Shelley Berman Quotes (32 Quotes)


    I am presently in my thirteenth year of teaching a graduate course at the University of Southern California.

    How do you tell how a man has been funny How do you do the sound of his voice The turn of his face But I will tell you he was as funny as any man I've ever seen.

    The most memorable performance was my appearance in concert in Carnegie Hall. The first standup to do so.

    If I asked for a (stage) light, it was not an ask but a demand. If I demanded, I was having a fit,

    I am in the Master of Professional Writing program teaching Humor Writing, Literary and Dramatic.



    Inside was the second LP album of a comedian's performance before an audience.


    As a culture I see us as presently deprived of subtleties. The music is loud, the anger is elevated, sex seems lacking in sweetness and privacy.




    The Steve Allen Sunday night show had the right to two options after my first performance.

    While in New York, struggling for a theatrical career, I started writing sketches, free-lance, for the Steve Allen Tonight Show.


    So that this thing that aired in 1963 would result a few years later in personal bankruptcy, would result in having people be on edge with me, wondering when I'm going to blow up.

    I believe it is important for comedians to know who came before them.

    Few, very few, will ever be able to craft a joke as beautifully as Pat. He was able to just make it all happen. I don't think he was great at telling them, but he was sure great at putting them down.


    It's great conversation. In the industry, it's great talk,

    If you've never met a student from the University of Chicago, I'll describe him to you. If you give him a glass of water, he says, This is a glass of water. But is it a glass of water And if it is a glass of water, why is it a glass of water And eventually he dies of thirst.

    We were sitting watching television, had finished a nice dinner, everything was fine. Other people were in serious trouble. Then suddenly, we were moving,


    While you're improvising, you may come up with something which will break him up. As soon as that smile comes out, you know that, hey, we're having fun.

    As much experience, education and awareness as one can attain is important for a comedian.

    Today's audiences are different only insomuch as today's people are different, and I do not think today's people are substantially different.

    Outside came in '60. The Edge in '61. All three made Gold, but the biggest seller was Inside.

    Incidentally, I'm still looking for acting work, my first love.

    I was concerned about who am I' to the audience. So when they (the filmmakers) said, We'll follow you,' I bit. I insisted on the right to approve the rough cut. So there I was, safe, everything fine,

    My first job was at a Chicago night club called Mr. Kelly's.

    Unquestionably, standup comedy is and has always been an art form.

    The old problems - love, money, security, status, health, etc. - are still here to plague us or please us.


    More Shelley Berman Quotations (Based on Topics)


    Education - Work & Career - People - Performance - Love - Comedy - Jokes & Humor - Teaching - Experience - Privacy - Confession - Art - Money & Wealth - Writing - Light - Television - Gold - Security - Custom & Convention - View All Shelley Berman Quotations

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