Words matter. These are the best Richard Lewis Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I know what my sweet spot has been. It’s personal stuff, dysfunction, fear of intimacy, family stuff, psychology stuff. I eviscerate myself onstage.
I never gave much thought to anything since I was 22 years old, when I got into the arts, so when Larry David came to my house in 2000, I didn’t even think about it – I just thought about showing up on the set.
I certainly wouldn’t be a dental hygienist – they should get the Medal of Honor just to look at people’s gums.
When you do something in the moment, it may just be for that stage, that audience, that head space that you’re in.
I’m psyched-up when I do radio. I can reach hundreds of thousands of people in a market. And way psyched-up when I’m on television. For people not to take it seriously is foolish.
My grandmother was a Jewish juggler: she used to worry about six things at once.
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.
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.
I’m 70; I’m just glad I’m on top of the ground. Honest to God.
I love being famous. It validates that I have something to say.
Most Texans think Hanukkah is some sort of duck call.
My performance level has risen – and my anxiety-level has sky-rocketed.
When I started out, I struggled, and I was broke a lot. But I’m glad I struggled, and I’m glad I was broke a lot.
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.
I was way more comfortable in front of strangers than I was in front of relatives. So when they would laugh at my dysfunctions or my anxiety, I felt less alone, and I still do it for the same reason.
