And I'm very animated when I do it anyway, so my hands would move and so on, so the character moves like me.
And I'm writing a play - a one-man show that's very, very autobiographical, which ought to be ready by the end of the year.
And so they were real funny, hip, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Louie Armstrong, all these guys were always around.
Any therapist I've ever met, I have a lot of friends from school who are, their lives are stinky.
As a director and an actor, I encourage improvisation but in character and in the moment of what it is.
Bambi, to a kid, was scary.
Change is such hard work.
De Niro agreed to come to the reading, but he hadn't committed yet. So he showed up, and about 30 people were there, and they really enjoyed it.
Even when I was in school shows, in elementary school doing plays, I'd always go off book and start improvising.
From the first time I saw Sid Caesar be funny I knew that's what I had to do.
Gentlemen, start your egos.
Hopefully you've got something good to do, and people trust you.
I can't be funny if my feet don't feel right.
I didn't have a specific monster guy.
I had fears of the dark, you know. I didn't like being in the dark.
I had generalized anxiety which is worse.
I had really good hearing and when you're scared it gets heightened so you hear scratching noises or something.
I kept pushing, saying make that a little edgier, you can go a little further.
I knew the audience that would come to see this would be adults and kids and the older, wrinkled kids will love this movie too.
I played clarinet but what was natural for me was to imitate them and make them laugh.
I really like to watch it, and I'll spend part of it with the Arizona Diamond Backs, a small team I like.
I'm comfortable being old... being black... being Jewish.
It was also the timing of the '50's. There were also some great comedy shows on live TV.
It's different than in a movie where you shoot it and then you know you have it or you do a reshoot.
It's great - a great thing to do, and I've tried to make the m.c. job more than just an announcing spot - or even a commentary on the prizes, y'know?
My dad was in the music business.
My granddaughter's birth has made me want to create things she will love.
My mother was the voice of Minnie Mouse for a little while in the Macy's Day parades in New York.
Nobody is more truthful when he's acting than De Niro.
Shrek is a fantastic fable, really funny and it's great too.
So, I grew up amongst jazz musicians.
That's the thing about jazz: it's free flowing, it comes from your soul.
The epic animation, the whale, Cleo, all the other stuff that Disney was able to put in movies, amazing ideas.
The Father's Day script was never ready to shoot. It was a rush job. There was too much to explain.
The house smelled of brisket and bourbon. That's the music I grew up on.
The inspiration was this great group of 40 or 50 relatives, sometimes for Thanksgiving or Passover or something and my brothers would just go up and make them laugh.
The label was a legendary label, a family business called the Commodore Jazz label.
The tone is crucial, especially when you're working with something like psychiatry.
There were some pretty scary movies back then, which now seem not as scary to some people, but Psycho, as a kid, was just terrifying.
This guy was so large, he had his own climate.
To be good, you need to believe in what you're doing.
We carefully thought out stuff. I spoke to a therapist, who I don't pay, who's a friend. I spoke with someone who works at the suicide hotline.
We owned this little record store on 42nd Street and he knew we loved comedy.
Well, the way things are going, aside from wheat and auto parts, America's biggest export is now the Oscar.
What I love about the movie, at any time, is that families can go see it together and it should provoke thought and discussion about fear and about kids.
Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.
Yeah, Pinocchio. It's a great story, the little boy. You could relate to the kid.
You had to use your imagination in the best of ways to get into their heads, because the animators sort of know what it's gonna be, but you help create their paints for them.
You have to eliminate Walt Disney company like we know it today. What it started out to be was what influenced me as a kid.
Billy: The inspiration was this great group of 40 or 50 relatives, sometimes for Thanksgiving or Passover or something and my brothers would just go up and make them laugh.
Billy: The Father's Day script was never ready to shoot. It was a rush job. There was too much to explain.
Billy: That's the thing about jazz: it's free flowing, it comes from your soul.
Billy: Shrek is a fantastic fable, really funny and it's great too.
Billy: Nobody is more truthful when he's acting than De Niro.
Billy: My dad was in the music business.
Billy: My dad was a jazz producer.
Billy: It's great - a great thing to do, and I've tried to make the m.c. job more than just an announcing spot - or even a commentary on the prizes, y'know?
Billy: It was also the timing of the '50's. There were also some great comedy shows on live TV.
Billy: I've seen the tests of me as Buzz Lightyear. They used lines from When Harry Met Sally which was hysterical.
Billy: I think Shrek was terrific.
Billy: I played clarinet but what was natural for me was to imitate them and make them laugh.
Billy: I kept pushing, saying make that a little edgier, you can go a little further.
Billy: I had really good hearing and when you're scared it gets heightened so you hear scratching noises or something.
Billy: I had fears of the dark, you know. I didn't like being in the dark.
Billy: Hopefully you've got something good to do, and people trust you.
Billy: De Niro agreed to come to the reading, but he hadn't committed yet. So he showed up, and about 30 people were there, and they really enjoyed it.
Billy: At some point I stopped stand-up because I didn't have something to say on a nightly basis.
Billy: As a director and an actor, I encourage improvisation but in character and in the moment of what it is.
Billy: And so they were real funny, hip, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Louie Armstrong, all these guys were always around.
Billy: And I'm very animated when I do it anyway, so my hands would move and so on, so the character moves like me.
He's won 17 awards and was nominated for over 20.
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