“And Here’s the Kicker” Quotes (Part 4)

I recently finished a great comedy book, “And Here’s The Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers On Their Craft” by Mike Sacks. I got a ton of useful quotes from it, and this is the last of four parts. I recommend buying the whole book, as there is a lot of insight inside. Since the book is interview style based, I’ve put the writer’s name above all of the quotes that are attributed to him.

DAVID MINER

“The best representative is the one that finds you, not the other way around. This is because he or she (no matter how high up the food chain) was excited by your work.” (180)

“Unsolicited e-mail may as well be spam. Send a letter in an envelope. If it’s not worth a first class stamp to you, it’s not worth thirty seconds to me.” (180)

“Ask a represented writer friend for a reference. References from clients are the ones we take most seriously.” (181)

“If you are just starting out, go along with the enthusiasm of the representative that is interested in working with you – no matter what his or her title. All that matters is that he or she believes in you.” (181)

DAVID SEDARIS

“This first writing teacher had suggested that I got to graduate school. But something inside me though, No, it’s better that I just start writing. That’s sort of my job as a writer, isn’t it? Just to write?” (184)

“I get up, I go right to work, I take a break, and then I go back to work at night. I don’t just sit at a desk for two minutes and then say, “oh, okay. I tried. Maybe tomorrow.” (196)

“You can’t teach a lot of things. That’s the scam of any kind of art school. There are a lot of people who excel in school, but once they don’t have homework anymore, whether it’s painting or writing or whatever, they can’t function. They need a professor telling them to write a story by such and such a date. In the real world, the most important part is sitting there and writing. It’s not easy to function in that vacuum, but that’s what you have to do.” (196)

GEORGE MEYER

“You have to be willing to look stupid, to stumble down unproductive paths, and to endure bad afternoons when all your ideas are flat and sterile and derivative. If you don’t take yourself too seriously, you’ll bounce back from these lulls and be ready for the muse’s next visit.” (208)

“You can’t keep bitch slapping your creativity, or it’ll run away and find a new pimp.” (208)

“Most TV shows are exhausting. The network figures out how many shows will literally kill the staff. Then they do one fewer.” (211)

“If I could eliminate either advertising or nuclear weapons, I would choose advertising.” (212)

“We’re not aiming for consistency. We’re not making screws; we’re trying to innovate and keep a step ahead.” (212)

“The season is long and punishing. Sometimes you ring the bell; sometimes it falls on your head.” (212)

“Experience as much as you can and absorb a lot of reality. Otherwise, your writing will have the force of a Wiffle ball.” (213)

ALLISON SILVERMAN

“A lot of comedy is about status shifts, and I would mark down whenever a shift would occur.” (235)

“It’s very important for any host or performer to not battle an audience but, rather, to become partners with them. As soon as you look needy or uncomfortable, the audience becomes worried and stops laughing – which is a big problem. Going out onstage and thinking of the audience as an enemy only makes you look more needy.” (237)

“It can be that way with a career too. There are a lot of times when your biggest task is just to stay calm and keep working.” (243)

ROBERT SMIGEL

“Downey once summed up SNL sketches this way: actors love to act in sketches about a crazy person in a normal situation, and writers love to write sketches about normal people in a crazy situation.” (251)

“Letterman, Steve Martin, Kaufman and Larry David, these guys were every bit as smart and extreme and inventive as any performer or writer who cultivated a reputation as being too cool for the masses. But they were just so brilliant and smart that they figured out a way to do what they wanted to do on network TV.” (253)

“You don’t necessarily need an academic education. What’s just as important, is to be self-educated – to read and soak in as much as you can from the world at large. Del Close once said, “The more you know about, the more you can joke about.” And he had funnier heroin material than I’ve ever had.” (260)

“It’s a cruel profession where there will probably never be enough work for people who are truly funny.” (261)

“If you think you have some talent, just try to find opportunities. Find like-minded people and keep writing. If you’re good and maybe lucky, it’ll probably work out. And you won’t hate yourself for not trying. Just have something to fall back on.” (261)

