When comedy is good, it’s jazz. The beats of it, the looseness, the improvisational part, the music-the way you hit the inflection, the high notes of a joke. It’s all melody to me.
BILLY CRYSTALWhen comedy is good, it’s jazz. The beats of it, the looseness, the improvisational part, the music-the way you hit the inflection, the high notes of a joke. It’s all melody to me.
BILLY CRYSTALI was introducing [director and producer] Hal Roach – Mr. Roach was 100 years old, he was one of the fathers of early days in films, he put Laurel with Hardy, he created the Our Gang kids, and all these silent movies he did – he was a giant.
BILLY CRYSTALFrom the first time I saw Sid Caesar be funny I knew that’s what I had to do.
BILLY CRYSTALAt some point I stopped stand-up because I didn’t have something to say on a nightly basis.
BILLY CRYSTALIf you do something for the first time, you will always remember it. If your Dad has something to do with it, you write about it.
BILLY CRYSTALI had really good hearing and when you’re scared it gets heightened so you hear scratching noises or something.
BILLY CRYSTALI never stopped believing in us and I never felt like I was wanting for anything, except for my father, and that was not going to be. I describe in the book [that] I don’t think I ever felt young again in that way.
BILLY CRYSTALWomen need a reason to have sex, men just need a place.
BILLY CRYSTALBambi, to a kid, was scary.
BILLY CRYSTALGood news, they found Nemo! The bad news is, they found him in one of Wolfgang Puck’s puff pastries.
BILLY CRYSTALNobody is more truthful when he’s acting than De Niro.
BILLY CRYSTALWhen I’ve gotten criticism, it’s that it’s too long, too soft, didn’t hit the government hard enough. Then when I do hit the government, they go, What’s he doing hitting the government?
BILLY CRYSTALBy the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere.
BILLY CRYSTALWhen you realize you want to invest the rest of your lifestyle with somebody, you want the rest of your life to commence as quickly as achievable.
BILLY CRYSTALI’m going to go on just living and laughing and loving.
BILLY CRYSTALThat’s the thing about jazz: it’s free flowing, it comes from your soul.
BILLY CRYSTAL