Jonathan Stroud Quotes

Many, affecting wit beyond their power, Have got to be a dear fool for an hour.

Really, these wizards! You'd think no one had ever had a cold before! Well, what is it?" she asked, hobbling through the bedroom door onto the filthy carpet. "I'm dying of boredom," Howl said pathetically. "Or maybe just dying.

Hypocrisy is great fodder for comedy.

Comedians in general make their living calling liars on their lies.

I am a wizard, not a baboon brandishing a stick.

I am a comedian and you guys know whatever I say, I don't mean any of it.

Leigh [Bowery] affected a posh English voice and elongated his vowels, and you never knew if he was being sincere or mocking you. If I ever commented on one of his outfits he would snip, "Oh, thank you, Mr. Boy George. I do value your opinion." And then he would spin and make some ridiculous noise and mince off.

She [Comedy] it is who proposes the correcting of pretentiousness, of inflation, of dulness, and of the vestiges of rawness and grossness to be found among us. She is the ultimate civilizer, the polisher, a sweet cook.

The wisest and the best of men, nay, the wisest and best of their actions, may be rendered ridiculous by a person whose first object in life is a joke.

As a comedian, I think we all look for those areas where the truth diverts from what people are saying. That's why politics is such a rich area for us, because politicians make promises, and they don't keep them, and when we point out the difference, we get the laugh.

It's a dangerous game that comedy plays. Sometimes it tells you the truth; sometimes it delays it.

I am trying to work out what my taste is, comedy-wise. I look up to stand up comedians who appear to be telling the truth, but I don't mind if they are lying.

I'd like to say that parody is a celebration of a person's specific characteristics, as opposed to mockery.

I'm responsible for starting a whole new school of pretension.

When I say something untrue on the air, I mean for it to be transparently untrue. I assume people know when I'm just saying something for effect. Or to be funny.

I think a lot of the time you just parody yourself.

It's always fun to put fake celebrities in unlikely situations, but somehow it's even more fun when politicians are involved.

If you stop and think about it, nearly all great humor is at the expense of someone or something.

In the end, everything is a gag.

Comedy is basically self-deprecation.

Most shows find themselves descending into sentimentality or earnestness at some point but, with 'Community,' the joke is always on.

I like to write a lot of satire.

No one thought that the Disney Superpower had the ability to laugh at itself, but 'Enchanted' proved everyone wrong.

If you're going to tell people the truth, be funny or they'll kill you.

When you make 'The Daily Show', it's usually not for a laurel, it's for a dart.