Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview

Brian Hiatt: What ever happened to your signature laugh, by the way?

Eddie Murphy: I don't laugh like that anymore, somehow it doesn't come out. It's weird to change something that's as natural as that. But it started out as a real laugh, then it turned into people laughing because they thought my laugh was funny, and then there were a couple of times where I laughed because I knew it would make people laugh. Then it got weird. People came up to me and said, "Do that laugh," or if you laugh, someone turns around and goes, "Eddie?" I just stopped doing it.

BH: Woody Allen has that line "Rather than live on in the hearts and minds of my fellow man, I'd prefer to live on in my apartment." Is it any consolation that some of your work will live on after you die? 

EM: [Laughs] I love Woody Allen. Is it any consolation? This whole period of documenting an artist's work, movies, records, all this shit, it's 100 years old, if it's that. It's brand-new. Beethoven and those fuckers couldn't even listen to their shit, do you know how hard it was to find a mother­fucker with a violin that worked back then? And his stuff went through the ages. Technology has it to where they gonna play this stuff forever. But the reality is, all this shit turns into dust, everything is temporary. No matter what you do, if you're around here long enough, you'll wind up dribbling and shitting on yourself, and you won't even remember the shit you did. I saw this documentary on Ronald Reagan, and it was like, "Whoa." They say he came into the house, and he had the toy White House that he had taken out of a fish tank, and he goes, "I don't know what I'm doing with this, but I know it has something to do with me." He had even forgotten he was the president. No matter what you do, that shit is all getting turned into gobbledy­gook. In 200 years, it's all dust, and in 300 years, it ain't nothing, and in 1,000 years, it's like you wasn't even fucking here. But if you're really, really lucky, if you really did something special, you could hang around a little longer.

Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview / by: Brian Hiatt / November 9, 2011

The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll

Nick Kroll: Yeah. My New Year’s resolution in 2002 was to do an open mic. I started doing stand-up for a bit, and then I focused more on the characters and then came back, but every time from 2002 on, getting onstage, holding a mic, and talking to an audience. Then going back and forth trying to do stand-up and then trying to do characters, then figuring out where the two sort of met together. But I think that’s fair. I hope to think that I’m on schedule with Patton Oswalt. [Hardwick later said he might have been quoting Brian Posehn, but we didn’t learn about that until after this interview was conducted, so Oswalt gets the credit throughout this interview. —ed.] But I do think it takes a while, and I still think we’re all hopefully always getting better.

Kyle Ryan: What were you doing at the time, when you had the New Year’s resolution to do an open-mic?

NK: I had graduated from school, and I was doing improv. I had taken workshops at Upright Citizens Brigade, taking classes and loving it, but also just jonesing to get onstage, because when you’re starting with improv, you’re practicing alone in your groups in weird Chinese sweatshops in the Garment District, but not getting a ton of time onstage. That’s what sort of propelled me to try and do an open mic.

The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll / by Kyle Ryan / January 28, 2011

The A.V. Club Blog: Patton Oswalt Responds

As far as I'm concerned, I sold out when I took that free plate of buffalo wings at Rumors Nightclub near Dulles Airport in the summer of 1989, at my first paid stand-up gig ($50 – I got the buffalo wings for hosting a belching contest afterwards). Ever since then, the only criteria for my career path is, "How entertaining will this be for me, and how much money can I get?" Getting to work with Brad Bird at Pixar met both those criteria perfectly. But spending a month and a half in Vancouver, watching Wesley Snipes have a slow-motion meltdown inBlade: Trinity, was equally valuable and enriching. Reputation, posterity and cool are traps. Shaky Kane said that, I think.

(*One night, at a dive bar after the day's shooting, the director, me, and Ron Perlman convinced a group of bikers – "convinced" = "bought them a lot of alcohol" – to show up with the director for the next day's filming after Wesley tried to strangle said director the day before).

Thus, my desire to work with Paul Greengrass, Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee is equal to my desire to work with Nicholas Cage, Tom Cruise and Carlos Mencia. I want the money, and the anecdotes.

The A.V. Club Blog: Patton Oswalt Responds / by Patton Oswalt / January 2, 2008

The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll

Kyle Ryan: When The A.V. Club spoke with you in 2009, you said it was easier for you to do character-based comedy instead of more straightforward stand-up, because you had a hard time knowing yourself for it.

