Everyone talks about the gags, but the most difficult thing is coming up with the stories. You have to learn to do that for sitcoms.

I'm like a goldfish. My memory is terrible.

I feel that I'm a stand-up comedian more than anything else, that's my job.

Comics were always the lowest rung on the ladder, front of cloth at the Royal Variety Performance. What that means is you're only there so Take That can set up behind the curtains.

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 grew up in the inner city. It wasn't a joke.

If you check your ego at the door when it comes to comedy, you've got a pretty good shot at making a great movie that you can commit yourself to, you can jump off the proverbial cliff with, and have a great time, and the audiences respond to that.

A joke's a very serious thing.