Ellen DeGeneres Quotes

You know, I was the class clown in Catholic school, but I never thought I would make a living out of it!

I think I always was a bit of a class clown, but I don't know how successful I was at that. I always think, when I read about people being class clowns, I imagine them being actually very funny, and I don't know that I was. But I tried to be, I think.

The thing I gravitated to was being the class clown. It was very competitive.

I didn't plan to be a comedian. I didn't plan to be a drag queen. It just kind of evolved.

I tick that cliched box of being the class clown. I've always done impressions and characters, so I'm very lucky that I get to do that as a career now.

I can't crack jokes because I don't have any.

I did stand-up, weird and ignorant stuff about my career - anything for a laugh.

To have a job making people laugh really is the greatest thing.

I'm not the type of guy who's funny in the room. I'm the guy who's funny late at night on a computer, trying to construct jokes.

I think my strongest suit is comedy. I certainly have limits in other areas.

I told jokes badly.

I was never really comfortable doing comedy.

I was born to be funny.

I made a living out of being a class clown.

Comedy, when it works, is light on its feet and has the illusion of complete spontaneity: as if there is no film, no camera. You are standing there experiencing it all in real time. This illusion, I believe, is why so many people think comedy is easy.

Amy Sedaris makes me laugh harder than anybody.

I don't like comedians who don't have conviction, and with stand-up, it is always best to have an angle.

I was one of those kids who liked a lot of attention. I was always the kid in class who'd be telling jokes and getting in trouble. Theater was a natural way for me to channel that and also become a productive member of society.

Like other kids wanted to become firemen or astronauts, I wanted to make people laugh.

I was always writing. I was writing in high school because it was a really competitive school for class clowns; I used to have to write all of my snaps and my disses the night before and then act like I was making it up the next day.

Mama is my chance to be a stand-up comedian. In my mind, it's my chance to be Chris Rock.

I tried do stand-up, and I was horrible. And I'll never do it again.

I think I was always a class clown growing up and a funny kid. I never really knew how to channel that until I got into high school.

I wasn't very good in my serious acting class. Sometimes people took our class so seriously, so I used to, sort of, make fun of people after class. And so a friend of mine said, 'Why don't you do the comedy thing.' That's how it all worked out.

I had no desire to get up onstage and tell jokes. I prefer to stand next to really funny people.