Jonathan Shapiro Quotes

When I write, I create really absurd situations which become false because I am after the joke.

I've spent my entire career being a satirist.

If you're watching a comedian on television and he's making a political point, I would say he's gotten too serious.

As satirists, we get to stand on the sidelines of life and comment on what's happening.

A joke's a very serious thing.

I wanted to do something in the style of a comedy of manners.

Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.

Comedy, we may say, is society protecting itself - with a smile.

Jerry Seinfeld is amazing in many ways, not the least of them his ability to find humor, and convincing us to find it, too, in the million-and-two details about modern life that under different circumstances might send us into paroxysms of rage.

We do not take humor seriously enough.

Humor must not professedly teach and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever.

I don't just try to be funny.

I try and write satire that's well-intentioned. But those intentions have to be hidden. It can't be completely clear, and that's what makes it comedy.

I've always been interested in socially political, or overtly political, comedy.

Most jokes state a bitter truth.

The first purpose of comedy is to make people laugh. Anything deeper is a bonus. Some comedians want to make people laugh and make them think about socially relevant issues, but comedy, by the very nature of the word, is to make people laugh. If people aren't laughing, it's not comedy. It's as simple as that.

Sometimes people say I'm a political comedian, which, actually I'm not. I'm a comedian who sometimes discusses politics, culture - again, the word 'politics' to me is just life.

One of the jobs of a stand-up comedienne is to expose hypocrisy.

I am a writer—a comic and satirical writer. I am much better at poking fun at politicians who screw up than I am of telling them what to do.

Comedy is a reaction to the world, and I think it really helps to be an outsider. I've always been very interested in people's behavior, to the point of being obsessed - seeing what people needed and reading them, I think that's the backbone of comedy.

I feel like comedy is important, and I think political satire can be really important.

I think comedy and satire are the strongest ways to deal with very serious themes and very painful themes.

All comedy is really talking about social issues and things that are affecting our lives.

I have no desire to get on a soapbox or be preachy. I don't think comedy needs to be 'brave' or 'important.'

And I think comedy obviously a great way to get a message out because you know the reason why things are funny is because they're true.