Tony Rock Quotes

I love comedy and I did a few gigs here and there but it never really took off. It was too scary.

I'm not a stand up at all, it's such a fear of mine. My sister does it, and she's really great at it.

I haven't really done a lot of comedy. It's something that terrifies me.

I had some friends that tried it down there, and I went to a couple of open mics, and I just kind of got this... this sick urge to try it instead of just watching it.

Even on TV appearances or big shows, I don't know if I've ever been as nervous as I was my first time doing stand-up. I just remember getting offstage and sitting down, and my right knee was just shaking from the adrenaline.

Getting up in front of the toughest crowds, you know, playing pubs in South Armagh - where people didn't necessarily even know what stand-up comedy was - you had to force yourself to do it. It went against every instinct in your body, but you did it anyway.

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

The very first time I did stand-up, that was terrifying.

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.

The first night you walk down to a comedy club, at least for me, I had my voice, and then I went on stage and I lost it.

When we first started 'The Big Bang Theory,' I would get incredibly nervous because it's such a big show and I was just out of graduate school. I'd come in and have this huge responsibility for the one line that everyone hopes will bring down the house.

I started doing stand up when I was 19. Because I was underage at the time, at certain clubs I would be forced to wait outside until it was my time to go on stage. Then I would do my set, walk off, and be kicked out again.

When you're onstage and you know you're bombing, that's very, very scary. Because you know you gotta keep going - you're bombing, but you can't stop. And you know that half an hour from now, you're still gonna be bombing. It takes a thick skin.

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

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

Being a comedian is an incredible thing, but it can be scary sometimes.

You can't be a proper comic unless you've been out on stage and felt the fear.

It's always nerve-wracking when you're hosting 'Saturday Night Live.' You either sink or swim.

I failed to get into drama school, and my best friend told me I should do stand-up instead. I was always doing gags and voices, so he booked a gig for me without telling me. I only had four days to write it. I did a seven-minute set; the first four minutes were terrible, but the last two were amazing.

I never wanted to be road comic.

After I got my first laugh on stage, I was hooked.

I was jumping out of my skin. It was horrible. I was all over the place, because I'd never been in front of a live audience. That's a whole other element in the play, the audience.

I've been doing comedy longer than I haven't been doing comedy, as I was performing for three years before I even got on 'The Tonight Show.' There's truly nothing like it; it's intense and exhilarating, even though it looks so casual.

I don't have any horror stories of trying to start as a comedian and eating it constantly on stage.

I much prefer doing comedy. I get a little paranoid when the audience is not laughing.