Moshe Kasher

“I was a sign language interpreter from when I was 17, but I don't do that anymore. Both of my parents were deaf. I grew up in a deaf household. I don't do any jokes about it really, but yeah that was my day job.”

“But, for me, I'm such a complex person with so many different facets and so much depth that asking me the same question twice seems almost unfair to the reader. I'm going to die a mystery already, so you want to find out as much about me as you can while I'm still here.”

“I wanted to be like Phil Donahue for the internet generation.”

“There are so many political talk shows out there that are doing such a good job that it would be foolish of me to try to get in the ring with them.”

“Part of the problem of comedians doing specials every year - when the masters do it, it's like, 'Okay, I guess, go for it' - but when people aren't at the top of the top level, bits don't get to cook long enough.”

“Especially going to Oakland public schools where as a white kid you have to figure out if you're going to sink or swim socially, one of the main ways to stay buoyant was to stay funny.”

“I like Portland. It's a cute city. You've got a lot of twirly mustaches and things - I'm into that, the hipsters.”

“I don't know how effective it is or isn't, but there's something weird about putting cameras on human beings, and talking on camera.”

“I'm not tied to the news cycle. I can do an episode on cultural appropriation, not on Rachel Dolezal. We might make a joke about her, but that's not going to be the focus of the conversation.”

“Problematic' is one of these meaningless jargon words that people on the internet outrage circles throw at one another.”

“Judaism is a big part of my background, obviously, and my reality.”

“When did I become a fast-talking Jew? As time went on, my bits started to become longer, and that became part of the signature.”

“If you look at vaudeville in theaters vamping between acts, it was always jokes written and banter in the moment.”

“I'm from Oakland and I started doing comedy around 2001.”

“I watch 'Watchmen', and I wish I was in that writers room, so I could figure out what they're doing, story-breaking-wise. I've never seen a television show like that.”

“The most hardcore, edgiest comedian in the world has no desire to hurt people and make people have a bad evening. Everybody wants everybody to have a good time.”

“I don't feel I can get used to my face wearing glasses... more than one pair of glasses, or any one pair until a cataclysmic, cosmic event causes me to get a new pair.”

“The thing with Netflix is everyone who reads this article can go to Netflix, watch 'Live in Oakland' and come to D.C. and see me do a different show. It's a constant source of people getting to know me.”

“Hip-hop was a big part of my life growing up, especially West Coast gangster rap.”

“Crowd work has this feeling of being very temporary and of the moment, and I think that's why it sometimes gets a bad rap or a stigma.”