DAVE BARRY

“What you’re basically saying in a humor column is: I’m funny because you laugh. But that doesn’t put you above anybody. Pomposity or authority doesn’t work very well with humor.” (274)

“A sense of humor is a measurement of the extent to which we realize that we are trapped in a world almost totally devoid of reason. Laughter is how we express the anxiety we feel at this knowledge.” (275)

DICK CAVETT

“To succeed as a comedy writer, you have to be able to write in different comics’ voices.” (284)

“It’s essential to hear the comics in your head when you write jokes for them. If you can’t do that, you’ll never make it as a comedy writer.” (284)

“In some ways, the life of a stand-up was better than the life of a writer. You could affirm that a joke was funny right away. You didn’t get that sitting in front of a typewriter.” (285)

DAN CLOWES

“I receive letters from young writers asking for advice about a “career” in comics. If somebody asks me, I always say not to do it unless you can’t not do it. If you need encouragement from a stranger, then you shouldn’t do it.” (291)

LARRY WILMORE

“One of the reasons why comedy has fallen out of favor – too many writers aren’t writing about anything that anyone cares about. It’s all pop-culture references.” (296)

“If you score in the beginning, you’re gold. You can just recite your act in a monotone and it’ll still kill. That’s the key: the first thirty seconds in front of a tough crowd are very important.” (297)

“Dominance is very important. Jerry Seinfeld once said, “To laugh is to be dominated.” (297)

“Never listen to execs. Just do your own thing. Whether it happens or doesn’t happen, at least you did what you wanted and you tried. That’s what writers have to get into their heads – no matter what you come up with, it won’t ever be as bad as the executives’ suggestions.” (300)

“You can’t please everyone. You just try to do what you think is funny. If you attempt to appease advocacy groups, good luck. You can do it, I suppose, but it’s not going to be funny.” (302)

“”Breaking the story” means getting the skeleton of it down on paper. Once you have that structure, you can work from it. It’s always easier to have that framework ready as soon as possible.” (305)

“I didn’t care about the jokes so much as the story. The jokes are always the easiest to produce.” (305)

“These are just jokes. You can always come up with more later. Never become too attached to what you write; otherwise, you’ll never survive as a TV comedy writer.” (306)

“I look for a unique voice – maybe something I haven’t quite read before in terms of style and imagery. I can point out pretty quickly if this writer has a different point of view. Mediocrity is pretty easy for me to sniff out. Try to write from your experience. Try not to be derivative, like so many writers can be with references to pop culture. Investigate your own life.” (307)

“Beyond that, only do comedy if you love to do it. I love comedy, and I love to make people laugh, I truly respect the people who came before me and who did it well. It’s important to know your history – if only to know what you shouldn’t be writing.” (307)

JACK HANDEY

“Steve Martin’s sensibility appeals to smart people and dumb people alike. That, to me, is the best comedy.” (311)

“If there’s one thing I learned about TV comedy, it’s that people don’t like sketch comedy in prime time.” (314)

“Aggressive, dark comedy, when it works, is really the best.” (315)

“It can take months or even years for an idea to click. I am usually suspicious of any idea of mine that I love right away.” (318)

“The jokes don’t usually change, but which jokes are used can change. That’s often how I can tell how good a premise it is – how easily the jokes come.” (318)

LARRY GELBART

“While confidence is always a comfort, risk provides a good deal more adrenaline.” (322)

“The problem with Sid was that he was at the mercy of the decision makers, the network people, who – yes, they respect talent, but they respect numbers a good deal more. If you don’t cut it – if your time slot’s not paying the rent – it doesn’t matter how gifted you are. They would have canceled Michelangelo if no one came to the Sistine Chapel.” (330)

“When you’re writing and come to a rough spot and the ideas just aren’t flowing, put down dummy text and keep on moving – especially if it’s at the end of the day and you’re going to stop. Your brain will never stop for the day, even if you have stopped working, and there’s a very good chance you’ll come up with something better. Also, at the very least, you’ll have something to come back to the next day, instead of a blank page. That’s important.” (335)