I was 23, and all sorts of people were coming in and out and watching me, like Steve Allen and Bette Midler. David Brenner certainly took me under his wing. To drive home to my little dump in New Jersey often knowing that Steve Allen said, 'You got it' - that validation kept me going in a big, big way.
If you want to devote yourself to the arts, you'd better do it strictly from passion, because there is zero guarantee that you'll get anywhere. The hardest thing is dealing with business people who have nothing to do with your art. They could care less that you're up at 4:30 in the morning writing a joke. Don't expect any sympathy from anybody.
When I was younger, I listened to the greats: Winters, Mel and Carl, Nichols and May, Pryor, Carlin, Klein, Berman and lots of Lenny Bruce albums. But once I started doing fairly well, I didn't want to hear anybody's jokes or premises.
My humor is channeling everything through my brain. For example, when I talk about something, it's how Richard Lewis feels about it. I'm a storyteller. I do a lot of free association.
I certainly wouldn't be a dental hygienist - they should get the Medal of Honor just to look at people's gums.
I know what my sweet spot has been. It's personal stuff, dysfunction, fear of intimacy, family stuff, psychology stuff. I eviscerate myself onstage.
My grandmother was a Jewish juggler: she used to worry about six things at once.
There's a thin line between narcissism, even if it's a healthy narcissism, and entertainment.
I never wanted to do observational humor because I never wanted to tell people what they were seeing.
My performance level has risen - and my anxiety-level has sky-rocketed.
Most Texans think Hanukkah is some sort of duck call.
I didn't ever feel close to my real family. I didn't feel validated; I never felt right because I was always wrong.
