Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Comedy is all about the character. When you're too focused on the gags, the character suffers, and you don't get the laugh. Comedy has to come from the character.
I think that liberal straight white men really need to stop patting themselves on the back for what they think they think and actually take a look at their actions.
I think that's something that people don't realize enough about when they get into comedy - it's not just about sitting back and observing and saying something funny.
I would say that is the beauty of Adult Swim is that they're always pushing forward from what they've done in the past, and they're always just trying different styles.
'The Producers' is my favorite movie, and my favorite performances of all time are Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and I feel like I strive to be a combination of those two guys.
I've definitely seen people get angry or really uncomfortable with stuff I've made in the past. And my stand-up, if you could call what I do stand-up, is quite aggressive, too.
I always at least try to come from some sort of human place no matter how ridiculous the character is. That's really awesome. That is more the work that I'm leaning towards doing.
I think that all the Mel Brooks' company of actors is just tremendous. It was a crazy group of genius people. All of them taught me what kind of actor I should be and what was funny.
A lot of times, comedic actors are discriminated against. People just assume they can't do something other than what they do, rather than thinking, 'Oh, wait - doing what they do normally is really hard.'
I've definitely had the long stretches of time in my personal life where I've felt an intense loneliness and a desperation to feel something real and to have something that truly meant something in my life.
I'm an actor, and I want to play flawed characters, and I'm a writer that wants to write flawed characters, trying to let something out and hoping people relate through that or have fun experiencing the story.
There are not many people that I respect more than rappers. I'm a huge fan of hip hop. It's incredible, one of the most influential things to me. It takes real genius to be able to do well. It's a very deep art form.
I think the thing that really started setting my career on the course that it's on is when I did '1000 Cats' on 'Funny or Die Presents' on HBO. That's what I feel like kind of got me a little bit more into the system.
I think it's good news that cable television is so, so supportive of the Louis C.K.s, the Lena Dunhams, the Matthew Weiners, and the Vince Gilligans. There's just so many people fearlessly making their stuff, you know?
Woody Allen - nobody has been a better joke teller than him - and even in his great films, it's always coming out of the character. If you don't have that, jokes are just empty and I think that people rely too much on jokes.
Dinner is often a very celebratory environment, a very safe place, a time to reflect and let the day go and enjoy good food and good wine. It's a very peaceful moment during the day. A great dinner can change your day around.
I have Janicza solely to thank for my growth as an actor because she saw in me something that other people just weren't seeing, and she knew that I could go beyond the normal, funny 'make-em-ups' that I was doing on an improv stage.
I've definitely had my hard partying moments. I've definitely had the long stretches of time in my personal life where I've felt an intense loneliness and a desperation to feel something real and to have something that truly meant something in my life.
I love taking on roles that other people have written for me just as much as I take on writing - just not as much of a, 'Oh, that guy.' I want people to start saying, 'Oh, Brett Gelman's new piece is coming out. That's a Brett Gelman movie. That's a a Brett Gelman show.'
We spend so much of our lives doing math problems on how to feel good. It's such a waste of time. You're going to feel how you feel. It's hard to just set up a way that you're going to live your life that is going to be just endlessly happy and healthy. That's impossible.
Even if somebody is maybe a little less qualified, you can bring them in, you can teach them, and it will also make your work better because you'll have different perspectives. Even if somebody is less talented, they're coming at it from a completely different perspective, and that helps your work.
Every white liberal straight man needs to take action and work at unifying all peoples of our sides and stop making women and people of color and the LGBT community fight it out themselves and just pat them on the back. We have to take active roles in supporting them, defending them, and hiring them.
I think some people watch 'Raging Bull,' or they watch 'The Piano Teacher,' and I think they're more, maybe, able to process an antihero in a dramatic context, where people more want comedy to take care of them. But that's not really taking care of people. That's just providing escape, which sometimes is necessary.
As someone who is on the more liberal side of things, I personally think this side needs to be a little less open. I know that's part of what it means to be on the more liberal side of things, but that trait can no longer really be a part of our makeup. The simple reason for this is that the opposing side uses our openness to their full advantage.