Nick Kroll: Yeah, it was easier to know a character’s point of view than it was to figure out what your point of view was.

AVC: Has that lessened at all?

NK: I think so. Again, the Patton reference is a good one. In those seven years, what Patton is saying is that you get to know what your voice is. It’s almost easier to look at someone on a train and be like, “Oh, that guy, I bet, thinks this about Obama.” But then when you’re like, “Well, what do I think about Obama?” You’re like, “It’s complicated.” [Laughs.] I don’t have any jokes about Obama, but I realized that I have very strong opinions about dogs and cats. But I think that it takes a long time to figure out what your point of view is, and the character stuff, at least in my case, I found it easier to have a sense of what they would think about a specific topic. In the case of the special, making Bobby the security guard gave him a purpose for being onstage, and Fabrice, having such a clear point of view that he’s the star and that he deserves to be onstage, gave him a purpose. But I think that being on the road and doing more and more stand-up has allowed me to figure out… like, I don’t think I’ll ever be Bill Hicks, but I think I’m figuring out what my opinion is on things.

The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll / by Kyle Ryan / January 28, 2011

Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan

Joe Rogan: Some people get tired of the stress. I mean Jim and I were talking about how much we love stand-up and we would never quit doing it. But everybody's got a different psychological make-up. And for some people, the anxiety of performance is really intense. 

Jim Gaffigan: Its also, I think some of it is luck. I mean it is a real cruel business. 

JR: Yes.

JG: So, I mean, I was definitely an angry guy. A lot of people were successful before me and I was angry for a couple years.

JR: You were bitter?

JG: Yeah.

JR: Really? How did you get yourself out of that?

JG: Therapy. 

JR: Really?

JR: Yeah. You know. And just also I came to the conclusion that I was not doing stand-up... you know I wanted to be... I was happy for my friends' success but I felt like I was a failure. But like I had to come to the conclusion: What is success? And what success is, is like doing what you love and actually getting paid for it. And so then I adopted that attitude. And then things started going my way. 

Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan / aprox 50:56

My Take: What all those Jesus jokes tell us

How is it that a figure sacred to so many Americans has become the punch line of so many jokes? And why is it acceptable to poke fun at Jesus when other sacred figures are deemed off limits or there is hell to pay for mocking them?

The explanations are as numerous as the laughs.

Immigration shifts from the 1960s changed the ethnic and religious faces of the country so no tradition dominates today. The Christian right made such a moral spectacle of itself that it practically begged to be mocked. The emergence of “spiritual, but not religious” sensibilities left many Americans willing to denounce or laugh about traditional faith. The public rise of agnosticism, atheism, and secularism led to aggressive mockery as a form of persuasion.

If we pause to consider why we’re laughing, we find that the comic bits delve into some of our thorniest and unresolved problems. The jokes reveal much more about us than they do Jesus. They speak to how our society has changed, how it hasn’t, and what we’re obsessed with.

My Take: What all those Jesus jokes tell us / by Edward J. Blum / November 10th, 2012 / cnn.com

WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson

Big Jay Oakerson: Its interesting you said being influenced by (Dave) Attell... especially when you start off, when you're one of the new guys, there's always people like if you're doing well at all, or you're getting better, all of these people come out of the woodwork that hate you and they tell you why you're doing so good. And Keith Robinson gave me advice in the beginning. He goes, "Look, you don't have to worry about like writing your manifesto yet of what you're going to do." He goes, "Get your 15 minutes that works and work it. Like work it hard. And then when you're in everywhere and there's a confidence in you, you can do whatever you want."

I barely do material at comedy sets in the city. I just talk to the crowd and see where it goes. But um, and Kurt would tell me, "Jay's getting into the comic strip now in Stanton, NY." And they'd be like, "Yeah, doing the same 15 minutes." And he's like, "Yeah, but he's getting in. He's getting the work now." 

 And all that kind of hatred comes your way... That was the big dig on me, "He's just doing Attell. He only sounds like Attell." And maybe one of the reasons why I was able to kind of develop my own voice from it was my first instinct on that when they said that was to attack the problem. I went right to Dave Attell and I said, "I keep getting told that I sound exactly like you and I'm just doing what you do. Like, can you watch me and if you have any thing, please, I love to hear it." 

