Comedians Quotes

I thought they may have presumed too much knowledge of certain things for people who are not comedians. Like Montreal. A comic understands what it is and its importance, but someone else may not know about it.

It seems like when I first started, people got into comedy because they wanted to be good comedians.

I've been pitching a show of five female stand-up comedians through the generations, from Phyllis Diller to Amy Schumer, so when I got an e-mail asking me if I would participate in the Women in Comedy Festival, I was thrilled.

The only one that got through was Jimmy Walker, because he plays the gas station attendant. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, it's just that we were kind of purists at the time, and we didn't want any comedians.

Ever since I was a kid, I just loved those comedians on TV who would just have fun with the language.

My favorite comedians were Jimmy Durante, George Burns, senior citizens.

For the most part, comedians are pretty friendly with each other. They always say they badmouth each other, but most of the time, they're friends. We're the only ones that can really stand our type of humor.

Performers like Tommy Cooper, who are always getting things wrong, are much more endearing than comedians who are sassy and smart.

It seemed to me you could do anything in comics. So I started doing my thing, which is mainly influenced by novelists, stand-up comedians, that sort of thing.

I thought comedians had to have black on their faces or red beards.

Comedians don't laugh. They're too busy analyzing why it's funny or not.

The comedians all finished their acts with a song. They would get a certain amount of money from the song publishers and would use that money to pay the writers. None of them paid very much for their comedy material, but it all added up.

I know a lot about Jewish comedians.

Some comedians love their characters. I don't fall in love with mine. In fact, I get tired of them very fast. You have to be willing to throw it all away.

It's also that comedians don't have the kind of narcissism that actors have. They're writers who perform their own material. It's more interesting. And they're sexy because they risk more. Stand-up comedians risk more than anyone.

I love comedians. They're my community.

It was a decision to work clean. I just prefer to work that way. I have no problem with comedians who don't work that way. There was a temptation in the early '70s to reconsider. I decided against it.

Politics is developing more comedians than radio ever did.

Let's face it, the great comedians now that are handicapped in the looks department are tremendous writers.

I would love to do a serious period drama. Oh, absolutely. I mean, you'll find most comedians want to do more serious stuff, most musicians want to be comedians, and most serious actors want to be musicians.

That's why modern corporate movie making has become so laborious that comedians are kind of kicked out by 50.

Comedians tend to find a comfort zone and stay there and do lamer versions of themselves for the rest of their career.

They don't make you pay for the humor. It's up and down, but they're trying to give you as many laughs as possible in 2 minutes. They are the most honest comedians ever.

Normally, I name my characters after famous comedians.

I love mixing with comedians when I'm working with them, but when I'm not I don't feel the need to hang around with them.

Comedians walk out, get a feel for the crowd. If it's not going good, we change directions. If we got to drag your momma into this thing, we will. Whatever we got to do.

I mean, all alternative comedy is are comedians that have being doing it for so long, for so long, that they were relaxed enough to start becoming personal on stage.

Comedians are never really on vacation because you're always at attention... that antenna is always out there.

The optimum frequency with which comedians should do a series is every year. I do one every three years. My audience is literally dying off.

If you go down as a comedian's comedian, that's basically meaning other comedians are hopefully feeling that you're doing okay.