Dermot Mulroney Quotes

Being a comedy writer gives you permission to be an outsider and poke fun at what people think about other people.

You can channel a lot within a comic framework, and I think 'The Guard' had a lot going on outside of the comedy, which is satisfying.

Monty Python never directly said, 'We're liberals' - they just did their sketches, and you had to figure it out. Generally, they were anti-establishment, of course, making fun of the people in power. I think, comedians, that's their job - pointing out what other people might not notice and going, 'Yoo-hoo, over here.'

I want to do a comedy film.

Show me a novel that's not comic, and I'll show you a novel that's not doing its job.

I don't think that 'No Man's Land' is a comedy. I think that it's a serious film with a good sense of humour.

Satire and comedy are really the only film mediums where you can get into ideas and have people leave the theater without being moralized.

Everything is so funny in the movie. The funniest thing about the movie is the transformations they were able to make with the characters.

I like doing comedy, I like doing drama. Naturally I like to do, I like doing dramas, I like conflict, and when I do a comedy, you know, I've found that, like, romantic comedy is the trickiest one, because often it's neither: it's not romantic and it's not funny. So, like, I like a comedy that's biting. It's biting humor or really quirky humor.

I really think if you take away a character's obstacles then there's no comedy.

Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their earthly pedestals.

A sitcom isn't usually the right tool for satire.

Comedy is a great weapon of attack. It's not a great weapon of support.

The satiric ethos of Mad was a much bigger childhood influence.

Drama usually has some sort of intense conflict.

'SCTV' was the concept of a group ensemble doing satirical things. 'Saturday Night Live's sketches were broader than ours, more universal.

David Mamet's writing is pretty spectacular, obviously. I like the honesty of it; I like how funny it is and how sad it is.

I love the satire and skewering of comedy writing.

Comedy just pokes at problems, rarely confronts them squarely. Drama is like a plate of meat and potatoes, comedy is rather the dessert, a bit like meringue.

I think jokes can actually go to places that drama can't.

Ksenia Sobchak as president is like Sergei Shnurov as an artist. It's satire. It's a very high-level art project.

A comic book and a straight drama all have the same elements. If you're playing tragedy, you have to be aware of the comedy; if you're playing comedy, you have to be aware of the tragedy. If you're playing comic book, you have to be aware of the reality.

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

I've always tended to write comedy, but I'd hate to just write some kind of sitcom or a lighthearted series of jokes and slapstick. I wanted to talk about some deeper things within the comedy.

I always want to lead with comedy but hopefully be able to sneak my message through at the same time.