Believe me, happiness is not ticking off Walter Cronkite.
'Parental Guidance' combines comedy and pathos in the best way.
My dad had two, sometimes three jobs. Besides running the Commodore Music Shop in Manhattan, he did jazz concerts, and he ran this great jazz label, Commodore.
I could always improvise. Some of my teachers remember me standing in front of the class with a flower on my head, talking about photosynthesis. I'd stop and say, 'Is this working for any of you?' The kids were like, 'What is he doing?'
Mom was so funny and loving to us kids. She was our first audience. When my dad died, I was suddenly alone in the house with her because my two older brothers were away at college. I was the man of the house, and she was the grieving woman.
To me, little Mike Wazowski is one of the best characters I ever got to play because he was funny. He was outrageous. He got angry. He was romantic. He was a full, well-rounded character.
When I'm not thrilled, I get funny.
Whatever it is that's bothering me - interacting with annoying guy at a restaurant, contemplating my age, or losing friends to illness - I'll start to chip away at it. If you can poke holes in it, it's not as formidable; it's not as scary, and ultimately, it becomes another truth.
What life throws at you - you just have to learn how to hit it, which is a baseball metaphor. The ball's outside, you hit to the right. You don't let them go by.
My older brother Joel became an art teacher; my brother Rip ultimately became a television producer and singer and actor himself.
I never stopped believing in us, and I never felt like I was wanting for anything, except for my father, and that was not going to be.
I never felt I had my 15, 16, 17 kind of years the way I maybe should have. It's a huge dent in you that it's hard to knock out and make it all smooth again.
I'd stand on a coffee table, and my cousin Edith would give me dimes, and you put the dimes on your head... And when your forehead was full, show was over.
When I was growing up in the house, we'd watch the Oscars.
I think I've far exceeded what I ever thought I could possibly do.
I'm almost shocked that I'm still around after all of these years... and always grateful that I get another turn to do something.
I was always looking for something else to do most of the time, until I got into the acting program. Then, I really found myself.
I really could've been a good student, but I was always hearing an imaginary audience.
I have to admit, I was a little bit of a misfit.
As a comedian, you have everything working against you.
