When Tim and I first discussed the part in 2003, he told me, 'I'd love for you to play five Oompas.' But five Oompas quickly turned into 165 - and they're not computerized; I did each one individually myself.
Everyone tries to be so slick and modern and computerized. I've always done everything myself with little money, so I guess it's become 'my look,' but it's not really intentional.
What I was proud of was that I used very few parts to build a computer that could actually speak words on a screen and type words on a keyboard and run a programming language that could play games. And I did all this myself.
I didn't really want to inject myself into anything political. A lot of people were asking me at the time about Jay and Conan, and I hate doing anything serious.
I can apply myself to the format of 'SNL,' I can apply myself to the format of 'Conan,' but at the same time, I'm still being J. B. Smoove. I'm not changing up my style, I'm not changing up how I think, what's funny to me, my delivery, the way I carry myself.
After having supplied myself with provisions from Mr. Travis's, I scratched a hole under a pile of fence rails in a field, where I concealed myself for six weeks, never leaving my hiding place but for a few minutes in the dead of night to get water, which was very near.
Between myself, my brother, my father, and my wife, we have four of the 1,500 concealed carry permits for New York City, which is one of the most difficult carry licenses to get anywhere in the world and certainly in the United States. It is something we believe in fundamentally.
In retrospect, I never thought of myself as conceited - I never even wore makeup or styled my hair until I was an adult - but having Bell's Palsy made me hyper-aware of the way I looked. I became completely depressed, never wanting to get out of bed or even answer the phone.
In high school, I had a really difficult time just loving myself. It's weird; I feel like in the world we live in today, you're not supposed to be like, 'I'm beautiful,' like that's a conceited thing to say.
There's a line that separates having confidence and being conceited. I don't cross that line, but I have a lot of confidence in myself.
When I first starting conceiving series like 'Courtney,' 'Polly,' 'How Loathsome,' etc., I was shooting for closed story-arcs but open-ended concepts. Then I started realizing I was committing myself to potentially endless series.
I liked school, but I used to dread those moments when the teacher would call me up to give an oral report. I forced myself to deal with it and not dwell on the class in front of me - to keep a straight face, give the report and concentrate on getting it right. That's normally how I perform. That's how I am.
I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.
I sketch literally all the time; constructing a collection is like building a family - you have to have a certain balance. I isolate myself - I need to be concentrated for this so I leave Paris, I leave to a place without a phone.
I want to do a certain thing in the world, and I am going to do it with unwavering concentration. I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: to set man free. I desire to free him from all cages, from all fears, and not to found religions, new sects, nor to establish new theories and new philosophies.
Over the years I've learned how to lock myself up in a prison of hope, knowing that God has nothing but His best planned for me. He promised me things concerning my ministry and my life.
When I was young, I played the piano and studied classical music and jazz. I wanted to be a concert pianist, and if I'd devoted myself to it, I could have been. But it would have been too much work and a very lonely life.
As many have said before me, artists are creative people who can't be dragged into the politics of nations. I have always made a concerted effort to maintain this standard for myself.
I have such thin skin, so I make a concerted effort to avoid reading anything about myself.
The way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I'll keep playing until I feel like I can't.
