Tony Rock

“It's part of the gift and the curse of coming behind my brother. I'm not afforded the luxury of just taking a set casual, taking the night off. Because if I bomb, it's, 'Oh, he's not funny - he's just doing it because of his brother.'”

“I will never be the comic that apologizes for telling a joke.”

“My favorite comics are the ones who say funny stuff but also give you the message. They give you the laughter, but there's also the, 'Mmm - I didn't take that into consideration.'”

“I was depressed for a long time.”

“Mexicans work so hard. Jamaicans are like, 'Hey mon. Take it easy. You work too 'ard.' Sneak into the country Sunday night, working Monday morning.”

“Nobody needs a chitlin.”

“When I was growing up, I was really into comedy. I listened to a lot of comedy albums. I loved Richard Pryor, but the comic that had the most impact on me was always my brother Chris, who was in the next room. It was tangible. If Chris could make it, I could try.”

“What amazes me is that the whole world is fascinated by Kim Kardashian. What's her talent?”

“I was on the school bus telling Richard Pryor jokes. I was sneaking, listening to Richard Pryor albums and would go to school the next day, tell all the jokes, and get in trouble because I was cursing.”

“I'm a skinny kid from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.”

“When you're doing standup, it's just you. It's your written jokes. You perform it however your personality is.”

“I keep saying this - and I keep putting it off because I get busy - but I keep saying one year I'm gonna tape our Thanksgiving dinner or, like, our Christmas dinner and maybe put it on my website just for people to see how funny it really is, how much fun it really, really is.”

“Regular people laugh harder. Industry people are stuffy, very judgmental.”

“If I modeled myself after anybody, it probably would have been Richard Pryor.”

“I know I'm going to be doing standup for the rest of my life.”

“I've always been into stand-up, and I always wanted to be a comic because it was like the dream job as a kid, and my brother, being the patriarch, he paved the way.”

“I love to eat. I'm a foodie, and when I'm on vacation, I want to be a foodie with their culture, with their foods.”

“I have seven brothers and sisters, and they could all be standup comics!”

“If you're at the Comedy Store or the Laugh Factory or the Improv, even two minutes helps. You never know who might be in the audience.”

“People say an Oscar validates your career. No, it doesn't. There's more good actors without Oscars than there are with Oscars.”