I have been fortunate to be able to have a career playing comedy and drama. And it's awfully hard - it's like apples and pears to compare the two.
I think it helped that 'Fleabag' had such a dramatic arc to it, even though it was disguised as a comedy.
Now people want what the movie was about, which is violent comedy. And that's really what The Aristocrats is based on - what will a family do out of desperation.
Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't become Mr. Universe because he went to the gym every now and then. He did it on a regular basis. It's the same thing with comedy. I try to perform seven nights a week.
For me, 'Arrested Development' is the cornerstone of recent television comedy. It's so incredibly flawless and perfect.
In 2007, I had on-paper success. I got to go to that Aspen comedy festival, which was pretty exclusive, I guess. Then I did Carson Daly. That was enough validation.
I experimented with my own one-man show a couple of years ago in Aspen when HBO used to have their comedy festival there. I called it 'A History of Me.'
I wrote a script - a script about a guy working on the automobile assembly line; I never could get money for that. I did a pilot about minimum wage workers for HBO that didn't get picked up; they thought it was depressing, even though it was a comedy.
One of the attractions of translating 'Heroes' is that it's not the kind of play that I write. If it had been, I probably wouldn't have wanted to translate it. There are no one-liners. It's much more a truthful comedy than a play of dazzling wit.
I've played every comedy club and every theatre across the country for the last 25 years and seen a lot of audience members from different ethnic persuasions.
I did six Broadway shows, and I noticed there weren't many female comedians. When I went to a dancing audition, there were 1,000 girls. And there were three jobs. So I said I'll just try comedy. And I loved it.
Oscar Wilde was sort of my first love as a young reader. And then I went on to love Jane Austen's wonderful - this sort of comedy coming from her. I mean, all of her books are comic.
I think comedy has to come from your authentic point of view.
There's a reason Tony Stark makes fun of 'Thor,' and mentions 'Shakespeare' in the park in 'The Avengers.' It's great to play high drama and comedy alongside a modern story.
I have an aversion to comedy where everybody speaks in punchlines.
I've avoided doing a network comedy, because I wouldn't get my own way. Even though it would get more viewers, it wouldn't be mine.
Awkwardness is such a gold mine for comedy.
I wasn't classically trained as an actor; I wasn't pursuing standup comedy. I really came into it through the back door. And there was a benefit to that, I think, because I wasn't pressing; I wasn't pushing.
I'll accept bad taste in a minute, as long as there's some great comedy minds and performances.
There's sketch, improv, writing, acting, music, and badminton. Those are the seven forms of comedy.