Brett Gelman

A crazy action only works if there's a great reaction. ”

Talking is not action. Don't just look at what you say. Look at how you socialize. ”

I'm not someone who shies away from darkness being funny. I think that life is very dark at times, and there are things that are very funny about that. ”

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. ”

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. ”

One of the things I was taught was how you deal with language. It's important, very important in comedy. ”

I think comedy is incredibly discriminated against. It is one of the most enjoyed yet most condescended art forms in the world. It's the same thing with hip-hop. ”

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. ”

At the end of the day, stand-up comedy is like acting when the audience are the other characters that I'm acting with. ”

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. ”