You ought to be able to wear your character like a Lycra bodysuit.
If there's one big thing you can take from Amy Poehler as a performer, it's committing, full on.
I really enjoy just being an actor. It's fun to be surprised by someone else's writing and to collaborate in creating a character and to leave all the hard decision-making to some other room full of suckers!
I think Comedy Central and probably all channels are on their way toward being apps accessible on whatever the Roku of the future is.
It's hard for me to shut off my writer brain completely.
I probably have the most fun on projects where there's some room to improvise.
I have a couple of ideas for shows that I would love to bring to fruition in some way at some point.
I like it when shows end intentionally, and Review, especially, has such a long form narrative that it feels like you need to give it a thoughtfully constructed finale.
There's a way of doing comedy that feels true to the person doing it, that doesn't feel like clown-work or silly faces and antics, but that feels real - like you're playing a real person who has real thoughts and feelings, and it's very grounded. I started to watch all comedy through that prism.
I prefer not to wink out from behind the character as myself, saying to the audience, "It's just me here, right, guys?" Peter Sellers is my model, and he didn't do that - he wore his character from head to toe.
I can't say the connection is one I've made consciously, but quitting drinking allowed me to be less selfish. My wife would definitely say that one of the major benefits of me quitting drinking is that I have more time and focus for other people.
In sketch comedy, wear your character like a hat, not a suit of armor.
There were times that I would be drunk and just leave a place by myself because I had an impulse and wasn't thinking through the repercussions on others.
It's fun to play someone who seems evil and to reveal their vulnerabilities.
It's great fun to memorize somebody's biography, and then liberally play with the real facts of their life and go a step beyond reality.
There wasn't a persona or an attitude that I could reliably write good stuff from.There wasn't a persona or an attitude that I could reliably write good stuff from.
I am, like anybody else, full of contradictions and personality traits, and I don't know which ones to speak from as a stand-up or what aspects of myself to ask an audience to identify with.
When you're in front of an audience, you know if it didn't work. I get very nervous and have a fear of failure that is much more profound than in the podcast world.
I write and rewrite and memorize, and then inject my performance with improvising and spontaneity, because if something feels too rehearsed, it's not going to be fun.
If anything, in the podcast world, I'm relieved that I don't have to dress like the character. I don't necessarily have to do all of the physicality that conveys the character, but do as much as I need to help me feel like the character.
When you're coming up with your philosophy and approach to performing comedy, you take special note of the things you disagree with as much as the things you agree with.
I have a troubled relationship with Hunter S. Thompson, not just because he kicked me out of a bar but also because it's become clear to me that he was not a good person.
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