I'm very much an optimist. I don't think I could do my work if I didn't believe there was some kind of hope for humanity.

I knew I wanted to be a performer and do comedy at 5 years old. My dad's wife, Marlene Rosenbaum, was boiling water and she goes, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I said, "A comedian." And she laughed and laughed because she thought that was the cutest, funniest thing.

Things are so scary and intimidating with AIDS and the right wing that people are looking for somebody to just give them safe harbors.

The most important, overriding arc of my career has been that I would never be self-deprecating.

Personally, I'm waiting for caller IQ.

Madonnas got one big choice. Take a couple of years off and become a human being.

You can't just try to be a performer. It's in your DNA. I really believe that it's either what you are or it's not at all.