Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.
Woody Allen is a genius. His films are wonderful. He’s poetic, but he’s also a critic. He artfully steps back from a social setting and criticizes it without – I suspect – without letting himself be vulnerable to it.
I make people laugh for a living. I believe I can say objectively that what I do I do as well as anybody. Just say I’m one of the best broken field runners that ever lived. For 35 years I was a cult hero, an underground funny.
Comedy is serious – deadly serious. Never, never try to be funny! The actors must be serious. Only the situation must be absurd. Funny is in the writing, not in the performing. If the situation isn’t absurd, no amount of joke will help.
I also try to surround myself with people I love – make a family out of the company. So I tend to use the same people over and over. There’s a sort of Mel Brooks Repertory Company.
I like people with big talents and small neuroses – not always an easy combination to find. I’ve discovered that if the neurosis is too big, it diminishes the talent and you wind up working too hard for what you get.
I usually start with the words. The rhythm of the words gives me the rhythm of the song, and then I look for the musical highlights in it to carry it.
Be interested in everything. You don’t have to adore it. I don’t adore hip-hop, I don’t think it’s great music, but I’m interested, I listen. I watch a lot of new films, I see everything. I still read, I like books, whether they are old books, new books. I’m interested – you gotta stay interested!
No creative writer knows what is commercial and what isn’t. You just write from your heart, you write from the deepest, creative urges in you, and you write from your soul, and you just either get lucky or not.
Look, I really don’t want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you’re alive, you’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death. And therefore, as I see it, if you’re quiet, you’re not living. You’ve got to be noisy, or at least your thoughts should be noisy, colorful and lively.
Liebkind: Hitler. There was a painter. He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon. Two coats!
Bialystock: Leo – he who hesitates is poor!
Evil will always triumph because good is dumb” – Dark Helmet.
We laughed hard at real stories of tragedy. It had to be real and it had to be funny. Somebody getting hurt was wonderful. Later, as the 2000 Year Old Man with Carl Reiner I explained the difference between comedy and tragedy: If I cut my finger, that’s tragedy. Comedy is if you walk into an open sewer and die.
Even though it seems foolish and silly and crazy, comedy has the most to say about the human condition. Because if you can laugh, you can get by. You can survive when things are bad if you have a sense of humor.
If I cut my finger, that’s tragedy. Comedy is if you walk into an open sewer and die.
Laughter is a protest scream against death, against the long goodbye. It’s a defense against unhappiness and depression.
All I can say is that in my case comedy was keeping the joy of a happy childhood going strong.
I was at my best when I was backed into a corner. Like a cornered rat I had to somehow jump out of it. I would never surrender. Carl knew he would never get the same answer twice, and I loved to surprise him. Carl: Who is the favorite of all your girlfriends of all time? Mel: Shirley. Carl: What was so special about Shirley? Mel: Her friend Leila. Carl hit the floor.
I always thought a rich lie is better than a poor truth:.
Comedy made me friends, big friends to protect me from bullies. I made them laugh, and you don’t hit the kid that makes you laugh.