Aziz Ansari Quotes

Bill Hicks is a huge influence. I love him.

I was about 17 or 18 years old, and Chris Rock's 'Bring the Pain' came out, and I was obsessed. You know, it just hit on everything that was going on at that time and was such an in-the-moment special, and he knocked it out of the park.

I've been watching a ton of Ali Wong on Netflix. I love everything she does - there's a fearlessness about her.

Dave Chappelle - he's one of my favorite icons. I can't think of anyone who's funnier.

Chris Rock does the political thing really well, but that never worked for me.

I was heavily influenced by Andy Kaufman and Steven Wright.

Chris Rock is a very funny man.

I love Steven Wright. I was in high school in the '80s, and there was a lot of stand up on television.

Jon Ronson makes me laugh. I've read all of his books.

Sacha Baron Cohen is one of my heroes.

To me, it wasn't 'Star Wars' that shaped me; it was more 'Mary Tyler Moore' and, nowadays, 'Louie' and 'Girls.'

Comedy has become, I think, a very important branch of public intellectualism. But it still ain't Washington.

I've paid attention to guys growin' up like Richard Pryor or Paul Mooney. The message that they were sending with what they did was so much bigger than them.

The job of a comedian is to make people laugh, but a lot of my interests are in politics so I'm going to use that.

I love Richard Pryor. I love him to death.

The Howard Stern Show is a big hit because it entertains dumb and smart people at the same time for different reasons.

I think comedy does have that powerful thing that doesn't seem too preachy because you're also making people laugh, so it's really kind of a good tool for messaging.

On 'The Simpsons,' I will say that we definitely like to comment on what's going on in the world, and we try to be funny. If we can figure out a way of being funny about it, then we've gone part of the way of accomplishing our task.

There's always a message in my comedy.

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.

When I talk to Steve Martin, he's joyful when he talks about comedy.

I think that 'Family Guy' is hysterical. It's edgy and hip - and they can do whatever they want to do because it's animated and they're not limited by budget.

Cinema will always have an important role to play in society.

Rory Bremner I have no problem with; he is a satirist, and a very funny one, too.

I love 'Mean Girls.' I held out on watching it for a long time, but I'm so glad I finally did. Tina Fey is brilliant.