Things have to be funny first, and if they want to have a point, that's awesome.
John MulaneyRead
Sometimes I - with comedy, it's like someone liking you in high school. They either do, or they don't. And when they don't, they don't. And that's it. There are no appeals. You show up, and you're like, 'Hi! I'm -' and you stumble, and they're like, 'It's over.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
Comedy is a binary experience; people either connect with it or they do not, with no room for second chances.
In this quote, John Mulaney humorously compares the reception of comedy to the dynamics of high school relationships. He suggests that just as someone in high school either likes you or doesn’t, comedy is similarly binary; its effectiveness is immediate and definitive, leaving no opportunity to persuade or redeem oneself if the audience does not respond positively.
Themes
ComedyAudienceHigh SchoolConnectionRejection
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote during a comedy night to emphasize the unpredictable nature of humor.
More from John Mulaney
All quotes →I never turn on the crowd. Sometimes, you think it's a terrible show, and then afterward, sometimes people say they really liked it. So turning on the crowd is only going to alienate the few people who might like it. What do I do in that situation? Get through it.
John MulaneyRead
I have found that people who really want to work at 'Saturday Night Live' and pursue it get pretty close. You have to be funny - but everyone who works there, it was their dream to work there. So it's kind of nice in that way - there's a lot of people who say, 'I just always wanted to do this, and now I'm doing it.'
John MulaneyRead
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