Ted Alexandro Quotes

Dave Chappelle is about as gifted as it gets, as a performer and comedian. [...] It's always great to watch him work. He started around fourteen and he's in his forties now, so he's probably been doing it for close to thirty years. He's brilliant.

Inherent in mourning is celebration. Mourning without celebration or some form of acceptance leaves you stuck.

Your stage persona is usually a version of yourself, to varying degrees. Some folks do a full-on character, so that's different. But most comics do some version of themselves.

People don't come to a comedy club simply to hear someone's thoughts, no matter how profound.

Sometimes it's fun to explore ideas that might make people uncomfortable. If you let it, there's a lot of self-censoring that can go on in the name of remaining likeable, but I don't find that an artistically interesting path to take.

I belong to a gym now... well, let me rephrase that: I don't belong there at all, but I go.

It always comes down to what the crowd buys coming out of your mouth, which differs from one comic to the next.

It's a constant process of bouncing ideas off of one another and intuitively arriving at the right decision in the moment.

Comedians are thinkers. The best ones are akin to philosophers, in my opinion.

Comedy clubs are arguably one of the last bastions of uncensored, public free speech.

Some people say homosexuality is a sin. It’s not. God is perfectly cool with it, God feels the exact same way about homosexuality that God feels about heterosexuality. Now you might say, ‘Whoa, slow down. You move too fast. How could you have the audacity, the temerity, to speak on behalf of God?’ Exactly, that’s an excellent point and I pray that you remember it.

I don't know that I have a single comedy philosophy. But talking about things that matter to you is a good place to start. Listening is a big part of it, too.

'Teachers Lounge' is a web series I co-created with Hollis James. We intentionally left the apostrophe out to turn 'Lounge' into a verb. The show is about teachers lounging around, wasting time.

I think there comes a time in any comedian's career where they can either coast or keep growing and evolving.

I often think about my future wife and how lax she's been about getting in touch with me.

I learned so many things from Louis C.K., but the most impactful thing was witnessing his work ethic. He works harder than anyone I've ever been around in comedy. And he takes risks and doesn't dwell on what might be perceived as failures.

Chris Rock went from a guy whose name you knew from SNL to a legendary comedian by working his ass off.

Comics can definitely be subversive on the whole, but it's a stylistic thing.

You'll get them tomorrow. You gave it a good shot. Keep your chin up.

I've seen people who are not very likeable but hilarious. I think comedians get to a point where they know they're funny, so they don't care - in the sense that they know what they're doing. They have a skill.

Louis CK went from a writer/comedian to winning Emmys for his own show because he works his ass off.

I also do a certain amount of talking through material on stage, to see what happens and allow interesting ideas to manifest.

TV is a different animal. It's not a club set. As you said, you do short sets on TV - about five minutes. So you have to get that rhythm down and also be aware of the camera so you're connecting with the viewers at home as well as the studio audience. It's a different muscle to develop.

I don't do the mirror thing; maybe once or twice when I first started out.

Not that that's the goal, but sometimes these funny insights can also be deeply profound.

Comedians act every night on stage, so they have great performing chops. They especially know how to play themselves, which is how we set 'Teachers Lounge' up.

Sometimes crowds start out not liking someone but then they shift and love them. Or vice versa. It can shift on a dime.

I don't really worry about a crowd liking me.

Comedy takes all of life and puts it through a lens of acceptance, just by the mere act of talking about it on stage in a communal setting. It's very primal and ritualistic in that sense.

Opening for Louis C.K. during his "Hilarious" tour was a great experience for me. He is the generation just ahead of me, because he started so young.

I think comedy is no different now than it was at other points. It takes a long time to get good and know how to distill what makes you funny beyond the realm of standup, which is what I'm trying to do with 'Teachers Lounge.'

Certainly, you want to be liked, but as you gain confidence and experience you're more concerned with expressing yourself and what matters to you.

With a project like 'Teachers Lounge,' you're wearing a lot of hats, so it demands hard work and focus if you want to do it right.

I have a lot of friends who are getting married. I try to avoid talking to them about their sex lives now 'cause it's so depressing. One guy told me it had been six months since he had gotten to second base with his wife. Yeah, I don't know which one was more pathetic: that he used the phrase 'second base' or that he hadn't been there in six months?

Listening to your own sets and listening to the audience as you perform. It's a conversation of sorts. There is an exchange.

I'll sit down for an hour or two a few days a week in a quiet place and brainstorm. The earlier in the day, the better, before the parade of distractions starts.

Like once we picked Jim Norton as the head of security, the writing flows pretty easily.

The more you perform, the more adept you get at the nuances of navigating that communal conversation.

That heightened dynamic can produce interesting, funny ideas that are phrased in ways that surprise even you, as the performer.

Comedians have varying levels of training. It can range from classically trained actors (like Robin Williams) to people who took comedy classes to folks who just started doing it. That's the beauty of comedy: it's close to a pure meritocracy.

Some comedians are silly or goofy or straight joke writers who avoid anything subversive or political. Others are drawn to it. The beauty of standup is there is room for everyone, and years of performing in front of crowds will dictate what you can or can't do.

I wasn't in the drama department, but I auditioned anyway and he not only cast me but also included a few sketches that I wrote, which really sparked my pursuit of comedy.

I don't think comics necessarily think in literary terms. There is an element of developing your stage persona and your comedic voice, but I don't think comics see it like a character in a novel.

In terms of my own work ethic, I've always been a determined person. When I'm focused on something, I try to see it through.

Hard work is a muscle that you develop, as is taking risks.

Opening for Louis C.K. during his "Hilarious" tour was a great experience for me. He is the generation just ahead of me, because he started so young. So it's like he's sort of a senior and I'm a junior, in terms of the business. He's done so much - from writing on Conan and Chris Rock to writing and directing movies, having his own HBO show, "Lucky Louie," and now having "Louie" on FX.

I think the more you hone your voice, take risks and talk about things that matter, the better chance you have of getting into the realm of the philosophers of stand up. But you have to be funny.

I'm just looking for a little mystery in life... like things you can't explain. Like, you go to Mexico, they tell you don't drink the water. You go to any diner here, who brings you the water? It's a mystery.