Robert Klein Quotes

Maybe it's because I come from a very utopian world of being a comedian, but I'm used to many live comedy performances going on in any city I'm in, and each of us is trying to be the best at what we do. I don't think of it as a competition so much as a thriving comedy economy.

New York is looked at as the grad school of comedy.

Comedy is crowded. There are hundreds of comedians in every place in the world.

If you're into comedy, you will know what the show is about. We have so many comedy geeks, comedy enthusiasts, fanatical people who go to comedy festivals and follow comedians, and really treat it like rock 'n' roll - which it can be, but more like the geeky rock 'n' roll.

I got into comedy so I could stay out all night.

I feel like L.A. is more of a showcase, and Chicago is a pure comedy scene where you're doing comedy for comedy. You're doing comedy actually for the audience that's there.

It takes many years to be a great comedian.

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

I have always been a comedian - that has always been my job and it is what I want to do for a long time to come.

I've got quite a few friends in the comedy world as you meet a lot of people.

I've been doing comedy for 20 years now. I started when I was 13 and I think for the first 10 years I was impersonating other people.

I love the comedy world and really grew up in green rooms, so I wanted to show the positives and negatives.

I like LA because it has a giant supply of great comedians.

The Comedy Store - all three rooms were filled with 800 people in the room. And during that time, all these guys and some women, but mostly guys who weren't funny were doing stand up for a living; they weren't accountants, they were making $30-$50 grand a year on the road, or more.

Comedians rarely have writers, and if you do it's usually a sign of laziness.

Comedy isn't really something where you get discovered. You can't network your way to being funny or talented. It's not hard to get seen if you're funny. If you're funny, talented, and work hard, you will go somewhere.

I often say that ... I'm just involved in comedy, so I can be around it.

People who do comedy really are the nastiest people on the planet.

A lot of comedy is really DIY. You're kind of doing it yourself.

All of my life doing interviews, comedy has been my favorite thing, comedians are my favorite people.

I've always liked and appreciated storytellers like Garry Shandling and Bill Cosby - more long-form comedy. So starting in San Francisco, watching all these great comics - Patton Oswalt, Dave Chappelle - you get to see them a bunch, and you go, 'Wow, this is where I need to be.'

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

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

Stand-up can take you in so many different places, man. So many doors can be opened up from stand-up comedy, and the first one that was opened up for me was acting.

Comedians have to write to survive because you don't get cast for your beauty.