Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I mean, musical theater really informed so much of my life. It just so perfectly brings order to chaos, which is why we love theater.
I like the idea of sort of being able to stick a pin in something and deflate it with humor and just get a laugh, otherwise we'll cry.
It wasn't until I moved to New York that I started actually leaving the house and doing things. You know, I was a typical theater nerd.
I celebrate everything. We always had a menorah and a Christmas tree - not for any reason other than we always liked celebrating things.
I'm a tech-savvy person by nature, but I have had to train myself to do what I've got to do. I learned Final Cut and Adobe After Effects.
If you think about it, it's the worst stage name that anybody can possibly think of, because it sounds ridiculous, but it's my real name.
My father was a textbook narcissist. If he didn't like the narrative he'd start gaslighting you. He threatened the democracy of our family.
It's a great thing about this Internet thing we've got going. I have the luxury of not going through filters or network execs to do my art.
My parents always had a Christmas tree in the house and I was put in ballet at a very young age. So every year I would be in 'The Nutcracker.'
I don't work with anyone. I have no editors. I have no directors. There's no one even holding the camera or anything. It's just me in my apartment.
To perform live, to get that thrill of the audience reaction is great. There is no equivalent of watching someone stand up and clap on the Internet.
I moved to New York in 2003, I was a very young 22-year-old, so I just kind of started finding my way as a human and was working odd jobs here and there.
I have parents coming to the live show saying that they watch my videos with their kids. I have teachers saying they have used the videos with their students.
My father was Donald Trump, and my mother was Hillary Clinton, and my grandmother was Nancy Pelosi. And I was - I wanna say, Mike Pence, 'cause he's the gayest one.
I was doing YouTube before YouTube was a thing. I was making videos on my camcorder for my friends. I would do parodies of Britney Spears videos and stuff like that.
Music and comedy, musical comedy, specifically, really helped me through my childhood. I felt out of place, I felt lots of adversity, and I felt scared all the time.
That's the downside of total creative control: You're isolated and after a while you can lose a little perspective. But I've taught myself not to listen to my own self-doubt.
My father was Donald Trump in many ways. His narcissism. I grew up with that generation of guys from New York, a generation of New York phony snake-oil-salesmen kind of energy.
Any comedic-type person will tell you there's no greater high in the world than someone to laugh at a joke or tell you, 'I haven't laughed so hard' or 'You made my day' with comedy.
It's amazing that my career took off from my living room. It's an amazing time when everyone has a platform and everyone has the ability to get where they're going without the middle-man.
I started out doing musical theater specifically - I thought I would eventually move to New York and audition for stuff, and maybe wind up on Broadway or something. Well, that didn't happen.
People, I think, are more interested in being offended than getting to the heart of a situation. And to go after comedians to me is so counterproductive, because comedy is kind of a medicine.
I hear from people all the time from all sides of the aisle, and I hear from people strangely enough who say, 'I don't agree with you politically... But I love your videos. They make me laugh.'
I really spent most of my childhood in my bedroom watching Barbra Streisand movies and musicals and making videos. That was kind of where it all started for me. I would go to the beach occasionally.
I'm a human person, so I do have some sort of compassion for even the people I'm mocking. But at the end of the day, I'm the little guy taking on the big guy. That to me is not bullying. That's satire.
If I have a passion for anything, it's more the truth than politics, and I think that's what got me interested in comedy in the first place, because the best comedy is the truth. People recognize that.
The worse things are on the world stage, the more fodder there will always be for comedians. But at the end of the day, I trust in my abilities to make comedy and create art, with or without Donald Trump.
There's something really powerful about comedy. When the little guy, the comedian, punches up towards the big guy, or Trump, exposing him, calling out the emperor for having no clothes, that's really important.
It was really my grandmother who was the biggest influence because she'd talk back to the celebrities and politicians on TV. She was a combination of Joan Rivers, Elaine Stritch, Betty White, and Bea Arthur rolled into one.
As far as inspiration, the most I got from YouTube was that I'm kind of self-taught by watching YouTube tutorials on how to use Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro. I just taught myself enough to produce the content that I had in my head.
The fact that I am able to put myself out there in this age of social media and YouTube is really a gift to someone who never felt like I fit into any particular mold. One of the reasons people are responding to it is because it is coming from a pure place.
I mean, I'm from the Joan Rivers, Don Rickles kind of old-school comedy in that nothing is off the table, certainly not in politics. So, I think if you can find something to laugh at, that's got people kind of on edge, or, you know, stressed out, I think you gotta go for it.
I guess to long story short it, I was really just working day jobs when I moved to New York and trying to pay the bills, working in restaurants and as a receptionist, and at one of those reception jobs, I just got so bored, I started a blog, honing my writing skills a little bit.
I really wasn't raised with much religion. I mean we practice kind of the basic tradition, but for me it was always more of a cultural thing and that's a part of me and my ancestry that I always loved. I mean, I think that a lot of my humor is 'Jewish humor' at its root. And so culturally I love that part of myself.