Brett Gelman

“The world is pretty messed up.”

“There are not many people that I respect more than rappers. I'm a huge fan of hip hop. It's incredible, one of the most influential things to me. It takes real genius to be able to do well. It's a very deep art form.”

“We spend so much of our lives doing math problems on how to feel good. It's such a waste of time. You're going to feel how you feel. It's hard to just set up a way that you're going to live your life that is going to be just endlessly happy and healthy. That's impossible.”

“I like being strange. I like being hyperbolic and surreal.”

“I think that all the Mel Brooks' company of actors is just tremendous. It was a crazy group of genius people. All of them taught me what kind of actor I should be and what was funny.”

“I don't see how I ever could have thought that having an all-white crew for a special about race would be OK.”

“Gilbert Gottfried, I think, is just the most underappreciated comedian in the world. I think that he doesn't get enough credit for how funny he is.”

“As far as making people feel less depressed, that, in and of itself, is a political act.”

“As someone who is on the more liberal side of things, I personally think this side needs to be a little less open. I know that's part of what it means to be on the more liberal side of things, but that trait can no longer really be a part of our makeup. The simple reason for this is that the opposing side uses our openness to their full advantage.”

“Comedy is all about the character. When you're too focused on the gags, the character suffers, and you don't get the laugh. Comedy has to come from the character.”

“I saw 'A Night at the Opera,' this Marx Brothers film, when I was, like, six years old. I just became obsessed, you know?”

“'Dinner' is completely scripted. There are some improv elements, but I'm not interested in pranking people. It's more like a play than standup.”

“I've always been an actor. I've always approached all my comedy as an actor.”

“I love Adult Swim. They give you so much artistic freedom.”

“I don't hate oatmeal raisin, but it is the worst cookie. Profoundly disappointing.”

“All of my favorite directors are coming from a singular perspective, and I think that's been very lacking in film.”

“I think the thing that really started setting my career on the course that it's on is when I did '1000 Cats' on 'Funny or Die Presents' on HBO. That's what I feel like kind of got me a little bit more into the system.”

“I'm all for free speech, and I don't need my viewpoint to be the only viewpoint.”

“I'm not a fighter. I don't like to get beat up.”

“Andrew Gurland is so precise and, again, such an amazing writer, but then he's also really honest with himself and what he is seeing.”