Eddie Griffin

“One night I went to this comedy club and paid a hard-earned $5 to get in, and every comic that came up was dry as an old turkey wishbone, as in not even close to being funny. When you're broke and you pay $5 to see somebody, you want them to be funny.”

“When I was 6, my mother put me on a picnic table in front of the whole family and told me to do my James Brown impression. I realized it was a great way of getting attention.”

“There is a systematic effort to destroy every black male entertainer's image. They want us all to have an asterisk by our name.”

“I didn't want to be a comedian. I was just funny. I jumped on stage and found out I was good at it.”

“I'm truly a believer that Satan was behind everything that happened in that White House, and now, the Republican party. Anything that is good for the people, they're against it.”

“Why censor yourself? You got to tell the truth as you see it.”

“Getting on stage doing standup anytime is hard. You never know what you're going to say. You live and die on your next word.”

“I feel I have audiences on my side, and that's what keeps the movie machine going for me.”

“I was born black in this country. Trust me, I've seen the government.”

“My mama whupped me away from the penitentiary.”

“If you got love and you believe in yourself, anything is possible.”

“I'm not that cool in real life. I'm only cool in a goofy way.”

“Women are empowered, and they got better jobs than their husbands.”

“I like racism above the ground so it can be dealt with, but when it's subversive and subjugated, it gets real dangerous.”

“The devil is a fun character to play because he's everywhere and no where all the time.”

“I also know you're only as good as your last show.”

“I remember asking my mom when I was 10 if I was adopted because I didn't look like my brothers and sisters. She said, 'Are you crazy? You think I am gonna go buy another mouth to feed?' So that settled that.”

“I don't go to the running of the bulls because I don't like being chased by bulls.”

“I am definitely scary to a lot of people. I talk about realities that some folks just don't want to hear.”

“Comedy is a tool to be used so that people can relate to each other.”