When I was a younger guy doing comedy, it was a big struggle. Promoters canceled me out of clubs left and right when I called somebody a dummy or a yo-yo. Then they realized I was different.
Don RicklesRead
You can't study comedy; it's within you. It's a personality. My humor is an attitude.
Interpretation
Comedy is an inherent trait and an expression of personality rather than something that can be taught.
In this quote, Don Rickles emphasizes that the essence of comedy comes from within a person, suggesting that humor is deeply tied to one's personality and attitude towards life. Rather than being a skill that can be acquired through study or practice, true comedic ability reflects an individual's inherent characteristics and perspective, highlighting the importance of authenticity in humor.
In practice
In a comedy workshop, I reminded the students that as Don Rickles said, 'You can't study comedy; it's within you.'
When I was a younger guy doing comedy, it was a big struggle. Promoters canceled me out of clubs left and right when I called somebody a dummy or a yo-yo. Then they realized I was different.
I think if I took therapy, the doctor would quit. He'd just pick up the couch and walk out of the room.
The young comedians always ask me, 'What's the secret for staying around?' I tell them, 'There is no secret - just stay around. Longevity is the most important thing.'
An Englishman teaching an American about food is like the blind leading the one-eyed.
Wit and playfulness represent a desperately serious transcendence of evil. Humor is both a form of wisdom and a means of survival.
Alcohol is a very necessary article. It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person would do at eleven in the morning.
I'm a big woman. I need big hair.
My folks were English. They were too poor to be British. I still have a bit of British in me. In fact, my blood type is solid marmalade.
Sex and death. Two things that come but once in my lifetime, but at least after death you're not nauseous.
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