As a kid, I saw a lot of scary movies, but they were mixed with comedy, like 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.'
We didn't know anything about comedy duos - Abbot and Costello, Martin and Lewis - we didn't know anything about that. Kim Fields showed us a tape of Martin and Lewis and their old shows and they come through the curtain so we started doing research on them.
There's a fraudulent root element of comedy in that we say things night after night as though they are rolling effortlessly from the brain and off the tongue, when in fact they are crafted over weeks and months and years.
My main goal is to connect with the crowd. I leave room for improv. Whatever happens, happens. When I bring my band with me, it turns into the Craig Robinson comedy dance party.
I've made a lot of crazy comedy videos and said a lot of crazy things. If it's too offensive, I apologize and move on, but I do comedy.
In my comedy, I'm not always trying to say something, but when I'm playing a creepy dude, you're laughing because you know that creepy dude. You've heard that dude say something awful, and I'm just putting a little creative spin on it.
I've a belt that I have worn for every single stand-up comedy session since I was 19. I fear if I ever lose it, my career would crumble. That's my one OCD.
Comedy is not easy to begin with, but comedy that also dances with drama - it's so hard.
Growing up, I was certainly drawn to comedy, but my goal was just to be as well-rounded an actor as possible. I really liked Daniel Day-Lewis, and I thought, 'Oh, he's a good guy to try and emulate.'
Strangely, Dante's Divine Comedy did not produce a prose of that creative height or it did so after centuries.
In stand-up, there's that idea that comedy comes from a dark place, but it's not a rule.
I tend to find comedy in dark places. I also tend to find comedy in taking on the status quo - which has always been something I find important.
It's interesting to explore the darker side, but the hero piece is interesting as well. It's like choosing between comedy or drama. I like to do both.
I felt audiences are happier to take comedy people who play darker people because there's a link between the psychosis of comedy and the psychosis of being a twisted character.
My influences are a wide variety: from Dave Chappelle stand-up comedy specials on YouTube, to watching chick-flick comedy movies, to scrolling through stuff people say on the Internet.
'The David Letterman Show' is a show of comedy.
I actually started in comedy, but then after 'Deadwood' I started concentrating on the dramas more. But then I just got tired for raping and killing and figured, 'It's time to do another comedy.'
Fast food is hugely important in the life of a comedy writer. All we do is order in, and what we're going to eat is hotly debated.
Without comedy as a defense mechanism I wouldn't be able to survive.
My definitions of comedy, drama, and straight man are all blurry for me. I don't think of it in those terms.