Michael Lehmann Quotes

Essentially a joke is creating an idea, whether sonic or visual, whether it's something musical or a traditional joke.

Comedy is easy. You have to react to what others are saying and it is all about the timing, the dialogue delivery.

I'm not into comedies that are joke-driven.

Plus, I love comic writing. Nothing satisfies me more than finding a funny way to phrase something.

Comedy is probably a lot harder for me. Maybe it's because I've been doing drama for so long or maybe it's because... you don't want to search for a laugh; you can't try to be funny, you just have to naturally be funny or be in a situation that's funny.

It seems that two of the most basic forms of comedy are jokes and stories. And, of course, they are not mutually exclusive.

I think so. I can't think of anything that requires more finesse than comedy, both from a verbal and visual point of view.

Comedy is so hard; it's so much harder than drama. The pacing of it, the energy of it.

I like smart jokes, I like dumb jokes, and I like dumb jokes done smartly.

If you work at comedy too laboriously, you can kill what's funny in the joke.

Humor writing requires a rhythm and timing, as well as some kind of connection to the reader, and I think that's how I tap into it.

I think comedy is funnier when it's real.

Comedy, at least the way I write comedy, is just drama with jokes.

I'd rather get a good clean laugh with good material, than an easy laugh by swearing or shocking. That's not clever or comedic, anybody can get a laugh that way, it's too easy.

I never wanted to do observational humor because I never wanted to tell people what they were seeing.

Comedy writing is taking the brief thought and going with it.

A lot of Viners do more relatable stuff, but I try to stay away from that. I try to maybe take a relatable situation and Bach it up.

Robert Benchley has a style that is weak and lies down frequently to rest.

My greatest regret as a writer is that I've never been able to include as many jokes as I'd like.

The nature of comedy is 'just do it.' But I think what's interesting about it is this joke has been around and why. And it's just saying what's wrong and how wrong can you be if you say it.

I don't write punch lines.

I love comedy, I love comedy... I think I'm funny!

The more real it is, the funnier it is. The more awkward it is, the more people are stumbly, the funnier it is. I like a sharp joke, but it has to say something that someone would actually say.

I prefer situational or character-based humor to gross-out gags and comedic set pieces.

I feel like comedy is where I'm most at ease, but I also have an allergy to silly jokes.