Armando Iannucci Quotes

I hate the idea of labels and saying you are member of one party or another and signing up to all sorts of policies that you don't have a view on or don't believe in. Because I'm not a politician, I don't have to be consistent in what I say and how I behave.

When I'm making something, I've always felt in charge and therefore able to call the shots. But what you've got to do is stop that turning into arrogance or despotism!

When you do a movie as opposed to a TV show, it's always tempting to think everything has to be big and exaggerated and spectacular. And in fact, a lot of the funniest comedy films have been very intimate.

I started quite young at school, compering a charity event at an old people's home. I would do stand up and impressions and enjoyed the laughter. It's very addictive. It's a lovely sensation to say something and hear a whole room laugh.

There is still an element of the BBC that feels it is somehow wrong, or it will be open to criticism, if it makes more money.

There's something inherently comic about the fact that politicians make things worse by worrying too much about something.

The only shared reality we have is things we have seen on television.

I kind of like that thing of you being caught up. You think you can judge someone, and before you know it, you've been swayed by them, and actually you want more of them.

I refuse to work evenings or weekends. If a script sees my character meeting for dinner, I put a line through the words and make them meet for lunch.

I'm a bit of a political geek anyway, so you tend to write how you think the rhythms of an administration will go.

What's funny about that office is it's entirely dependent on how close you are to the president, because the president decides what your role will be. If you get on with the president, that's great; if you fall out with the president, power can go away.

Joe Biden is that special combination of someone who is very talented and influential, but when he starts speaking, there's inevitably going to be headlines written about something he said.

Never underestimate the intelligence of the audience; make good programmes, and they will come.

Death is a fickle hen, and random are her eggs.

I briefly thought of becoming a priest but quickly saw that would be ridiculous.

My 11-year-old thinks I'm cool because he watches things I've made on YouTube.

Write what makes you laugh not what you think will make someone else laugh.

Any president's second term ends up being quite messy. It never goes quite according to plan.

I am an optimist even though I am told everything I do is negative and cynical.

I assume everyone around me is older because they look more responsible.