It’s only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve.
I think that I feel an indignation when I don’t understand something.
Comedy always works best when it is mean-spirited.
I think that money spoils most things, once it becomes the primary motivating force.
Because, as we all know, it’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about.
Naturally, people’s image is of a performer, but the reality of it is the writing for me has always been the most important thing and the most rewarding thing.
It’s too difficult to start right from scratch and try and be funny out of the blue.
Don’t let anyone tell you what you ought to like...
Creativity is not an ability that you either have or do not have. It is, for example, and this may surprise you, absolutely unrelated to IQ, provided you’re intelligent above a certain minimal level.
Laughter is the best creative medicine.
I can certainly see that you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn’t know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret.
There’s nothing good on the television; let’s burn a witch. It must have been terribly exciting to live in those times.
The main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.
If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time to be considering alternative strategies.
The writing is the most important bit, and performing it is just closing the circle because I’m less likely to screw it up than anyone else.
Basil Fawlty was an easy character for me. For some reason, portraying a mean uptight incompetent bully comes naturally to me.
What have the Romans ever done for us?
My hovercraft is full of eels.
When you do comedy in front of an audience, they are the ones who tell you whether it’s funny or not and which bits are funny and which bits need to be fixed.
While you’re being creative, nothing is wrong. There’s no such thing as a mistake, and any drivel may lead to the breakthrough.