am at the time and where I am in my life.

When you can surprise yourself, you're truly acting.

The artist is very lucky, because in an art form that's spontaneous like jazz, that's when you really see your true self. And that's why, when I put down my instrument, that's when the challenge starts, because to learn how to be that kind of human being at that level that you are when you're playing - that's the key, that's the hard part.

When you're on stage performing stand-up, things only happen one time. I've done bits where I improv a joke, and people are dying. The next show, I try to repeat it, I can't do it. Because with the first audience that was our moment. It can't happen the same way again. We were all there: a certain type of people were at that show and we all got it.

I think that one of the things about music is it's supposed to be spontaneous, it's supposed to be real human beings bouncing off of each other whether its from the stage or to the audience, or jamming with friends.

You should not really entertaining anyone else, but trying to be yourself, because there are already more good books than you or I could ever read in our lifetime.

I come from the world of improv; I love any show or any vehicle that gives me an opportunity to be in the moment.

I've always believed acting is an improvisational art form, even when not a single line is changed. I mean, the behavior should always be improvised. My favorite moments in any performance are when I'm just along for the ride; when I'm surprising myself. I know when I'm done and I think to myself, 'Gee, I didn't see that coming,' I've done well.

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

No one set that I ever do is the same. I mean, if I go to a comedy club, and I perform three sets, all three sets are different because anything can happen in between sets.

For me anyway, until I was exposed to doing improvisation and walking onto a stage without any script, I would have never felt comfortable enough to walk into a room with someone like Larry David and audition.

Through theater and acting school, I found a way to articulate myself.

I do my best creating on stage.

Onstage, there's no hiding; you either can or can't act. There's no second take.

My improv definitely shows a different side of myself, which is more true to what my real humor is and what my real personality is, and I think - I guess 'wild' is a good word for it. I'm still sweet! But I won't let anyone walk all over me.

Whereas with us - what you hear is what's happening right then and there on the stage - so we don't need no stinking technology.

After I graduated, I tried Broadway, which was difficult for me. It was tough to get a part on Broadway, so I just started talking to audiences at different social gatherings, and little by little I became Don Rickles - whatever that is.

It is when I am working that the real me comes out - that is when I am the most real and honest.

The character I play is a wonderful compilation of things I hate about myself and things I love about myself and things that I've invented to make her even more interesting than me.

I've spent most of my life trying to wear a persona that didn't quite fit and when I started writing books, it was like finally becoming the right person.

In every role, a part of me gets to come out.

Most of my act is improvisation. I'm inspired for the moment. Standing there in front of 2,000 or 3,000 people you don't know can be pretty inspiring.

My interest lies in my self-expression - what's inside of me - not what I'm in.