And he watched me at the (Comedy) Cellar and he was like, you know, in his own way, giggling, 'cause you could still smoke inside of there. I remember watching him intently because I admired him so much. He's like 'mnh, mnh, mnh' cause he's so nonchalant. And I went out into the hallway and I go, "Whadya think?" And maybe because he thought I did sound like him, and maybe because he thought I didn't, but he goes, "What are you doing two weekends from now? You wanna open for me at The Stress Factory?" And I went, "Yeah". And from that point I became like one of his staple guys that would go on the road with him. 

WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson / aprox 00:17:00

Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director

Neal Brennan: Its hard not to be defensive... I find it hard not to be defensive. I feel like I'm very predisposed to being written off. Meaning, I'm sensitive to it. Because I started in comedy as a doorman. 

Ari Shaffir: Yeah, me too. 

NB: Literally as a doorman at the Boston Comedy Club 20 years ago or 19 years ago. So there's a legion of guys... Maron, Jeff Ross, Greg Fitzsimmons...

AS: (Joey) Diaz told me that. Any city you start in... you will never be respected in that city.

NB: Yeah. 

AS: They'll always see you as an open miker.

NB: So I'm still a door guy. I've heard Jeff say when I was on stage, "How did he do this?" I was killing one night and he said, "How did he do this?" Like how did this happen? They mistake being quiet with being unfunny. Its like, no, I'm just quiet. So I'm predisposed that when people are like, "Yeah, I didn't know you did movies." I want to take their fuckin'... I want to bring them to set. And show them what the job is. Oh yeah, I can do fuckin' movies. I'm in charge of a hundred people. And they're all looking to me to figure out what to... but that's my own defenses. It's the Joe Pesci 'Go get your shine box' thing. 

AS: I feel like that when I do comedy sometimes. Let's say its my parent's friends. Like, "Oh, you do comedy? Here something you should do." I'm like, hey listen, this is actually something I've done for over a decade.

Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director / aprox 00:23:00

Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan: I had more time so I was working out more consistently and not eating horribly at three in the morning. And it entered my mind, its like, am I going to be too in-shape for some of these jokes? But that's just me being neurotic. 

JR: (laughing) Am I going to be too in shape for some of these jokes! That's hilarious. What a great escape clause: My act is so important I can't do sit-ups.

JG: I can't, you know, I work out but it might mess up that third chunk in the hour. 

JR: This is so stupid but I really believe this. I was getting into meditation and I was getting into yoga and a bunch of things when I was young. And when I first started getting into comedy, I thought about it and I said, you know what? Maybe I shouldn't do this 'cause maybe becoming more enlightened is probably bad for my act. 'Cause then I wouldn't be making fun of so many things or picking as many victims...

JG: Now that's a comedian thinking there, right?

JR: Especially Boston-style comedy is so mean, so attack-style. And I was thinking, man, if I become enlightened and I was all like peace and love, this would be terrible for my act. And I'm not going to stop being a comedian. 

JG: I wouldn't want to eat healthy, you know? I think I got another hour in me being fat.

Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan / aprox 50:56

Clever, How They Earn That Laugh

Most comics, when starting out, make so little working in New York that they are, in a sense, paying to perform. Some move up to well-known theaters and showcases, but they still might not draw much more than graduate students. Television offers a big payday, but it’s not the fortune that some imagine. Comedy Central routinely offers $15,000 for a half-hour special that can take a year or more to develop. Even as well-known comics get modest fees, relative unknowns can do very well — in the right field. Buzz Sutherland may not be a household name, but he pulled down $350,000 last year, with his largest source of income coming from the lucrative college circuit.

Earning a livable salary through comedy is not easy, but these working comics reveal the diversity of ways to make money. (Some salaries are approximate.) Of course money is not the only form of reward. Comedians perform because they love what they do. Or the prestige of a respected gig. Or simply to get better. As with any freelance job, their work requires resourcefulness, determination and creativity. Being funny is essential, but a few accounting skills don’t hurt.

Clever, How They Earn That Laugh / By Jason Zinoman and Megan Angelo / Published: November 2, 2012 / The New York Times

WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson

Big Jay Oakerson: You know, I always say that as a comedian your innocence is so lost... that's the shittiest part about being a comedian is that your innocence in comedy is lost. It's hard to just sit back and laugh at a...

