Comic Authenticity Quotes

With the stand-up comic on TV, whether it's Seinfeld or Cosby or Roseanne, more important than their knowledge of how to tell a joke is their knowledge of themselves, or the persona they've created as themselves. So that when you're in a room with writers, you can say, 'Guys, that's a funny line, but I wouldn't say it.'

And as a stand-up comic, that's the one thing I'm a little uncomfortable with. I'm not uncomfortable with sincerity in my regular life, but, like in terms of my product that I offer, I think that it's weird, because comics used to be way more sincere in the '80s.

The relationship between Cathy and Mom in the strip is the one relationship drawn from real life that I have proudly never even tried to disguise.

Robert Kirkman can't bear it when I wear flip-flops. He takes pictures of my flip-flops and keeps sending them to me, like, 'What are you doing? Rick Grimes is not a flip-flop kind of guy.'

There was something about that form of comedy that's just difficult. It never really felt like you could just fully commit to all the colors that you carry with you.

Whenever a young comic asks me for advice I only have two things to say. One is to try and do what you think is genuinely funny and the other is just do loads of gigs.

One of the best decisions we made on the 'Arrow' pilot was to have the Deathstroke mask. Within 30 seconds, you knew you were watching a DC comics show.

There's an audience that is paid to laugh at my jokes. I'm playing a character while I'm doing stand-up. Real stand-ups, man, they're playing themselves. I'd be far too terrified.

If a comic laughs at their own jokes, I don't like it. They shouldn't find it funny; they should seriously believe in this stupid thing they're saying.

I think I related more literally to the early 'Spider-Man' comics from Steve Ditko because it could be upfront and direct about the problems of being a kid. He captured being a teenager so beautifully.

If you look up the definition of stand-up comedy, it's funny on purpose. A little bit of pressure there. It's basically acting. You're telling stories and acting them out for people. The more you make it seem real, really a person doing it, then it seems to me the better it works.

You know, I think whatever a comic talks about onstage is all they talk about offstage.

It's not until you develop your own voice, your own persona onstage that you become your own comic, who you really are.

I just try to keep myself a traditionalist. I liked being an underground comic doing my thing. I want to maintain that. I just do.

Ditko isn't a direct influence, but I really admire his work and how his personality always comes through the drawing. There's a honest and quirky humanity to it, and you always feel the artist behind the comic. That's really rare.