As quoted in Lavender Diamond seeks world peace, by Jake Coyle in USA Today (27 April 2007)
“I think comedy is the most difficult thing in the world, I really do.”
Martha Graham (1894–1991) American dancer and choreographer
New York Times interview (1985)
Context: I think comedy is the most difficult thing in the world, I really do. One can always lament, you know — but to laugh in the face of life, that's very hard. And for me the great tragedian should also be a great comedian.
“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.”
Peter Ustinov (1921–2004) English actor, writer, and dramatist
As quoted in Morrow's International Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1982) by Jonathon Green
Lily Tomlin (1939) American actress, comedian, writer, and producer
Metro Weekly interview (2006)
Context: It's a more ridiculing, divisive humor today, especially with the advent of political incorrectness, which is a license to be as ridiculing and awful about certain groups... There should be room for everybody, absolutely, and then the culture is going to decide the prevailing weight. We can't decide it individually. Nobody is here without a reason. … I always had a different sensibility. I like a huge range of comedy — from broad and farcical, the most sensitive, the most understated — but I always wanted my comedy to be more embracing of the species rather than debasing of it.
Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007) Canadian-American actress, dancer, and singer
"Yvonne De Carlo Reminds The World There Was Life Before Lily Munster" (1987)
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher
Source: The World as Will and Representation, Vol 1
Jane Espenson (1964) American television writer and producer
"Jane Espenson - Interviewed at the Buffy soundstage" at BBC (23 August 2001) http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/interviews/espenson/printpage.html
Kal Penn (1977) American actor and civil servant
On his show Sunnyside in “Kal Penn Talks Putting A Twist On Immigration Narrative With ‘Sunnyside’ & Chances For Another ‘Harold And Kumar’ Movie” https://deadline.com/2019/09/kal-penn-sunnyside-nbc-immigration-comedy-harold-and-kumar-1202743466/ in Deadline (2019 Sep 26)
