Quotes by Christopher Guest

“I am interested in the notion that people can become so obsessed by their world that they lose sense and awareness of how they appear to other people. Theyre so earnest about it. But thats true of so many things.”

“I dont work with high-concept things that start with a premise, Wouldnt it be funny if there was this spy who met a... For me, it could be, What about people who sell shoes? That must be a bizarre world... when they meet at conventions and talk about shoes.”

“We populate the stories with people who share certain traits. Invariably, someone will say, I know that guy. Every world has odd people.”

“Its not about one person. Thats human behavior, and its what I like to watch. I like to sit in the park and watch people.”

“[When I spoke to Jane Lynch at the premiere of the R rated sex comedy,] The 40 Year Old Virgin, ... Oh, goodie!”

“I have a half Lab and half golden retriever named Henry and then the other one, Lucy, is half Akita and half something else.”

I started on the clarinet. I was going to a music school - my mother took me - and the guy said, What do you want to play? I said the drums, and my mother said, No, you dont. You dont want to play the drums. So I said, Maybe the trumpet would be cool. And my mother said, I dont think so. And then the clarinet was handed to me.

I talk to people of different ages, and a guy whos 38 who says, I couldve played Major League Baseball, but I had this knee injury... Yeah, probably not. Its a big thing with men and sports, where they think they could have touched that thing.

In the kind of films that I do, there is an extremely limited number of people that can improvise. The reason the ensemble continues in the movies is because those are the people that can do that kind of work. Its not just an accident those people are in the film.

As an actor, I trust my ear.

People want me to be funny all the time. They think Im being funny no matter what I say or do and thats not the case.

I get asked, Who would you really like to work with? Im already working with them. Smart, talented, funny people, good musicians, an extended family, good friends.

Whats interesting about Laurel and Hardy is that in most comedy teams, theres a straight man, and then theres the funny guy. And with Laurel and Hardy, theyre both the funny guy.