The great British public is renowned throughout the world for its sense of humour.
People will be surprised to learn that I’ve got a sense of humour.
I still see the world as a place of bitter irony and black humour, failed hopes, dashed plans. I hope to make my work sparer, to outgrow my desire to show off.
I spent the first 16 years of my life in Scotland. My whole family is there. It’s in my blood and informs my sense of humour, my point of view, the people I choose to spend time with, everything.
One of my great regrets, and I don’t have many, is that I spent too long putting people’s status and reputation ahead of their more important qualities. I learned far too late in life that a long list of letters after someone’s name is no guarantee of compassion, kindness, humour, all the far more relevant stuff.
Everybody loves good humour and in movies, we are in search of things that make viewers laugh.
When you’re playing King Lear, you have to have a little humour, or you will have no tragedy when the king dies.
So I wrote what I hoped would be science fiction, I was not at all sure if what I wrote would be acceptable even. But I don’t say that I consciously wrote with humour. Humour is a part of you that comes out.
Imitation is the best form of flattery; people generally understand that my comedy is not intended to hurt anybody. Occasionally, an actor might take exception, but they should just understand that it is all done in good humour.
Stand-up comics tend to make two assumptions: that Christians have no sense of humour and that all their audiences are unbelievers.
I get very confused about being called a comedian, because when you say ‘I’m a comedian,’ people expect you to crack a joke. Maybe I use laughter and humour to make people think. I don’t know what you call that – a humourist? A satirist? A pessimistic comedian? I don’t know. Satirists can be very dark.
Laughter is an important part of a good relationship. It’s an immense achievement when you can move from your thinking that your partner is merely an idiot to thinking that they are that wonderfully complex thing called a loveable idiot. And often that means having a little bit of a sense of humour about their flaws.
I wish actors got more credit for humour.
Top Gear’ is all about the cars. We’ve got humour in it but the unique premise of the show is it all starts with the car.
I have never understood why it should be considered derogatory to the Creator to suppose that he has a sense of humour.
I’ve said things on Twitter that I’ve said deliberately because I think they’re out of order, I think that’s the sense of humour that I’ve got. I like saying things that I think are terrible, because it gives me a buzz.
’50/50′ is a comedy. I shouldn’t say it’s a buddy comedy because it’s not farcical, and it’s based on a true story, but it’s viewing that experience through a very truthful lens of humour.
I love the Russians for their verve, their melancholia, their vivacity, their unpredictability, and their humour.
The hall-mark of American humour is its pose of illiteracy.
From my point of view, humour and irony include tragedy; they’re two sides of the same coin.
I haven’t that much of a sense of humour.
Everything serious in the world is well approached by humour. It’s a powerful and often quite subversive tool. I suppose there is an argument that could be made against me for being frivolous, but I do think a laugh is a very generous thing to give.
I have never considered myself English Both my husband and my son say I don’t understand English humour, and they don’t always understand what I think is funny, or when I’m being ironic.
I spent more time in America, but I developed a very English sense of humour. I clicked into it deeply with Peter Sellers, who is still probably my favourite comedian.
I’ve always loved absurdism and plays of that genre. I think that my humour is very much rooted in theatre and drama.
My son got me into ‘The Mighty Boosh.’ I just love that surrealist humour.
Humour can always be found in a place where there’s fearlessness.
I’m a Londoner, and I feel I can’t live anywhere but London, but I feel more connected to Ireland as a country. I ‘get’ Irish people and the humour here, which is more subtle.
Jews, black people – any people who are hated or who have suffered, either as individuals or as a people – use humour. It is a survival skill.
Of the things which nourish the imagination, humour is one of the most needful, and it is dangerous to limit or destroy it.
It is hard for power to enjoy or incorporate humour and satire in its system of control.
Taking the humour out of Dickens, it’s not Dickens any more.
Comedy films never die, all they need is a good script instead of merely relying on humour. That said, I would love to portray more characters like the one I play in ‘Perariyathavar.’
Try to exercise gentleness, kindness and humour, and you cannot go far wrong.
Humour is learned behaviour, and I know exactly why I learned to be funny. I did it from a very early age. My dad was a hilarious man, and the way we interacted was being silly together. It was a way to hold his attention.
There’s so much light in Broughty Ferry. I think the humour in Glasgow is darker, because it’s much more gloomy, there’s a perpetual misery there.
I’ve always been a fun-loving guy, and my films will always have some humour.
I consider myself something of a raconteur. I have a rather audacious sense of humour.
Humour and high seriousness… Perfect bedfellows, I think. Though I usually phrase it in terms of comedy and darkness. Comedy without darkness rapidly becomes trivial. And darkness without comedy rapidly becomes unbearable.
I’m always impressed by confidence, kindness and a sense of humour.
Inevitably you’re going to be delayed somewhere. Always have a book. Always have a movie. Always have a notebook. And then always have a sense of humour.
If you’re an athlete and you completely focus on the body, you’re missing other components. Similarly, if you’re trying to broaden your mind but not also being attentive to your sense of humour and your spirit, then you’re not going to grow and develop so fast.
You could say that when you introduce humour to your work, you also step back a little from it. You create a distance.
My humour and my work ethic definitely come from my Scottish side, and I have to say the sense of humour doesn’t really translate when I’m in America.
My parents’ divorce left me with a lot of sadness and pain and acting, and especially humour, was my way of dealing with all that.
English people have a great sense of humour.
Content films necessary don’t go by the content, they go by the emotions. Content films are about content whether you want to portray the content or sell it through humour, through seriousness, is a choice of the filmmaker.
Mandy Sutter’s ‘Bush Meat’ triumphs in its lean prose and true dialogue, in its disarming humour, in its evocation of a family divided by sexism and racism in 1960s Nigeria.
Maybe it’s the buildings, maybe it’s the weather, but you can see it affects us – that Scottish gallows humour; our tendency towards bleakness, to look at things in a negative way. Those definitely come out in my writing.
As voiceover artistes, we don’t transcribe; we translate. One has to communicate what the character is feeling, and introduce humour where needed with a regional flavour that the audience can relate to.
We had to do the same thing here. To top that sequel was quite a task. Mike had a couple of good conceptual humour and character ideas, which got me back into it.
I grew up watching ‘Corrie,’ and I still watch it whenever I can. It’s got everything – drama, humour, and great characters. I used to watch it even when I was living in Dubai.
Paul Verhoeven is one of my favourite directors. I love his ability to mash extreme violence with humour and satire.
I’m constantly looking for humour in the news. The funniest things are in the minutiae.
When you see ‘MHN,’ you will see that the film is based on relationships which are serious, but there is a sense of humour to it, too.
Woody Allen’s sense of humour has always attracted me, and I love the way he can make life so meaningful and yet show us what a farce it can be at the same time.
Humour has always been my cup of tea.
I used to be a columnist for ‘Golf Monthly’ and have contributed articles for national newspapers based on the humour that is in abundance in the game, which is more than can be said of tennis.
Passion and kindness are the most attractive qualities. Sense of humour is up there, but kindness becomes more important as you get older. You realise the funny, charming ones aren’t always the best people.
People who know me know that there’s a light-hearted side, humour… But you could easily say I am cheeky.
It’s tough making people laugh, as we have so much going on in our lives. We forget to see humour as part of everything. The same thing translates on screen, too.
I like men with quick wit, good conversation and a great sense of humour. I love banter. I want a man to like me for me – I want him to be authentic.
It’s the teenage and university crowd, so we give them lots of sex jokes and gross humour.
