Michael Che Quotes

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Michael Che

Profession : Comedian

Birth : May 19, 1983

I like comedy that's not political but social, dealing with issues of people talking to each other. No matter what your politics, we still have to live with each other. Politics is taking a side. I'm not running for office, you know?

Michael Che

I'm a huge Steven Martin fan.

Michael Che

I remember liking the MTV awards when I was a kid.

Michael Che

I would love to do more TV and do movies for the experience, but my ultimate focus is stand-up. It's the number one thing that I love most because there is nothing like being with a live audience.

Michael Che

Black people have, like, this thing, and I have it, we all have it, we have this kind of embarrassment. Where we don't like white people to find out our little insecurities and out little quirks. We don't really like that that much. It's kind of, we're like, 'Don't let them know - that ours; that's for us.'

Michael Che

When I was little, I used to suck the candy coating off of Advil and spit the white part back in the bottle.

Michael Che

I feel like comedy is only respected on the highest level, and on every other level, it's like a joke, like, 'Ugh - comedian,' you know?

Michael Che

In comedy, you work with people so often that they just become familiar faces - it's like a fraternity.

Michael Che

I'm not saying I shouldn't have to pay any taxes, but I shouldn't have to pay as many as somebody that votes. I don't vote because I don't know anything about politics. And honestly, I can't believe they'd let me. Isn't that an important thing? They'll just let me pick the president! I don't gotta know anything!

Michael Che

I think satire suffered under Obama, but not because of Obama. People are more sensitive now than ever, and strong satirical voices are stifled because of that. I don't think a Clinton presidency would change that.

Michael Che

Yes, I believe in equality. But I don't like the word 'feminist,' because it's such a rational belief to think that women are equal to men, and I'm a rational person. You shouldn't be labeled for being reasonable.

Michael Che

I feel like most standup comedians do it the way I did it, where you just go to open mics and cut your teeth. Sketch and improv - they take a lot of classes. It's not unusual, the way I did it. It's just that, with standup, no one knows how to start because there's no book for it; there's no place you can really go.

Michael Che

I get to do what I love for money. It's weird to process that.

Michael Che

If you really think everything in your life, everything that you benefit from comes from socially aware, like-minded, good-hearted people, then you're out of your mind. If you want only those people to have good jobs, we would have to learn how to adjust very quickly without those people. Maybe I'm cynical, but I truly believe that.

Michael Che

If I think something's funny, I try to mold it into a joke as soon as possible. Once I have a joke, I say it a million different ways on stage until I find a rhythm and it feels like it's as good as it can be.

Michael Che

I can tell how honest a joke is or how true a joke is by how fast the laughs come.

Michael Che

I always feel like you don't do comedy for the special - you do the specials so you can do comedy. That's like a commercial for people to come out and support the new shows.

Michael Che

I used to paint pictures - what happened was, I used to draw and paint pictures. And some of my friends would be, like, 'Yo, you should put that on a T-shirt,' because that's where their brain would go.

Michael Che

Your number one job as a comedian is to be aware. You're supposed to understand the temperature in the room more than anyone on the planet - that's the whole craft of comedy.

Michael Che

If I'm doing a show on Sunday at 7 P.M., that wouldn't be the same show that I'd do at 11 P.M. on a Saturday - it's a different room at a different time of day with different sensibilities. That doesn't mean you have to compromise your art, but it is communication: you have to know how to talk to people.

Michael Che