Jamie-Lynn Sigler Quotes

I was fooling everyone by surrounding myself with funny people. But then I put myself out there - writing my own sketches, going on stage with nobody surrounding me - and for some reason people were still laughing.

Here's the thing, with comedy - and I learned this from Will Ferrell - you can't be ashamed. If you're doing comedy, you have to fully commit to the joke. Shame is not part of it. If you act shy or uncomfortable about your body, that makes the audience shy and uncomfortable. And in a comedy you just want them to loosen up and laugh.

I think I have always tried to connect my comedy to my art.

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.

Comedy is incredibly hard. You have to be loose. You have to be not afraid to fail.

I'm going to be Dog, and I'm going to be an entertainer. And I'm going to make mistakes.

I was trying to do one-liners and it took me years to realise I just had to be myself. My fear was if I was myself and no one found it funny, I'd have nowhere left to go.

Doing comedy was liberating in a way.

I was an extroverted kid and performed, like, acting and singing. Then, the older I got, I realized I enjoyed performing things that I came up with myself more and I enjoyed making people laugh more than making people cry or think.

The difference between you and the funny person on TV is that they acted on their ideas.

I've learned that maybe sometimes it's better to show people who you are and what you are thinking about. That way, you can be more relaxed with yourself.

It's also that comedians don't have the kind of narcissism that actors have. They're writers who perform their own material. It's more interesting. And they're sexy because they risk more. Stand-up comedians risk more than anyone.

I think a lot of acting is having the confidence to be open enough to try things and not be afraid of falling on your face and looking like a fool.

Go for broke with what you believe and what you think is funny and what you're good at.

All I know how to do is take what's on my mind and spit it out funny. I don't know what else I could do besides comedy.

Even in comedy, you have to be real. It's all about being real. It's how real can you be? That's the challenge. How much are you willing to take on for your character?

People ask what my influences are, and for me, it's not always obvious. One of my biggest inspirations was Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders. That's based on how she just does whatever she wants to do, and I love her attitude about everything. It bleeds over into my way of thinking and comedy.

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.

There are some beautiful things about people like Katy Perry, who are bold enough to go up on a pink cotton-candy cloud, with a guitar, in a tutu, and sing all by herself.

The appeal of comedy is that you're not going to look your best. Dressing up or dressing down is something I love and feel very comfortable doing. I feel at my least comfortable when I have to look at my best.

You're always on duty because you're in a constant state of observation. That's one of the challenges of being a comedian. I think one of the other challenges is that, whether we like it or not, it's a profession that requires failure. It doesn't just encourage failure. It requires it because it's all trial and error. You need to know what doesn't work to know what works.

I think it's good to be a little more fearless in saying what you feel. In not being scared of the repercussions of that.

Stand-up is my favorite thing I've ever done. There's so much independence.

Comedy is like math - you can check your answer because you know you've gotten it right if you get a laugh. It just makes sense to me. I feel like because I've had to keep that tool in my box for so long, I'm ready to show it off a bit.

I'm no good at anything but comedy, which I think I'm good at. I'm absolutely no good at networking; I'm terrible at acting; I'm terrible at dealing with executives; I'm terrible at collaborating. And I say whatever I want to say. But I think I'm good enough at comedy that I can survive. And I don't really have an ambition for money.