Billy Crystal knows how to make people laugh. He's got 30 years on stage... there's no telling him what's funny.

The child says, "Well geesh, the institutions that I'm supposed to respect - the church and the government - they're telling me things that don't appear to be true. Either I'm crazy or they're crazy." That creates the Absurd Child. The Absurd Child is one who says, "Well, I think they're crazy." So you live in this state of alienation from your culture and your society and your family because you see this rampant bullshit around you.

Find the most talented person in the room and if it's not you, go stand next to him. Hang out with him. try to be helpful.

Life has all of these contradictory feelings and contradictory results. People spend their whole lives struggling to get what they think they want, and even if they get it, they find that it's either not what they wanted, or it comes with so many unwanted consequences. We're always shut off from pure joy.

I'm thinking of doing a marital comedy for one of the studios, but I want it to be so painful that it'll have a profound effect on married couples who see it together.

Most comedies are calculated. They tend to pander. They're not about anything important.

I'd rather do comedies that strike at some bigger ideas.