My father was always a straight-up funny guy. He was silly. He was my inspiration.
My parents would read those books to me as well but they used to make me starving when I was a kid because they were always eating ham sandwiches with the crusts off and drinking ginger beer.
Well, I like how people talk. I like language. You know, Linda Richman spoke in Yiddish.
I loved the logistical reality of a guy who wants to take over the world, yet who has a family too.
And I love Mel Brooks. My Dad loved his movies, too, they're awesome, the kind of thing that if you're in for ten minutes, you're in for two hours.
I love making stuff. There's a joy in having the first molecule of an idea, then testing it in front of audiences at secret shows that people only know about the day before. I videotape those, study them, enjoy being in the character and figuring out the movie.
I write everything I do. On the average, it takes you about sixty months from the first molecule of an idea to it being in front of an audience. I'm actually somebody that creates their own stuff.
There's a joy in having the molecule of an idea, then testing it in front of audiences at secret shows that people only know about the night before.
Dad loved movies, and I grew up with British comedy. My ultimate favourite is Peter Sellers.
I was well indulged as a child by my relentlessly self-improving, working class parents to express myself.
I think that Scottish people, like Canadians, are often misunderstood and what I like about my Scottish friends and relatives is how quickly it can go from love to anger. It's a great dynamic.
I had done Shrek as a Canadian and I'm very proud to be Canadian, but I knew I could give more to it.
So they ended up turning this little twenty eight page book into the movie. And it's all about this stinky, smelly ogre who doesn't care what anybody thinks of him.
The message of the movie is to accept who you are and not to succumb to the pressure of what the media tells you is beautiful and what you should be looking like.
I play the ukulele. I have a great group of friends, and we do things like have battles of the bands - me sometimes on ukulele, but mostly on drums.
