Comedy Careers Quotes

Women, a lot of the time, are so much funnier than men, but they just choose not to do comedy for a living.

I'm sure that people who have been tweeting funny things have ended up on writing staffs of a late night show.

A young comic, if he's any good, can easily get on 'Carson' or 'Griffin' or 'Dinah Shore,' because they want to say the same thing, that they discovered the new talent.

I think, first of all, I don't think people understand Ice Cube's body of work. Ice Cube is a, and I hate to use the word 'urban' but - when you think of Judd Apatow, and a person who's launched so many careers, Ice Cube has done that for so many comedians, you know?

I can't think of another place other than TV where a five-person sketch comedy group could make a living.

Aside from Joan Rivers and Roseanne, it's hard for me to think of any female comedian who's had kids and has a serious level of fame - like, the level where your mother has heard of them.

When I was in the business as a young performer, it was a recognised fact that when you got to 60 you were out, because there'd be a new crop of comics coming up all the time, every 10 years or so.

I haven't been one since I did a film called (coughs) Encino Man (laughing). After two or three runs with Pauly Shore, I had enough. Watching this film in 3D as far as rollercoasters go really fills it for me.

Then you had people who wanted to get into comedy just to get a TV deal.

The economics favour one-man comedy shows: all you need is one person, a microphone and a PA system. But I'm pleased so many people are making a living out of comedy - it's a wonderful business to be in.

Most comics' first gig is either brilliant or horrific.

I think 'Saturday Night Live', starting in the 1970s, really gave women an outlet to be funny. A lot of those women went on to have film careers, from Kristen Wiig now to Tina Fey and Gilda Radner.

I do have a lot of female friends who are stand-ups and also women who are actresses and also happen to have an act.

Comedy does offer an avenue to television and film careers for untelegenic people that great drama does not.

People tend to feel that if you're a comedian, you can't act.

I started on 'Saturday Night Live' the same time Conan started on Late Night. We just had a relationship because I would be upstairs in the studio and whenever he couldn't get a guest - which was often back then since he was just starting out - he would just call me down to be a guest.

Every city you go to has television and radio talk shows that are dying to give young comics a showcase. They all want to be able to say that so-and-so started here, got his first break on this show.

I think it is a bit harder for women starting in comedy.

Black people who want to do comedy go into standup, where our heroes opened a lot of doors. Improv doesn't have a ton of heroes that you can look to.

There are so few jobs for comedians on networks, that taxi TV and elevator TV and all this stuff are what I and every other comedian now are gunning for.

Doing a comedy is a bit different for girls.

Some people are just really goofy kind of guitar acts, and they go out and do these colleges and start making a fortune pretty early on. And other people - I know guys who are great comics, who've done the Letterman show many times, who still barely pay their bills.

I'm a student of Comedy Central. It launched careers: Wanda Sykes and even Kevin Hart. The first time I was introduced to him, he was on Comedy Central. It puts you on the map... Hollywood knows now.

I'm still working! I think of all the other comics that didn't get the light shined on them, just because it's just how fame works, and it's unfortunate. But there are so many great comics out there who are still working, and I still see them.

I loved smart and fearless comedians like Joan Rivers and Don Rickles. When they started out, what they did wasn't always socially accepted, but they both had careers that lasted over 50 years.