| # | Quote |
|---|
| 1 | [on producing an indie movie] It's humbling. You get twenty days to shoot the thing and you think you're ready, and then of course reality hits you. It's like 'They're having trouble parking the truck; there's a helicopter up there so we have to wait for sound'. You can just see the minutes ticking away and we're losing light. It's all those things that you really don't have to worry about with stand-up. Show up to the gig, tell the jokes for an hour then you're done. |
| 2 | [on performing in stand-up comedy] I have to trust that I will come up with something good each day, whether it's a drawing or a joke or a couple of jokes, or an idea for a story, or a paragraph. You keep pushing and try to be disciplined and organized, so I find stuff and say, 'There's an idea I think that will will work in a book two years fro now'. Then, when the deadline comes closer, I can sift through the pile and know what I've got to work with. |
| 3 | I wrapped my Christmas presents early this year, but I used the wrong paper. See, the paper I used said 'Happy Birthday' on it. I didn't want to waste it so I just wrote 'Jesus' on it. |
| 4 | I think that when you get dressed in the morning, sometimes you're really making a decision about your behavior for the day. Like if you put on flipflops, you're saying: 'Hope I don't get chased today.' 'Be nice to people in sneakers.' |
| 5 | I love women, but I feel like you can't trust some of them. Some of them are liars, you know? Like I was in the park and I met this girl, she was cute and she had a dog. And I went up to her, we started talking. She told me her dog's name. Then I said, 'Does he bite?' She said, 'No.' And I said, 'Oh yeah? Then how does he eat?' Liar. |
| 6 | I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that's 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says 'go outside.' |
| 7 | My favorite fruit is grapes. Because with grapes, you always get another chance. 'Cause, you know, if you have a crappy apple or a peach, you're stuck with that crappy piece of fruit. But if you have a crappy grape, no problem - just move on to the next. 'Grapes: The Fruit of Hope.' |
| 8 | I like video games, but they are very violent. I want to create a video game in which you have to help all the characters who have died in the other games. 'Hey, man, what are you playing?' 'Super Busy Hospital. Could you leave me alone? I'm performing surgery! This guy got shot in the head, like, 27 times!' |
| 9 | I was walking in the park and this guy waved at me. Then he said, 'I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else.' I said, 'I am.' |
| 10 | If you can't tell a spoon from a ladle, then you're fat! |
| 11 | I like women, but you can't always trust them. Some of them are big liars, like this one woman I met who had a dog. I asked her her dog's name and then I asked, 'Does he bite?' and she said, 'No.' And I said, 'So how does he eat?' Liar! |
| 12 | Whenever I'm on my computer, I don't type 'lol'. I type 'lqtm' - laugh quietly to myself. It's more honest. |
| 13 | The digital camera is a great invention because it allows us to reminisce. Instantly. |
| 14 | I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I am good at everything. |
| 15 | If I ever saw an amputee getting hanged, I'd probably just start calling out letters. |
| 16 | Saying, 'I'm sorry' is the same as saying, ' I apologize.' Except at a funeral. |
| 17 | I noticed that there are no B batteries. I think that's to avoid confusion, cause if there were you wouldn't know if someone was stuttering. 'Yes, hello I'd like some b-batteries.' 'What kind?' 'B-batteries.' 'What kind?' 'B-batteries!' and D-batteries that's hard for foreigners. 'Yes, I would like de batteries.' |
| 18 | The bird, the bee, the running child are all the same to the sliding glass door. |
| 19 | I keep a lighter in my back pocket all the time. I'm not a smoker, I just really like certain songs. |
| 20 | When you have a fat friend there are no see-saws, only catapults. |
| 21 | A drunk driver is very dangerous. So is a drunk backseat driver if he's persuasive. |
| 22 | A lot of people like lollipops. I don't like lollipops. To me, a lollipop is hard candy plus garbage. I don't need a handle. Just give me the candy. |
| 23 | I saw a transvestite wearing a T-shirt that said 'Guess'. |
| 24 | If I have to move up in a building, I choose the elevator over the escalator. Because one time I was riding the escalator and I tripped. I fell down the stairs for an hour and a half. |
| 25 | A lot of people don't like bumper stickers. I don't mind bumper stickers. To me a bumper sticker is a shortcut. It's like a little sign that says 'Hey, let's never hang out.' |
| 26 | My plumbing is all screwed up. Because it turns out, I do not own a garbage disposal. |
| 27 | I went into a clothing store, and the lady asked me what size I was. I said, 'Actual'. I'm not to scale. |
| 28 | Employee of the month is a good example of how somebody can be both a winner and a loser at the same time. |
| 29 | I like to use 'I Can't Believe it's Not Butter' on my toast in the morning, because sometimes when I eat breakfast, I like to be incredulous. How was breakfast? Unbelievable. |
| 30 | Swimming is a confusing sport, because sometimes you do it for fun, and other times you do it to not die. And when I'm swimming, sometimes I'm not sure which one it is. |
| 31 | The worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades. |
| 32 | I like fruit baskets because it gives you the ability to mail someone a piece of fruit without appearing insane. Like, if someone just mailed you an apple you'd be like, 'huh? What the hell is this?' But if it's in a fruit basket you're like, 'this is nice!' |
