“Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.”
Steve Martin (1945) American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright, and producer
Reported in Paul F. Boller, John George, They Never Said It (1990), p. 38-39.
Misattributed
“Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.”
Steve Martin (1945) American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright, and producer
“Man, when he realizes that he is an object of comedy, does not laugh.”
Antonio Porchia (1885–1968) Italian Argentinian poet
El hombre, cuando sabe que es una cosa cómica, no ríe.
Voces (1943)
Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor
Parade interview http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_09-23-2007/AStephen_Colbert (23 September 2007) <br class="br">Variant: You can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time—of anything. If you're laughing, I defy you to be afraid. <br class="br">Context: Not living in fear is a great gift, because certainly these days we do it so much. And do you know what I like about comedy? You can’t laugh and be afraid at the same time—of anything. If you're laughing, I defy you to be afraid.
Margaret Cho (1968) American stand-up comedian
From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, ACTIVISM
Roger Ebert (1942–2013) American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter
Review http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/napoleon-dynamite-2004 of Napoleon Dynamite (18 June 2004) <br class="br">Reviews, One-and-a-half star reviews
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)
Tina Fey (1970) American comedian, writer, producer and actress
On Comedy
Source: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/11/03/anchor-woman
Mel Brooks (1926) American director, writer, actor, and producer
Source: All About Me (New York: Ballantine Books, 2021), p. 451