I did stand-up. I loved George Carlin and Steve Martin.

I never did improv professionally, but that was certainly in my training as an actor. I like it.

Trees Lounge is based on my own life. Both my parents like the movie. My father, of course, thinks it's a masterpiece.

Really interesting things come because you don't know what the rules are, what you can and can't do.

There's a certain type of character that you can't help but come in contact with growing up and living in Brooklyn and Long Island. A certain mixture of moxie, heart, and a wise guy sense of humor.

We both [with Jo Andres] think that it is really important to our culture that we support all kinds of music, all kinds of theatre and all kinds of art because you never know what moves people. We've always believed that there should be a strong voice outside the commercial world. Certainly, the commercial world has a huge place in our culture and we also support that - but, we also want to support the stuff that lives outside of that.

The trend now is to shoot in Canada because it's cheaper, and they don't care what the location is.