Ted Alexandro Quotes

I have a lot of friends who are getting married. I try to avoid talking to them about their sex lives now 'cause it's so depressing. One guy told me it had been six months since he had gotten to second base with his wife. Yeah, I don't know which one was more pathetic: that he used the phrase 'second base' or that he hadn't been there in six months?

After twenty plus years of performing hundreds of shows a year, I prefer to try things out on stage rather than for friends. I don't see the benefit in that, really.

Inherent in mourning is celebration. Mourning without celebration or some form of acceptance leaves you stuck.

I learned so many things from Louis C.K., but the most impactful thing was witnessing his work ethic. He works harder than anyone I've ever been around in comedy. And he takes risks and doesn't dwell on what might be perceived as failures.

Comedians can articulate some important and profound ideas that address a lot of the hypocrisy we're inundated with (in the media).

Comedy clubs are arguably one of the last bastions of uncensored, public free speech.

Comedians act every night on stage, so they have great performing chops. They especially know how to play themselves, which is how we set Teachers Lounge up.

Sometimes crowds start out not liking someone but then they shift and love them. Or vice versa. It can shift on a dime.

I've seen people who are not very likeable but hilarious. I think comedians get to a point where they know they're funny, so they don't care - in the sense that they know what they're doing. They have a skill.

The more you perform, the more adept you get at the nuances of navigating that communal conversation.

Laughing at something is a form of accepting it or at list making peace with it.

It's harder to reveal sides of yourself that make you vulnerable but it's another muscle that can be developed and one that I think is worthwhile. That said, everyone finds their style. It's personal.

I'm just looking for a little mystery in life ... like things you can't explain. Like, you go to Mexico, they tell you don't drink the water. You go to any diner here, who brings you the water? It's a mystery.

I think there comes a time in any comedian's career where they can either coast or keep growing and evolving.

Ultimately, an audience wants to laugh. That's who they like, the comedian who makes them laugh.

Opening for Louis C.K. during his "Hilarious" tour was a great experience for me. He is the generation just ahead of me, because he started so young. So it's like he's sort of a senior and I'm a junior, in terms of the business. He's done so much - from writing on Conan and Chris Rock to writing and directing movies, having his own HBO show, "Lucky Louie," and now having "Louie" on FX.

In terms of my own work ethic, I've always been a determined person. When I'm focused on something, I try to see it through.

Some comedians are silly or goofy or straight joke writers who avoid anything subversive or political. Others are drawn to it. The beauty of standup is there is room for everyone, and years of performing in front of crowds will dictate what you can or can't do.

Louis CK went from a writer/comedian to winning Emmys for his own show because he works his ass off.

Comics can definitely be subversive on the whole, but it's a stylistic thing.

I think the more you hone your voice, take risks and talk about things that matter, the better chance you have of getting into the realm of the philosophers of stand up. But you have to be funny.

I don't know that I have a single comedy philosophy. But talking about things that matter to you is a good place to start. Listening is a big part of it, too.

I wasn't in the drama department, but I auditioned anyway and he not only cast me but also included a few sketches that I wrote, which really sparked my pursuit of comedy.

Teachers Lounge is a web series I co-created with Hollis James. We intentionally left the apostrophe out to turn Lounge into a verb. The show is about teachers lounging around, wasting time.

Sometimes it's fun to explore ideas that might make people uncomfortable. If you let it, there's a lot of self-censoring that can go on in the name of remaining likeable, but I don't find that an artistically interesting path to take.

Your stage persona is usually a version of yourself, to varying degrees. Some folks do a full-on character, so that's different. But most comics do some version of themselves.

The blues is a hopeful music. It helps you process something rather than avoid it. It's like mourning, in essence.

A person riding a unicycle on a tightrope doesn't worry about being likeable; they're doing something amazing that very few people can do.

That heightened dynamic can produce interesting, funny ideas that are phrased in ways that surprise even you, as the performer.

Not that that's the goal, but sometimes these funny insights can also be deeply profound.

Comedy takes all of life and puts it through a lens of acceptance, just by the mere act of talking about it on stage in a communal setting. It's very primal and ritualistic in that sense.