Being shocking and cruel is a commerce. It's an actual valued skill now. The thing that really annoys me, the perception of it is that it takes intelligence, and it doesn't.Collection: Intelligence
If I ever got to do television, I would be interested in doing different kinds of characters and stories, and television doesn't lend itself to that.
I had a standup act, and I ended up turning it into something that was really watered down and accessible. Something that went from scary and threatening to something that was almost to the point of being corny.
I'm always wondering, if Bigfoot's not real, then why does this creature show up in all these different cultures? I'm always fascinated by that kind of stuff.
I always just felt more comfortable just kind of hiding behind a character than being myself onstage.
The first time I was on Letterman, I was, like, 20 years old, and I was on a show called 'Camping with Barry White Night.'
Occasionally I'll have a slip, and I might watch 'RuPaul's Drag Race' or something. But for the most part, I am out on the reality shows.
I just write the stuff that comes out of me, and then after that, I try to get it made. But I don't think, 'Will I get the money?' and 'Who's this made for?'
As long as there's a strong theme that I can identify with, that's what makes me interested in writing.
Every time I go to a march or a rally, and I post it on Instagram, people will go, 'I'm going to unfollow you!' And I'm like, 'I used to play arenas. I've lost a lot of fans. I'm fine with that. I've had people unfollowing me for years. You're way behind the times.'
When I first started directing, I could have chosen a more lucrative path, with sitcoms and things like that. But I knew enough after the experiences I had in front of the camera that I was not going to do that, because I was just going to work on my own things or work with people I respected.
In genre movies, you usually not only hate the characters, you sometimes hate them so much that you hate the actors playing them.
I'm a weird mixture of being cynical but at the same time wanting to live in a world where Bigfoot lives.
I was in this hamster wheel of being famous for being famous, much like a reality star. You would put me on a talkshow, I would say outrageous things. I was just perpetuating myself as a celebrity, and I found that really empty.
At the same time most people were getting out of college, I was offered a buttload of cash to star in a movie. I don't think most students would have said no.
The thing that interested me, there are so many filmmakers I admire - like David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino - they have these themes where there's not much going on, but they were suspenseful.
I think, the first movie I saw that made me go, 'How did they do that?' was 'Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.'
People seem to think that I'm not aware of how people perceive me. But I'm the one that has to talk about 'Police Academy' all day long 27 years later. I'm totally aware of it.
Be it in the movies I make or on stage, I think it's a trap to keep doing the same thing over and over again.
I don't really pursue acting. I jokingly say that I retired right at the same time people stopped hiring me, but I really don't think I'm very good at it, and I'm not really interested in it anymore as an adult.
I like writing and directing. I enjoy telling stories, and I think it's born in a comedian to end up directing.
I'm not really trying to reach a big mass of an audience. My movies are done for a tiny, tiny budget, and that affords me to make them more personal.
I like stand-up. I've done it since I was a teenager, so it's kind of my first job and first kind of creative way to express myself.
My approach to making movies is different than other people, because I just write a lot of screenplays. I'm constantly writing screenplays.
I was in Ann Arbor, and I was told that this singer-songwriter guy wanted to meet me. It was Kurt Cobain. Nirvana had just made 'Bleach.' Kurt interviewed me on a college radio station. It was very strange. He was a fan of mine, and he gave me his album.
If Jimmy Kimmel didn't hire me, I wouldn't have the kind of career I have. And I don't know what kind of career I have, but he changed my life.
Listen, you ignorant hillbillies, Lynyrd Skynyrd's dead. They're dead, they're dead, they're dead. The South's not risin' again. The slaves have been emancipated.
I like movies that don't fit in a category. Like, 'Get Out' - that was one of my favorite movies in a long time, and what is that?
I started doing comedy when I was a teenager with Tom Kenny, who is the voice of SpongeBob. I don't want to name drop, but, I've known him since I was 6.