Stand Up Comedy Quotes - Page 3

• I better start doing stand up comedy in Spanish before every comedian in Mexico translates my jokes.

  Felipe Esparza

  Comedian, Mexico, Comedy

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• The earliest stand-up comedy I was aware of was Bill Cosby. I watched Saturday Night Live as soon as I was aware of it, and Monty Python used to be on PBS at weird hours, so I used to try to watch that. And I loved George Carlin on SNL, that was the first stand-up I ever really remember seeing on TV. And then Steve Martin. I guess I was in fifth or sixth grade when Steve Martin showed up, and he was instantly my idol. And Richard Pryor around the same time too, I sort of became aware of him, though I don't remember the first time I saw him.

  Louis C. K.

  Night, Idols, Pbs

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• It's exciting to be able to do something completely independent without anybody challenging it, and it's a big part of the reason why I'm enjoying doing the stand-up comedy, is I'm able to go out and interact with people one-on-one after the show. It's very punk-rock.

  Tom Green

  Independent, Rocks, People

  Source: www.avclub.com

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• Stand-up comedy in the end, unlike the rest of the entertainment industry, is a meritocracy. There's a certain level of undeniability you can work toward.

  Jim Gaffigan

  Levels, Entertainment, Comedy

  Source: www.avclub.com

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• I made a career goals list for 2017 and it's so funny. I have low self-esteem or something, so I put both wishes and goals. The goals were things I'm going to do anyway, because I have no choice because my job is to do stand-up comedy so I have to tour and I have to write stuff. The wishes were all things that could be goals. As in, I bet people who have achieved these things called them goals at one point. But I haven't looked at that piece of paper since.

  Jen Kirkman

  Jobs, Self Esteem, Writing

  Source: www.avclub.com

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• About a year after I moved to Los Angeles, I decided I wanted to be a joke writer for a late night talk show. So I met with a late night joke writer and he told me that I should start by doing stand-up comedy, because that would really hone my sense of humor and joke writing ability. Eventually I took a stand-up class and a few months later I had a seven-minute act.

  Anthony Jeselnik

  Writing, Night, Years

  "Comedian Anthony Jeselnik: “He’s The Best!” -Everybody". Interview With David Dean, www.serialoptimist.com. November 29, 2010.

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• There's so much you can achieve with a launching pad like stand-up comedy. You can literally go from acting to hosting to being a personality.

  Kevin Hart

  Personality, Acting, Pads

  "The "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain" Interview". Interview with Kam Williams, pittsburghurbanmedia.com.

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• I was a screenwriting major in college, and really wanted to do that after I graduated, but there are no job listings for that, as we all know. I had many classmates that made it in the business, but stand-up comedy was my way in, and my first film 'Sleepwalk with Me' was based on those autobiographical experiences.

  Mike Birbiglia

  Jobs, College, Way

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

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• I thought if I could do stand-up comedy well enough, I could parlay it back into films - like Charlie Chaplin and Woody Allen did. They merged principles of comedy and drama together, and that's what my first film really was, a stab at that kind of comedy.

  Mike Birbiglia

  Drama, Together, Principles

  Source: www.hollywoodchicago.com

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• I've been to Canada, and they love - oh my God, they love their stand-up comedy in Canada. I've been overseas to do shows for the troops all over the Middle East, and I actually went to China recently and did shows, not for the troops, but just for local Chinese people, and Americans that have moved there, and things like that. It was fantastic. They got it. They're way smarter than we give them credit for.

  Brad Williams

  People, Giving, Chinese

  "Interview with comedian Brad Williams". Interview with Michelle Tompkins, thecelebritycafe.com. September 1, 2016.

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• You're on stage and because stand-up comedy is one of the few meritocracies in the entertainment industry, there's some kind of - at least for me, there's some kind of idea of control.

  Jim Gaffigan

  Ideas, Entertainment, Comedy

  "Comic Jim Gaffigan On Stand-Up, Faith And Opening For The Pope". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. September 24, 2015.

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• Last night I didn't realize I said "abortion" in my stand up comedy act instead of "circumcision." No wonder I got blank stares at "rabbi got faint at sight of blood."

  Ben Rosenfield

  Funny, Night, Sight

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• I mean, there's an aspect I've always said that is - it's, you know, it's not poetry but it's kind of like it. It's not song lyrics but it's kind of like song lyrics. It's not rap but it's kind of like rap. And it's not stand-up comedy but it is kind of like stand-up comedy. It's all those things together.

  Quentin Tarantino

  Song, Rap, Mean

  "Quentin Tarantino: 'Inglourious' Child Of Cinema". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. December 28, 2009.

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• I missed the whole thing [X-files series]. And I know it went for nine seasons, and I think I saw bits and pieces of it in maybe season seven or eight or something, and then was very busy doing whatever else, stand-up comedy and stuff throughout the world. Now I'm watching the show right from the beginning.

  Rhys Darby

  Thinking, Eight, Pieces

  Source: www.avclub.com

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• Stand-up can take you in so many different places, man. So many doors can be opened up from stand-up comedy, and the first one that was opened up for me was acting.

  Kevin Hart

  Men, Doors, Acting

  "Ice Cube and Kevin Hart pair up for a ride". Interview with Sonia Saraiya, www.avclub.com. January 17, 2014.

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• For me, the way I stay consistent is through stand-up comedy.

  Kevin Hart

  Way, Comedy, Consistent

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• I personally have no interest in being a star or a celebrity. I want my stand-up comedy and how I think as a comedian to be recognized and successful.

  Jim Gaffigan

  Stars, Successful, Thinking

  Source: www.vulture.com

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• People need to write articles and they need to have angles in them and I'm grateful when people are doing articles, but I always say there's not a great mystery to stand-up comedy.

  Jim Gaffigan

  Grateful, Writing, People

  "Jim Gaffigan Talks to Brian Regan About Hating Being Called a 'Clean' Comedian, Resisting Hollywood, and Playing Big Venues". Interview with Jim Gaffigan, www.vulture.com. September 23, 2015.

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• Stand-up comedy had an interesting effect on me in terms of how I started to think about constructing things, because I really loved the interstices, the linkages, or lack thereof.

  Mark Leyner

  Thinking, Interesting, Comedy

  Interview with Brian Joseph Davis, www.believermag.com.

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• I think a lot comes from having the experience of doing stand-up comedy. It allows you to figure out the psychology of an audience; what things are funny and not.

  Keenen Ivory Wayans

  Thinking, Funny Things, Ivory

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• You know, stand-up comedy is where I pretty much started out.

  Brion James

  Comedy, Knows

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• Stand-up comedy and poverty. Those were my two main endeavors.

  Dave Foley

  Two, Poverty, Comedy

  Interview with Kenneth Plume, www.ign.com. April 15, 2002.

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• Stand-up comedy is the most relaxing thing I do. If I want to unwind and de-stress, I go out and do stand-up, often several shows in a night.

  Judah Friedlander

  Stress, Night, Want

  "'30 Rock's' Judah Friedlander: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Me" by Jethro Nededog, www.hollywoodreporter.com. January 12, 2012.

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• Stand-up comedy is an art form and it dies unless you expand it.

  Sam Kinison

  Art, Comedy, Form

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• But sometimes it's good to dare yourself to do the unthinkable. And rather than stand in front of an audience with no clothes on, I decided to have a go at stand-up comedy.

  Evan Davis

  Clothes, Comedy, Sometimes

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