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Unfortunately, we have a tendency to see figures from the past as caricatures - either all good or all bad - when the truth is always much more complex.

I did theatrical caricatures.

If you look at anything, there are always comedic moments.

I'm funny on camera sometimes. In life, once in a while. Once in a while.

Every president becomes a caricature. The press, partisans, late-night shows, and other arbiters of our culture these days boil down complicated and multi-faceted personalities into one-dimensional punchlines.

I eventually saw the satirical nature of caricaturing individuals.

In other words, the people who populate my books are more than caricatures.

A lot of times in movies, especially in sequels, the characters become caricatures and just sort of improv machines and joke machines, rather than people you can actually connect to.

I think one of the big things about comedy is the ability for the audience to identify.

You have to avoid caricature, at the one end of the spectrum, and sentimentality, at the other; which is not to say that such characters shouldn't be funny part of the time, or that their actions shouldn't evoke genuine feeling.