Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" It's how you define yourself. It's not Nirvana or Pearl Jam: it's, 'Do you watch 'Portlandia' or 'Amy Schumer'?' It relates to a specific sense of humor. And, 'Do you know the hidden gems?' Like, if you knew the Pixies in the '80s. "

Related Quotes:

" A lot of the 'Portlandia' characters and a lot of the moments aren't really TV-worthy, but that's what is so refreshing about seeing them. "

Jonathan Krisel

Seeing

Characters

Moments

" As the director, you have it in your mind how you want the part done, how you want someone to do it, and so sometimes you just say, 'Why don't I do it myself?' So for a little role, I'll just do it. "

" Everything else was snarky and high concept, while 'Roseanne' was just a normal family. "

" There's a good family of actors in 'Portlandia.' It's a small community with people who pop up again and again. The show's a little weird show, and you want to grow with the people who are in it, like Dana who plays the chicken waitress, and Ellen who was the adult babysitter. "

" One second here and there will make all the difference between something being funny and not being funny. That's why I like going, 'Well, we wrote that six months ago, and it was funny one time we read it, but it's not funny anymore. So what? Just dump it.' "

Jonathan Krisel

Why

Time

" I saw Sleater Kinney perform back when I was in college. "

" You can tell a lot about a person by what comedians they like. "

" When you make a pilot, you've never seen the show before; you don't know what it is. "

" I went to film school, and I came in when video art was king, weird stuff was king, and there, you don't have a script as your bible. "

" I'm not a big 'scripted comedy' person necessarily. I'm open for wherever comedy can be found. "

" There's some moments in your life where you're just like, 'I need something just funny.' That's the noble thing you can do. Make someone forget about their life for 22 minutes. "

" I always want to push myself. "

" Different actors have different rhythms. My goal as a director is to let these guys get their best work out. "

" On 'Baskets,' I'm not sure what the demographic is. "

Jonathan Krisel

Demographic

Sure

" Nobody sets out to be evil. They're insecure, and they make bad decisions. "

" The end goal is to make a piece that everybody has ownership over and everybody's proud of because everybody contributed to it. I think there's a communist, socialist vibe to 'Portlandia' to make it work. "

" A huge part of making something work is getting along with people you work with. You want them to succeed; you want them to bring their ideas to life as much as possible. "

" Louie Anderson thinks my thing is the absurdness of reality. That's what we do on 'Portlandia' all the time. I try to bring that absurdness of reality to everything. "

" 'Fawlty Towers' was a huge influence on me. I mean, it was so slapstick, too. 'Are You Being Served?' was on 15 times a day, it seemed like, and I loved it. "

" I know comedy; I know how to do crazy, off-the-wall stuff that makes me laugh out loud. "

Jonathan Krisel

Crazy

Know

" It's exciting being in the present. You're always reading emails, talking about the future, looking at pictures on Facebook of the past. But living in the present? It's almost a dead medium. I almost want to do a sketch about being in the present. "

" Everything on TV is perfect, and it's so boring. "

Jonathan Krisel

Perfect

Everything

" I know, especially in my family, people's feelings get hurt over the tiniest things. I'm sure that's true in every family. But, for instance, one year, I came a little bit late to Thanksgiving, and I was supposed to bring a salad. And I just brought a bag of lettuce, and put it in a bowl. Five years later, I heard that my mom was incensed. "

" In your twenties, you might want to be radical and change the world, but in your thirties, you might just want to be happy and ground yourself. "

" I love the beige, tan, stucco world where the sun bleaches things out to the point that it can look somewhat ugly. "

" I love working with nonactors. "

" There's a thing in comedy where you take one step into a bad idea, but if you take 10, then it becomes a good idea again. "

" 'Portlandia' is 100 percent improvised, and I came into this business not knowing anything. "

" With all the outlets, if you have a strong comedic voice, there's a venue to do your thing. It's a bit of a meritocracy, where the best stuff rises to the top. "

" I'm a huge 'Twin Peaks' fan. "