Tony Rock Quotes

I always wanted to be a comedian, but I wasn't sure how you do that.

As a stand-up comic, you have to do the road.

I've been trying to bust into the comedy business my whole life. It's hard in Hollywood to do different things. I know this. It's a struggle.

I will always do stand-up, even if my acting career takes off. Stand-up is my life.

You know, I'm playing the Mirage in Vegas, the main room... About 5 percent of all comics end up as the main headliner on the Vegas Strip, so that's a big deal for me. Getting to do my stand-up the way I have this summer is really what I've dreamed of since I was about 10 years old.

I've been doing stand-up just about every night since I started in 1989. It's my home base. But I'm into doing comedy in all mediums, platforms and situations.

Comedy is an amazing calling. Once you get that first laugh, it's hard to turn away. Then, of course, you're hooked and you have to learn how to survive in the business.

I grew up watching stand-ups and thought it was so entertaining and unique - you didn't see that as a job description anywhere.

People who want to do stand-up from the start - I mean that's an extremely self-centred thing to want, isn't it?

I think I probably would have gone into stand-up.

There's a lot of open mics, a lot of comedy clubs. Whatever money I could make was OK with me. As long as I could pay the rent, eat food, and tell jokes, doing it was good enough for me.

I started comedy in 2006. I didn't even think it was a thing I could do.

I started going to the open mics every day in 2003. You make the comics laugh, they get you work, and you build up your reputation. It was a slow process.

I started pursuing stand-up comedy in 12th grade.

For the most part, comedy is the only fair part of show business.

I've not really been angling to be a comedian. I knew comics and I loved them and I loved being funny, but I didn't understand the whole concept of becoming one. My first couple of times on stage, I was like, "This is what I'm doing for sure." I was so excited.

I started out in stand-up when I was 18, which is really masochistic, and I did it really till I started going in movies. I did it for about three years out in LA.

I worked at comedy clubs - if I can use the term 'work' - for several years. I middled at one point. I never made it; I was never a headliner. I never made enough time to write enough good material, in my opinion.

For me, the way I stay consistent is through stand-up comedy.

I do a lot of Vegas work and work with the comedians.

I'm probably more of a stand-up comedian than an actor.

I've been doing stand-up since '89.

I've been a comedian since I was fourteen. But I've never really been a CEO.

I spent 25 years as a stand-up comedian.

Stand-up will always be my first love, and it has been the primary way I've expressed myself since I was 17.