Paul Provenza Quotes

I've been getting in trouble my whole life and I really don't care what anybody thinks of what I do on stage as a comic.

You gotta have the balls to go out there and be funny, man.

Here's the thing, with comedy - and I learned this from Will Ferrell - you can't be ashamed. If you're doing comedy, you have to fully commit to the joke. Shame is not part of it. If you act shy or uncomfortable about your body, that makes the audience shy and uncomfortable. And in a comedy you just want them to loosen up and laugh.

I was fooling everyone by surrounding myself with funny people. But then I put myself out there - writing my own sketches, going on stage with nobody surrounding me - and for some reason people were still laughing.

As a standup comedian, you have to develop a sense of fearlessness. It's really important for your livelihood and your well-being. And if you don't do that, you're going to fail; you're never going to be able to stand up on the cliff and jump off.

I like getting up in front of an audience. It's fun when you go to a baseball game and the crowd is cheering you. I can't deny it. And it's very funny, too. Sometimes you're shy; you go somewhere and everyone's looking at you, so you feel a little self-conscious.

You hear some people saying, 'I'm alive on stage; it's where I feel most complete...' I don't understand that at all; I find that weird and depressing. I don't dislike the audience; it's just when I'm up there, they're in the darkness. There's just a sound of laughing or not. They're not 'people,' they're this big organism.

So you don't have to take us too seriously; I mean, we're already intimidating enough on stage.

But if applause throws off your timing, then you're not the kind of comedian I would like to see. All you have to do is stand there and take it.

I took a public speaking class in college and managed to make the class laugh a little bit.

I don't think one should be comfortable standing on a stage with people applauding and laughing at every stupid thing you say.

I really like doing television shows, and I anticipated doing a comedy, because that's the place I feel the most comfortable - those are the risks I want to take.

So many stars who have shows are intimidated by having people around them be funnier than them. It's always the unsuccessful ones. Look at Seinfeld - he's great because he let everyone be hilarious.

I suppose, back in the day, when I was on the stage, I had nothing to lose, and I did the accents.

I much prefer doing comedy. I get a little paranoid when the audience is not laughing.

I didn't know if I could be funny on stage or write a joke. But I saw that there are no rules. If you're funny offstage, you can figure out a way to be funny onstage.

Loads of blokes think they're funny, but it counts for nothing unless you get up and have a go.

Doing comedy was liberating in a way.

I sometimes reflect on my own life on stage and no one laughs, but you have to have faith in it and hope that people will laugh.

I started doing improv comedy in 2007, and I think it was that that gave me the confidence to try doing stand-up!

Just to talk in front of people is scary. And now you gotta learn how to be funny, and now you gotta learn how to make people laugh at what you think is funny. That's not easy.

I adopted this feeling that the stage is my home, so just keep my coat on and not wear anything else.

The more comfortable I got onstage, the more comfortable I got expressing myself in a physical manner. And it almost shocked people - 'Oh, is there something happening?'

The key to comedy is commitment - if you're afraid, you shouldn't be a comedian.

As far as just my stand-up is concerned, I don't care about changing anyone's mind. I'm not making an argument. I'm a guy doing comedy.