Jack Nicholson Quotes

Being funny is a gift, and, when done well, is an art form.

Comedy, I imagine, is harder to do consistently than tragedy, but I like it spiced in the wine of sadness.

I think comedy is one of the hardest things to pull off. You either have timing or you don't, and that's something I don't have for sure.

Kind of the exhausting thing about doing pure comedy, or something that's broader, is you're kind of a slave to the laugh. If it's not funny, then there's not much point in doing it. The kind of ueber-objective is to make people laugh. You always have to have that in the back of your mind, 'Eh, I've got to figure out a way to make this funny.'

I like things that are funny - in everyday conversation, in incidents that you see, in watching TV or watching film. Comedy has always had an impact on my life.

Comedy is this weird thing. You have no idea why certain things work and other things don't work.

Comedy is very important. For one thing, it keeps you sane. But it's not really a conversion. I mean, it's marginally a conversion, because if people tune in or go to a nightclub or even watch television, and hear that a lot of other people are laughing at something you thought was not funny, at least it'll force you to reconsider.

I have always noticed that people will never laugh at anything that is not based on truth.

I think it's that much harder to make a good comedy than it is straight and apparently serious.

Even the people who do great jokes, [it's] always coming out of a very real place.

I was always sort of a ham as a kid, just always wanting to entertain and to get people to laugh.

You can't have good comedy without drama in it.

Comedy doesn't come easy for me. I've only done 2 movies that are really comedy-style films and I have to work at them. And they're just as scary in a way. I hate labeling all these things; comedy, love stories, dark drama, whatever.

Comedy is the blues for people who can’t sing.

The bottom line of comedy is to be funny, and the bottom line of drama is to be truthful. You can be truthful and funny, but if you're not truthful in a drama than the audience leaves you.

Comedy is difficult for an actor. But I think I have a good sense of humor and manage to make people laugh and make them happy.

With comedians, you have that understanding that we're trying to get laughs.

Comedy becomes intensified in short scenes.

In comedy, though, it's good to get feedback from the audience about what they find funny.

The hardest thing in the world to do is to have someone in a seat in a theater laughing so hard that they're making weird sounds.

For comedy, timing is key.

It's good to be funny when you are a comedian.

To be a comedian, you gotta jokesmith, there's no way around it.

Stand up is really fun because if I think of a joke or a funny idea, then I can just go and tell some people and if they laugh, they laugh right away.

The greatest comedian I've ever seen is Jack Benny. He wasn't afraid of the silences.