I realized that comedians of the day were operating on jokes and punch lines. The moment you say the punch line, the audience either laughs sincerely or they laugh automatically or they don't laugh. The thing that bothered me was that automatic laugh. I said, that's not real laughter.

I didn't come from a wealthy family. I had no money. Maybe it goes back to naivete which is your greatest asset when you're young. If I was starting in comedy today and if it didn't work the first time, I'd probably quit. But I kept at it, kept at it.

I never had a movie that I wanted to do turned down in my whole life. I always write the script first so it speaks for itself.

I'm enamored with the art world. Anytime you look at anything that's considered artistic, there's a commercial world around it: the ballet, opera, any kind of music. It can't exist without it.

I can't smell moth balls, I find it too difficult to get their tiny legs apart

Rebelliousness really is the province of young people-that kind of iconoclasm.

I just respected comedians whether they were or they weren't, from, you know, new or old.