Ben Falcone Quotes

Peter Sellers is my great comedy hero.

No one will ever be as good as Phil Hartman. He was such an amazing genius, and may be the best sketch performer of all time.

I was very sad to hear of the death of Ronnie Barker, who was such a warm, friendly and encouraging presence to have when I started in television. He was also a great comic actor to learn from.

First, I wanted to be Chris Farley. When I was growing up, Chris Farley was still on the stages and fun to us. In my house, John Belushi was king. I didn't grow up when he was - I was born in '78 - the reruns of Belushi in 'Animal House,' and knowing he was at Second City, he was viewed as a king in my house.

If I could work with Eddie Murphy on 'SNL,' I think I could quit comedy forever. For me and my generation, he's God.

Jerome Flynn is a great actor.

To a crowd that loves improv, Robin Williams is like Chuck Berry.

[John] Belushi was an extreme experience even by my standards.

My dream role is Richard Pryor, no question about that. I'm a big Richard Pryor fan. I've always been intrigued about the darkness behind his comedy; that would always be a dream role for me.

The current Babe Ruth of improv? Sacha Baron Cohen. He's pretty amazing.

John Goodman is more that just a big guy, he's a wonderful actor.

Bob Hope, like Mark Twain, had a sense of humor that was uniquely American, and like Twain, we'll likely not see another like him.

Emperor Sid Caesar is gone to eternity himself now. He takes with him the gratitude of every one of us who first learned the relief of laughter from this genuinely great performer.

Chris Guest is the godfather of improvisational comedy.

The depth of John Candy's talent did surprise me. He was one of my all-time favorite leading men.

I was at Second City L.A., going through the conservatory, and I graduated in 2004 and I got 'SNL' in 2005.

Gene Hackman is one of the great American actors of all time.

I love Michael Keaton. I think he's awesome - he's such an awesome actor - like the 'Beetlejuice' films. I just love that Tim Burton stuff.

The big stars I felt a kinship with were never the romantic leads. It wasn't Steve McQueen or Robert Redford - it was people like Walter Matthau and Anthony Quinn. My big hero was Tommy Cooper.

Adam Sandler is a remarkable movie brand.

Eddie Murphy was the Michael Jordan of comedy. He had a full range of abilities.

The first time I heard Richard Pryor, I knew he would be a major force in the world of comedy.

When I graduated from college, I moved to New York and started doing improv because I read all about the early 'Saturday Night Live' guys having come through Second City and learning how to improvise, so I wanted to get immediately into that.

If I couldn't be Dick Van Dyke, I wanted to be Art Carney.

I was a huge fan of Steve Martin, as everyone I knew in comedy was.