I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I was thinking of Edison or maybe James Watt. Or maybe even Newton.

While I don't script and I don't use other performers, I think my taste for underlying precision gives me something in common with Allan and George Brecht.

The self is an oral society in which the present is constantly running a dialogue with the past and the future inside of one skin.

I reserve the right to tell shaggy dog stories or even common jokes as part of what I'm doing. I don't give a damn if half the audience walks out.

I'm aware of my audience in a way, and I do try to engage with them while I'm trying to go about my business of thinking. I believe they help me by providing a focus.

I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do.

You pay your money, you take your choice. I get the audience my language attracts and I lose the ones it repels.