Ultimately, an audience wants to laugh. That's who they like, the comedian who makes them laugh.

After twenty plus years of performing hundreds of shows a year, I prefer to try things out on stage rather than for friends. I don't see the benefit in that, really.

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.

The blues is a hopeful music. It helps you process something rather than avoid it. It's like mourning, in essence.

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

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

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