Marc Maron: Oh yeah, I talked about that last night on stage. Where its like you're so jaded the only time you can enjoy a show is when someone is struggling.

BJO: Yeah, you wanna go see someone have a rough time so that they can dig out of it in some way. You really have no interest in going in there and like uh... as much as I like (Dave) Attell I don't go in the room for Attell every time anymore because I just know he's going to do good. But when they go, "This guy turned on Attell and he's down there doing it." Now I want to see what he does. 'Cause that's when I think the magic kicks in. 

WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson / aprox 00:17:00

Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director

Neal Brennan: I don't know if I've ever explained the entire process of a movie. So I did... I created the Chappelle Show with Dave (Chappelle) and basically its like being a good  high school basketball player. You just get recruited by...

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Neal Brennan: So when you do a good thing on TV or you make a short you get on these approved lists.

Ari Shaffir: If you as a screenwriter…

NB: Generally its as a director. There’s a whole ‘nother screenwriting list. That’s a whole ‘nother list.

AS: Did you write ‘The Goods’?

NB: No. I was on the list during ‘Half Baked’ and subsequent years. I’m probably still on some list. I’m just so far down. ‘Cause you have to renew it every year. You have to write a good script every year and a half and I just haven’t written…

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NB: So they send me… They’ve sent me every comedy script for the last 7 years. Every ‘You, Me & Dupree’, the ice skating movie (Blades of Glory), ‘The Brothers Solomon’, fuckin’ ‘Horrible Bosses’. Literally, "Would you be interested in directing this?"

AS: Superbad…

NB: Superbad they sent me. I just never read it.

AS: Who directed the ice skating movie?

NB: They guys who directed the Geico commercials with the caveman.

AS: Wow.

NB: They were hot from that. So then they got… the ice skating movie I was up for. They really wanted me for that.

AS: So they just gauge your interest and then ‘we’ll talk’?

NB: Yeah, but when we talk… I’m pitching.

AS: You’re pitching yourself?

NB: Yeah. As how I would… what I would make the movie look like.

AS: Who do you talk to?

NB: You talk to the studio head and the producer. 

Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director / aprox 00:34:00

Joe Rogan Experience #193

Jim Gaffigan: I think in New York it was important to appear tough when I was starting out.

Joe Rogan: Really?

JG: Not having emotion attached. You see that in Louis… Louis has it. And Attell has it. And Kevin Brennan has it. And uh, Maron, I mean even though Maron is such an open book he has a little bit… Like being unphased by… at least on stage. Does that make sense?

JR: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

JG: You have it too.

JR: You have to really be into what you’re thinking about. And if you’re into what you’re thinking about then you’re not going to be really phased if people are into it or not.

Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan / aprox 50:56

Jim Carrey: Bare Facts and Shocking Revelations

(Jim) Carrey has publicly complained that we would come home from walking "on the moon" as Ace and be unable to handle the old domesticity. Melissa (Womer) recalls saying: "'You must come home and put your feet back on the ground and take your garbage out like everyone else, or I can't be married to you.' And basically, he called my bluff."

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If those weeks on the first Ace set were terrifying, Jim Carrey is past brooding over it. "I don't think there can be a creative person on earth who doesn't have extreme highs and lows," he says, "Otherwise, you're just boring. Some of the best work I've done has come out of those lows. There will be times in my life again, I'm sure, when I get in a dark spot. That's just the way I am."

Jim Carrey: Bare Facts and Shocking Revelations / Rolling Stone / July 13-27, 1995 / page 124

Casa de Haha Podcast: John Wynn

John Wynn: You can’t copyright ideas. You know what I mean? So a lot of… you have to create it. You have to create the idea. You can’t just have the idea. And its like comedy too, man. You can have the premise but until you really come up with a great punchline for it… the idea can’t be copyrighted.

Daniel Reskin: Its open…

JW: Yeah, its open.

DR: You haven’t breathed life into it.

JW: Yeah. But its when you have the punchline… that’s your take on it, I think. That’s the way I look at comedy a little bit. The premise is everything. The premise, the topic of whatever you’re talking about, is everything that people experience. But its your point of view that makes it funny. Its your perspective… and that’s the punchline. So I get very frustrated when I see a lot of new comics essentially doing someone else’s punchline because its someone else’s perspective… its someone else’s point of view.

Casa de Haha Podcast: John Wynn / Aprox. 00:31:30