I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.
Neil Patrick HarrisRead
I enjoy darker sardonic wit more than knock-knock jokes. I spent the first healthy chunk of my career playing all-American, pleasant, average, nice people, so it's fun to have some complications there.
Interpretation
The author prefers clever and dark humor over simple, light-hearted jokes due to a desire for more complexity in his work.
In this quote, Neil Patrick Harris expresses his preference for sardonic humor, which often involves a darker, more ironic wit, compared to the simplicity of knock-knock jokes. He reflects on his career playing wholesome characters and acknowledges the enjoyment that comes from portraying more nuanced and complicated roles, highlighting a shift from traditional comedic styles to those that require deeper thought and engagement.
In practice
In a stand-up comedy routine discussing the evolution of humor over the years.
I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.
I need to stop carving out four-hour chunks to do random things and go home and watch my children grow up.
I don't know, on a sitcom, and in theatre especially, you have to really be listening to an audience. And if you're losing them, you can hear the sniffs, and the playbills shuffling and whatnot.
I'm a big proponent of monogamous relationships regardless of sexuality, and I'm proud of how the nation is steering toward that.
I don't know, but I think kids just want to be listened to, so I want to make sure I do that.
It PASSED! Marriage equality in NY!! Yes!! Progress!! Thank you everyone who worked so hard on this!! A historic night!
I was married once--in San Francisco. I haven't seen her for many years. The great earthquake and fire in 1906 destroyed the marriage certificate. There's no legal proof. Which proves that earthquakes aren't all bad.
Some have supposed that the mosquito is of a devout turn, and never will partake of a meal without first saying grace. The devotions of some men are but a preface to blood-sucking.
I think we're all good and bad, but good's not funny. Bad is funny. Suppress the good and let the bad out, and then you can be funny.
It crossed our minds early on that the more an audience cared - we were working before, on average, 240, live people. If you could get them caring - the more they cared, the harder they laughed.
It is a very inconvenient habit of kittens (Alice had once made the remark) that whatever you say to them, they always purr.
I have a sense of humor; but over the years that sense has developed one blind spot. I can no longer laugh at ignorance or stupidity. Those are our chief enemies, and it is dangerous to make fun of them.
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