Everybody wants to laugh - you know that. They need to laugh... people need to laugh.

When you denigrate people, they have two ways to fight back - with their fists and guns, or their mouths. And mouths are seemingly the easiest way to not get hit back. If people are laughing, they're not going to hit you.

Everybody wants to laugh - you know that. They need to laugh... people need to laugh.

I think that comedy really tells you how it is. The other thing about comedy is that - you don't even know if you're failing in drama, but you do know when you're failing in comedy. When you go to a comedy and you don't hear anybody laughing, you know that you've failed.

If you can get a laugh out of a name, you're ahead of the game.

I'm a charming coward; I fight with words.

Id like to acknowledge three people who early on knew Mel Brooks was one of the funniest people in the world: Sid Caesar, me, and Mel Brooks.