Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself is a good thing to do. You may be a fool but you're the fool in charge.
Carl ReinerRead
I think that comedy really tells you how it is. The other thing about comedy is that - you don't even know if you're failing in drama, but you do know when you're failing in comedy. When you go to a comedy and you don't hear anybody laughing, you know that you've failed.
Interpretation
Comedy provides a clear reflection of success or failure through audience reaction.
In this quote, Carl Reiner highlights the unique nature of comedy compared to other forms of art, particularly drama. He suggests that while failures in drama may go unnoticed by the audience, a comedian is immediately aware of their effectiveness or lack thereof based on the laughter (or absence of it) from the audience. This immediate feedback loop is what sets comedy apart, making it a profound form of artistic expression that captures truth through humor.
In practice
In a stand-up comedy routine, you might say this quote to emphasize the importance of audience engagement.
Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself is a good thing to do. You may be a fool but you're the fool in charge.
There's nothing more satisfying than having an idea and seeing it through to find out that, not only did you like it, but the audience and critics all seemed to agree.
I've done everything I've wanted to do. I have three children, I have grandchildren, I have books, I did movies, I've directed movies; I've done almost everything I've wanted to do.
Anybody who tells a very big lie is paid attention to. If you say, 'Shakespeare could not write. He was illiterate,' everybody says, 'Well, what do you know that we don't?' That's what Trump does all the time.
'The Dick Van Dyke Show' was my labor of love. When asked the best thing I ever did - that was it. I wrote it originally for myself.
Going through war and living is a very important process. You realize how vulnerable you are and how lucky you are to be in the right place at the right time. As a matter of fact, I have a history of luck.
Run for office? No. I've slept with too many women, I've done too many drugs, and I've been to too many parties.
In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
A sense of humor is the ability to understand a joke - and that the joke is oneself.
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus, I know the scientific names of beings animalculous; In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
Everyone has the right to be stupid on occasion, but Comrade Macdonald abuses the privilege.
Never knew before what eternity was made for. It is to give some of us a chance to learn German.
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