I was seeking comic originality, and fame fell on me as a byproduct.
The banjo is truly an American instrument, and it captures something about our past.
Performing music is a way to do comedy, but without the obligation to do a solid hour, hour and half of a standup. I could intersperse it with music, so it became a really good format for me.
Nothing I do is done by popular demand.
I’m enamored with the art world. Anytime you look at anything that’s considered artistic, there’s a commercial world around it: the ballet, opera, any kind of music. It can’t exist without it.
There’s no better way to learn something than to learn it in front of an audience. Your terror drives you.
The real joy is in constructing a sentence. But I see myself as an actor first because writing is what you do when you are ready and acting is what you do when someone else is ready.
Whether I’m involved in creating something or not, it’s a personal issue of do I respect it. But you can only know that five or ten years later.
You know what your problem is, it’s that you haven’t seen enough movies – all of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.
I was very interested in vaudeville. It was the only sort of discipline that was a five-minute act on stage, which is what I really enjoyed and saw myself doing. And I bought books on it.
The overhead lights reflect in the glass countertop and mingle in the gray and black of the gloves, resulting in a mother-of-pearl swirl that sometimes sends Mirabelle into a shallow hypnotic dream.
Lacy was just as happy alone as with company. When she was alone, she was potential; with others she was realized.
Romance takes place when you first fall in love. It stirs all emotions and you can manipulate and be manipulated.
Kids like my act because I’m wearing nose glasses. Adults like my act because there’s a guy who thinks putting on nose glasses is funny.
There’s someone out there for everyone-even if you need a pickaxe, a compass, and night goggles to find them.
I have no fear, no fear at all. I wake up, and I have no fear. I go to bed without fear. Fear, fear, fear, fear. Yes, ‘fear’ is a word that is not in my vocabulary.
Comedy makes you humble. Because there are so many opportunities to miss, and strike out.
I think communication is so firsbern.
Teaching is a form of show business.
A remarkable memoir that’s packed with anecdotes, advice and humor, all while maintaining a high level of dignity and self-awareness.