| 33 | I didn't do improv in college, I never performed, I didn't do theater either. I was in student government, I was a history major. |
| 34 | I think it's interesting that 'cologne' rhymes with 'alone.' |
| 35 | The shortest feedback loop I can think of is doing improvisation in front of an audience. |
| 36 | And as far as actors go, Peter Sellers is my all-time favorite. |
| 37 | And of course I didn't make any money from stand up for years, so I had temp jobs. That was the way I made money. |
| 38 | I'm always excited to try something I haven't done. |
| 39 | I wonder what the most intelligent thing ever said was that started with the word 'dude.' 'Dude, these are isotopes.' 'Dude, we removed your kidney. You're gonna be fine.' 'Dude, I am so stoked to win this Nobel Prize. I just wanna thank Kevin, and Turtle, and all my homies.' |
| 40 | And my only rule being if when I wake in the morning I'm looking forward to the things that I have to do that day, then I'm on the right track. |
| 41 | Another term for balloon is bad breath holder. |
| 42 | Specifically in stand-up, I love jokes. I love short, structured ideas and a punchline. |
| 43 | But I found that disappointing people is a good thing, because disapproval is freedom. |
| 44 | I am completely attracted to the idea of simplicity, or at least removing things that seem unnecessary when trying to get an idea out there. |
| 45 | I have fun acting, and I want to do more of it, and I want to direct my own movie. |
| 46 | I just know keeping track of what I'm doing and where I'm going is important to me. |
| 47 | I know about Woodstock probably as much as your average person who is over 30, where I'd know Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Grateful Dead. |
| 48 | I love Steven Wright. |
| 49 | I never set out to do a sketch show. |
| 50 | I started being a comedy fan when I was, I'm going to guess, like 5 or 6 years old. |
| 51 | I tend to avoid televisions, politics, and places with velvet ropes. |
| 52 | I think a lot of stuff I find funny is from day dreaming. |
| 53 | I think it would be cool if you were writing a ransom note on your computer, if the paper clip popped up and said, 'Looks like you're writing a ransom note. Need help? You should use more forceful language, you'll get more money.' |
| 54 | There's a store in my neighborhood called Futon World. I like that name, 'Futon World.' Makes me think of a magical place that gets less and less comfortable over time. |
| 55 | It's very easy to go through your whole life and never really get anything done or have any real meaningful interactions or relationships. All of a sudden you're dead, and I'm going to say that's got to be a letdown. |
| 56 | Stand-up is like a row boat: it's fun and romantic when you're choosing to do it. But if you have no other choice than to be in a row boat it's not as enjoyable; that's survival. |
| 57 | People and squirrels are very different. Most people will not argue that. But I find that there is one situation in which they're very similar. And that is: when I am driving towards them in my car. Then they're kind of hard to tell apart - especially if the human is kind of hairy. |
| 58 | I think since I was kid people told me that they thought I was funny. |
| 59 | I think, at first blush, the '60s always enticed me. There's something about the '60s, it's not hard to like it. |
| 60 | I was student council president in high school, and even in law school, I was vice-president of the student bar association. |
| 61 | I went to law school. I found it interesting for the first three weeks. |
| 62 | Let no man's deathbed be a futon. |
| 63 | Nothing wise was ever printed upon an apron. |
| 64 | People only have so much attention. |
| 65 | To me, comedy is a game. |
| 66 | Usually, I walk around and think about things. When I come across a thought that makes me laugh, I write it down. |
| 67 | When I was a kid, I always wanted to live in California because I liked skateboarding. |
| 68 | But long story short, I didn't start doing stand-up because I wanted to have a TV show or be an actor or even wanted to write sketch comedy. I got into stand-up because I love stand-up. |
| 69 | But what I was going to say was, I just figured I'm going to go boldly in the direction of my dreams, say it as Thoreau would say, and just see where it takes me. |
| 70 | For example, I was a White House intern the summer before I dropped out of law school. Everybody knew about it. I'd come home and go to church and everybody would say, 'Oh, my God. Demetri, you're working at the White House.' |
| 71 | I love catching a snapshot of something that is just about to happen. Or maybe something that just happened, you know. But I like especially that just-before kind of feeling. |
| 72 | I thought I would, you know, go to college, get to law school, finish, and then get a job and work as a lawyer, but that proved to be not a good fit for me. |
| 73 | Okay, so, when I was a kid, definitely the drawings and the illustration. Then I stopped in sixth grade or so. And then I started again when I was in my twenties. I really didn't progress since then, so the way I draw is the way I drew in sixth grade. |
| 74 | Stand up is really fun because if I think of a joke or a funny idea, then I can just go and tell some people and if they laugh, they laugh right away. |
| 75 | The comedians I liked were Bill Cosby and Steven Wright, like just always as a comedic actor. I always liked Gary Larson, who's really funny for a cartoonist, obviously. |
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