I even get tired performing standup, which is normally a low-impact exercise in futility but looks hard the way I do it. That's why I take a lot of breaks, often stopping in the middle of a joke to catch my breath, or blame the crowd for not laughing before the punchline.

If everything was good, maybe I wouldn't have a career. I wouldn't have anything to make fun of.

I feel completely fearless when I'm on stage. And also totally fearful. There's the fear that I'm not making a very smart career move sometimes, but there's the stronger belief that these things need to be said.

My goal isn't to wake up in the morning and hurt people's feelings.

I'm not someone to joke around with.

I just love comedy, and I honestly believe that laughter transcends everything. If everyone laughed together, laughed more, it would unite the world in peace.

I wanted to write something that would be a comedy in the sense of making people feel happier when they finish it than they did when began it.

It may sound surprising, but a joke and a crime novel work in very much the same way. The comedian/writer leads their audience along the garden path. The audience know what's coming, or at least they think they do until they get hit from a direction they were not expecting.