It was a decision to work clean. I just prefer to work that way. I have no problem with comedians who don't work that way. There was a temptation in the early '70s to reconsider. I decided against it.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I wasn't funny as a kid. I remember enjoying comedians, but I never understood it was a job choice or a profession.
I think it's important for comedians to do our little part. I don't do it carelessly. I do it thoughtfully. I don't try to just shock. I try to make a statement.
As a comedian, you have everything working against you.
It's up to comedians to shine the light on what's wrong in the world, and we don't want things swept under the rug.
To my knowledge, I was the first guy really to do what I do. And then later on different comedians started trying doing it.
The tragedy for comedians is there's nothing more they want than to be liked. We desperately seek approval. It's almost like a personality disorder you can do as a job.
Comedians tend to find a comfort zone and stay there and do lamer versions of themselves for the rest of their career.
I read in the 'Daily Mail' that I'm one of these 'foul-mouthed comedians.' But I'm much cleaner than the people they like. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to think that a 70-year-old - particularly someone like Alan Bennett - would like it, because they've seen a lot of stuff.
Every comedian comes to a fork in the road where they have to decide if they're going to make jokes about other people or make jokes about themselves. I chose myself.
Comedians take a neat situation and turn it into a mess. And in my books I do the same thing, but it's the other way around. I like to mess around with mess. A mess is only a mess because someone tells you it is.